Time keeps slipping away...

I realized today that my time here in France is quickly dwindling to an end. It is a bittersweet ending, to be honest. I’ve enjoyed my time here with all the traveling, food, baking and even my stint in the foreign hospital. I hate that I’m going to be leaving the friends that I’ve made and the simplicity of our lives here, but I’m looking forward to being home with all the little things I’ve missed. For instance, a clothes dryer. I really don’t like the way my clothes feel from line drying. That weird crunchy feel, yuck, I still feel like my clothes aren’t clean. Then all the other things like my own bed, my family and friends, my pets and so forth.

Cooper wanting to play

Chance wanting to do laundry

Sophie and Simca (my mom's French bulldogs) on their morning "walk"

Like I said, my life here has been simple. At the start I didn’t have to wake up before noon, but I would be up by at least 8. Walk to the store some days with friends form lab and be back in time to get ready for our walk to the school at 11:30 AM (or a little later). We would be at the school till 8 at night sometimes. But our days now during the week consist of waking up before the sun and walking to lab to be there before 6 AM. In lab till 1 PM, then walk over to lunch that has always been provided for us during the week. Our conversations at lunch consist of how lab went, what should we put together for dinner (I always end up bringing wine), and what are the plans for the weekend. At dinner, we eat together (us few from class) and drink wine, eat and joke around and if the mood hits us right… we play yam (the French version of yatzee). Take into account we are all still going to bed between 8:30-9:30.  It is, by far, enjoyable. One person commented on how much time we all spend together since we have been here and how we are all still getting along. It is surprising. We are with each other for maybe 15+ hours a day. We all have our moments when we get a little frustrated with somebody but we don’t hesitate to be like, “seriously? Come on.” and get right back to work and put it behind us.

Lately our conversations have turned into more of what we are going to be doing after this is done. The time has come for us to be transplanted back into reality and not our play reality here in France. One individual landed a sweet job in Germany working in a bakery. He will be shaping and doing the designs on the artisan breads in this shop. He will be learning from individuals that have been doing this for years. I’m very happy for him and, of course, jealous. Other individuals will be heading back to classes for the winter term at their various campuses of Johnson and Wales, and then there are the others, like me, job searching. It has been difficult for all of us to make calls and or communicate with places back home. So hopefully things line up for all of us when we hit the States. As somebody always tells me… “Being a grown-up sucks. I want to revert back to being 10 years old when all I had to do was a few chores around the house then I got to go outside and play till dusk. Those were simpler/better days.”  I do miss those days but I’m thankful for where I am and having the responsibilities that I will take on. I will always be that kid at heart.

So as my location changes, this blog will change as well… not so much on travel but more focus on food and challenges I encounter. I plan on posting recipes that I’ve come across (or have been asked about). I’ll try them out and then I’ll explain what I did and what I did differently the next time I prepared the recipes.  So I guess in a way this will become a “help me help you” type of blog. I’m always looking for new things to try (savory dishes and desserts).  I know I will be putting more of a French and or Southern influence on my dishes, no matter what they might be. It is what I know and what I do best. 

Love affair with food...

I promised I would post/write about the best part of being in France… The food! It is, of course, my favorite part… hints the reason I’m here. The meals you can get and even the desserts… My mouth is watering thinking about it.

I have been told that I’m an adventurous eater… I have proven that to be true while being here. Some such dishes that I’ve had that others weren’t too keen on trying... like beef tartar. OK… I understand the off-standish comments… I’m eating raw beef plain and simple. Even having a raw egg on top, at times. I understand. But, seriously… OH MY GAWD! It is one of my favorite meals! It is intimidating when it comes out to you… this mound of beef with a little well for the raw egg, you see the herbs and some spices they have mixed in with the beef, on fresh greens with a simple vinaigrette, and some worscheshire sauce. Cracking the yolk and watching it seep and spread over the top of the beef before I mix it all up was surprisingly appetizing to me. I can only eat yolks if they are scrambled… I always eat around the yolks if I have them fried. They just weird me out. But back to the beef tartar… They will have fries to accompany the meal, but there is always a breadbasket on the table. The beef has this velvet texture and melts in your mouth. You get just a hint of the egg along with all the other herbs and spices… One bite, I was sold. It is a lot they give you so it is hard for me to put it all away. If I was able to sit there a longer and didn’t have places to go and see, I think I would have been able to put it all away.

Beef Tartar

Another dish I had was beef carpaccio. Yes… raw beef again. But this kind is very very finely shaved beef instead of minced meat. The plate is covered with the shaved meat and has a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice over top along with fresh greens and some shaved parmesan. Talk about meat that melts in your mouth.

Beef carpaccio

I know… I know… I have a special place in my heart/stomach for raw beef now. But that isn’t all I’ve been eating. We are given some pretty good/tasty meals for our lunches that are provided for us during the week before/after class. We always have a salad, a plate with different cheeses to choose from, local yogurt (which is really good and American yogurt can’t touch the yogurt here), fresh fruit and then we have a hot part of the meal… We’ve had lasagna (which is tied with my mom’s lasagna for the best), braised veal with butter noodles, stewed beef and scalloped potatoes, baked chicken with buttered rice… oh the list goes on. I’ve not had a bad meal since I’ve been here. And I’ve actually lost weight since being here all because of the walking we have to do and then all the walking around on the weekends.

Cinnamon Rolls our chef made for us one day

Prosciutto melon and a simple salad before the hot portion

Lentils with braised pork

I will miss the quality of food from over here in the farmer’s markets, and all the variety they have with the cheeses, dairy (butter, yogurt, raw milk (that I never got)), the meat stands with cured and fresh meats, wines, all the honeys and so forth. Such a great experience with that. 

All Aspects of France

So taking a little detour from food and exciting travel for a moment…

Ok, so, this whole shenanigan began Halloween night. I started having a weird numbing sensation in my left arm. You know like the ones you get when you've slept on it weird and your arm or whatever limb is "waking up." Well, it didn't stay in the arm... It went to the left side of my jaw. I sounded like I had Novocain shot in my mouth. I was like this can't be good at all. But it then went away after about 15 min. No I hadn’t had any type of alcohol or drugs of any kind to make that happen. Then happened again at dinner so I call the only person I know that would keep me calm... My dad. Did what the doctor said (take some aspirin and call if there are any changes). Next day had slight numbness but nothing that was freaking me out... 

Next day, Wednesday, I had to tell my chef, Sebastian, just in case something more serious than what I had previously experienced happened. He immediately started worrying, which is what I would have done. The numbness charade happened again sooo left class. Sebastian took me to the local doctor, which happened to also be the mayor. Small town life is obviously the same all over the world. The local doctor’s office was interesting in itself. You ring a bell before you go in, then you sit in a very small wood paneled waiting room. Then the doctor comes and gets the next person. No receptionist, no music, no TV and not brightly lit. Just you, your thoughts and some French magazines. Oh and the others that are waiting as well. His office is what you would expect in a small town… all wood bookshelves with pained glass doors. Family photos around, thank you notes, Christmas cards, and stacks of papers, magazines and medical pads lying around his desk. On the other side of the room, slightly hidden behind one of his large bookshelves was the examining area… They don’t give you those paper robe/cover ups here… so that was an experience.

The mayor doctor sent me to a larger town with a hospital. Le Puy-En-Velay (Yeah that small town I visited with the statue of he Virgin Mary and those neat churches... I can see them from my window.) Well, Sebastian had to drive me there since I was instructed not to travel alone or operate any vehicle. I wasn't going to be able to go alone anyway since I needed a translator. We get to the hospital in Le Puy... All in one piece since it was the first time Sebastian has ever driven an automatic car. It was entertaining. But a hospital in a foreign country is another thing.

The late night meal I got in the ER... mmmm

We had to wait (which I expected) to speak to a lady about being treated, showed my passport, gave them the sealed envelope from the mayor doctor, then wrote down my mailing address. Then I was told to go and wait in the other side of the swinging double doors and then when I see the next set of swinging doubles to press the bell... It was a light switch button made into a doorbell. Then had to wait again. The swinging doors opened with this nice young attractive lady coming out in a hurry. But the first thing I noticed was that everybody in the ER area was wearing white. From the shirts to the shoes… White. Kinda weird for me. She got the translation and explained that at this point when I crossed the threshold, I was on my own since Sebastian was in no relation to me. So I bit the bullet and went in. This is where anybody that was aiding or communicating with me reverted back to hand motions and whatever English they knew and I did the same with French. It got frustrating so I started writing things down and drawing pictures. Added a humor factor and made the experience a little bit better. Explained what they were going to do yadda yadda yadda. A nice lady came and took my blood and could tell I scared… I told her in my best French that I detested needles and I hate them. She laughed and I just had to look away.  Oh and the room they put me in the ER was one that was for children. Had wall decals of Christmas stuff like Santa, snowmen, reindeer, butterflies, and ladybugs so to make you feel more at ease as a little kid or somebody like me that doesn’t speak the language very well and is a nervous wreck.

They wall I had to look at for many hours....

Looking out to the "hectic" ER notice the decor on the window

Got to have those typical rednecks you find in hospitals in the same room as me as I was waiting after a test. They kept peaking around the “privacy” curtain. (Oh and at this point I was able to have Sebastian with me to translate) They kept repeating every single thing that was being said between the doctor, translator and I. “She is an American.” “She is living in Yssingeaux doing some pastry school.” So on and so on. Sebastian a little while later said be glad you aren’t me right now… Be glad you don’t understand French very well… You would be disgusted. I laughed and he proceeded to tell me that the French redneck lady was in for bowel movements and she was telling her daughter that her hygiene was poor and she needed to be more cautious during that time of the month. Told her son to quit scratching his area that it was disgusting. The whole clan was in there, even the daughter’s boyfriend. The lady’s mother was even in there. I was trying to figure out how many more people could fit in that tiny area without coming onto my side of the room… not like I needed it all but the group did smell rather offensive. No… They weren’t dressed in wife beaters and trucker hats. It was all in the way they carried themselves and how they acted that presented them as French rednecks.

The IV they had to give me

Sebastian was cracking jokes the whole time. He was happy that I was not hysterical and freaking out. I was cracking jokes right back with him. He stayed with me (just after midnight) when they finally took me to a room to stay over night. They wanted to run some more tests on me the next “morning.” But the jokes kept coming… Sebastian said they were putting me on the pediatric floor b/c of my height and I would blend right in. Well, they did put me on the pediatric floor and the room they rolled me into had a large hot pink crib… luckily I didn’t have a roommate and I wasn’t getting put in the crib. But my room had Winnie the Pooh wall stickers all over it. The only Eyore to be found in the room was on my side… I thought that was funny and ironic. But the view out of my window was of the two known churches in Le Puy and the Statue of the Virgin Mary… Nice view.

It wasn’t until about 3:30 or 4 when the doctors came in to look at me… Next morning my butt.  Had more blood drawn for more tests. Thea, the lady that is over all the students and is a liaison for us, was with me and was translating everything. I don’t know what I would have done with out her. Her and Sebastian went above and beyond to help me out with everything. But back to the story… Then it wasn’t until 7 or so that I got to go in for the MRI or as they call it IRM scan. Everything came back normal. So my blood plumbing in my head is perfect (at least that is what the doc said). Now this neurologist was shorter than me… I’m 4’11”. And she reminded me of this actress that always has a bowl cut haircut, round black glasses… Can’t remember her name but she is really short and older like this neurologist. She was very nice and funny. She made me stay a second night in the hospital. The next day she came back around my room around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. She was baffled by my condition and was wanting to another test… She was explaining it… and Thea was translating… and I heard spinal tap…. I was like oh hayel noo. But she continued and explained it more saying it isn’t as bad as I was thinking, but it was like getting an epidural. It isn’t comfortable but it is safe and is done everyday. I was like hmmmmmmm I don’t like this idea but you are trying to figure out what is wrong and that is a closed circuit down there on the spin with that fluid… so if there is an infection you will find it. So I agreed (famous last words). Granted this whole time I was in constant contact with my parents. Letting them know everything that was going on.

The view from my bed...

Well… when it came to the lumbar puncture/spinal tap from hayel! The prep for it took longer than the actual attempt. To me it felt like the whole thing had been 15 min or so… Nope. The prep was about 5 min and the attempt was only 10 seconds. I’ve never felt that kind of pain before. Thea was right there still holding my hand and holding me the whole time. Just like my mom would have done. The doctor didn’t get anything from that and told us that I could go home. Thea said well I was going to take her out of here regardless. GO THEA! The doctor did laugh and said she wanted to see me on Monday to do some follow up tests and I said as long as you don’t come at me with any needles or sharp points of any kind. She agreed so I’m holding her to it! I’m pretty sure I can take her if it came down to it. Ha

Thea on the ride back to Yssingeaux told me that she was putting me up in the chateau so I wouldn’t be alone back in the bungalows and so I would have a nice comfortable bed. She also got one of the chefs that lives in the chateau to bring me breakfast in the morning… Like I said… above and beyond.

My class put together some boxes of all the treats they had made… Plates du Dame, milk chocolate and caramel bon bons, brioche loafs, and different flavored macaroons. I was able to give these treats to the neurologist (before the tap) and all the nurses and attendants on my floor as a way to say thanks for dealing with me. They all knew I was in pastry school in Yssingeaux, and all wanted treats. They knew little English but we were able to communicate by drawings and broken Franglish.

Almost got to meet Willy Wonka... The French Version

The first tour we went on was a couple of weeks ago to a company call Sévaron. The company manufactures extract, essences of different products used in baking and pastry and could even (and probably is) in savory dishes as well. They explained in a brief cliff’s notes version of how a lot of the processes are done and how they begin the process of starting on a “flavor.” Really cool stuff to look in on.

Yesterday was a long day but very interesting. We went on two factory tours. It was a lot of walking but worth it. The first one was to a chocolate factory called Valrhona. I took one step off the bus and all I could smell was… chocolate. It was awesome. It was really cool seeing all the different workings in the factory and the history of the company. We got to test the chocolate in the different stages of the chocolate making process. What made the tour even better was that you were constantly engulfed in the wonderful smell of chocolate. They are a small company but you can tell in their product that it is quality.

The second factory we went to was called Capfruit (the French pronounce it kap-fruee). This factory/company is in the fruit puree business. *hints the name* Just like the first factory, it was interesting. This company is even smaller than the chocolate one. After the tour we were giving many different jars of different purees and puree blends. A flavor from the many was yuzu. It was bitter but also good.

It was a little long. We didn’t get back until probably around 7:30 or 8. But it all was a very insightful.

This up coming weekend I’ll be getting to head back to Paris. I’ll be heading up there on Sunday morning and come back on Tuesday. We have a four-day weekend b/c of November 1… Which is All Saints Day. SO the thing that the French do is that if there is a holiday that is connected to a day that falls after or before the weekend, they take the extra day. SO since All Saints Day is on Tuesday we have Monday off. It’s kind of cool that I’ll get to have Halloween off but I think it is weird that they do that whole extra day thing… But I am getting to take advantage of it since I’m getting to go back to Paris. I’ll get to see the Arch de Triumph, all the different museums that I missed the first time b/c of lack of time… I’ll have the time now! Now y’all have some more photos to gaze at… I’ll be posting soon about all the different food that I’ve eaten since I’ve been here… Should be a tasty spectacle!

Bonjour from afar

Sorry for my absence… I’ve been a little busy the past couple a weeks. My roommate and I had some of our friends’ come and visit and stat with us for the past two weeks. We were cramped in our small little apartment that is small for two people so you can only imagine how it could be with four in the space. We all gad a good time traveling and catching up. We all went to Paris and Versaille and then last weekend to Cassis and this past weekend I made it up to Lyon.

Last weekend in Cassis was much needed. Very relaxed small beach/port town. We were able to walk around go, grab quick easy meals and even walk to the pebble beach were yes… there were some half naked people and some naked kids running around. SOOOO I didn’t stay there too long. It was still a beautiful town… I was actually surprised (kind of) by how well dressed all the kids were. Children ranging in ages from infancy to teenagers were better dressed than all the co-eds in the Southern college I attended. Made me re-evaluate the wardrobe I have back home… Needs some updating yet again after seeing all these tween fashionistas.

Top: Men playing at the bocce ball court Bottom:Cassis water front

Nighttime at the harbor at Cassis 

Last Tuesday we, my roommate and I, had to say so long and safe travels to our visiting friends. It was bittersweet au revoir … but it was nice to have the place back to normal and more room to move around. This past Thursday I had my midterm practical… It wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be. We had to make a dessert call a St. Honoré, which is named after the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, and we also had to make chocolate bon bons… chocolate raspberry filled ones. I passed and I feel that I did very well with all that I did. So the weekend in Lyon was well deserved.

Top: St. Honore Bottom:Milk Chocolate Bon Bons with Chocolate Raspberry Filling

My roommate, another girl from our class and I went to Lyon to have a relaxed weekend. My roommate Emily had to leave us yesterday afternoon to go pick up her husband from the airport. Alice and I enjoyed a casual night and our first nice dinner since being here. It was amazing. Probably one of the best dinners I have ever had. But today I’m catching up on everything. Doing the homework/journals we have to. Looking at different recipes and wondering how I could incorporate them/make them my own. Also doing more Rosetta Stone to help me out in French class and around town. It has helped me our a lot while I’ve been here. Even though I have mild panics when talking to people. It has been fun and it is hard to believe that I’ll be back in MS in twenty some odd days. Going to enjoy the rest of the time here as much as I can… It will be harder since I have the AM labs now from 6-1.  Not too excited about that, but I’ll have the afternoon to do more.

I got back a little while ago from Lyon and I’ve been enjoying having some down time before my roommate gets back… But her and her husband are staying over in château while he is here for the week. So that means more time for me to have the place to myself. Which will be nice. Next weekend is our four-day weekend… We have Halloween off and November 1 off. We have that day off since it is All Saints Day. I’m not complaining… What they do here is that if a holiday is connected to a day after the weekend they will take the extra day… It is nice but also kind of silly to me. But for now I’m going to get my dinner of artichokes, bbq seasoning aioli dip, and pasta with veggies, butter and the same bbq seasoning… 

Ahhh Paris...

So this past weekend I got to visit Paris, France. It was awesome to finally get to see the different landmark sites that I’ve studied and read about over there years. The La Tour Eiffel was more impressive than I expected, and getting to see it at night when it lights up and begins to “twinkle” from the other lights going…. Beautiful.

It was fun walking around Paris and seeing the sites. Notre Dame was just as impressive, if not more. The sheer size of the chapel was impressive. But the first church we went to in town was The Sainte-Chapelle… The first room you walk in is impressive with some stained glass windows and the remarkable colors of the hand painted designs on the ceilings. You have to walk up a narrow spiral stoned staircase to reach the main chapel… When you reach the top and stop looking down at your feet to make sure you don’t stumble…. Your breath is taken away by not only the size but of the beauty of the 15 very high stained glass windows. Pictures in books and that you take cannot capture an inkling of the beauty. I could of easily spent an hour or more in there just looking up and trying to take it all in.
 

I even got over to Versailles. I did not realize how massive the grounds were. I’ve studied Versailles in school and did reports on it in high school but seeing it all in person… I finally can grasp why in the factious historical stories (like “The Other Boleyn Girl”) that they say… they went to the gardens. They say that b/c the gardens are so expansive that you could hide easily even in a huge noisy dress. I spent the day there walking around Marie Antoinette’s digs and the main château. The hall of mirrors in the main château also took my breath away. But during the whole time I was there I kept thinking about all of the history of the place over the centuries it has been around. The palace has seen many courts, balls, and riots, to even the signing of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I (or as it was known then as The Great War). It was amazing to me all the history that a single place has seen and been apart of.

Now the food in Paris… not bad at all. For lunch when I arrived, I ended up going to the café right outside my hotel. I ordered the beef Carpaccio… It was better than what I’ve had before. I tried to offer some to my travel buddies but they were a little squeamish. I guess is understandable but they were definitely missing out!  Grabbed dinner at this restaurant and had their duck confit with mashed potatoes… delicious. Then breakfast I grabbed and a pan aux chocolat a crème… Simply a puff pastry with chocolate and pastry cream, it was, of course, tasty. This up coming weekend the plans are to go to a port town called Cassis. It is a small town just outside Marseilles… Should be fun! 

Weekend Adventure

So we are moved into our bungalows that we were originally suppose to be in… It has been a little hectic for the past few days. The bungalows are big enough but it is still hard to have your own space and time to yourself. But it is much better than being on top of each other in the château. We have our own kitchen area, which is nice. But no internet in our bungalow; so roommate and I are going to pay the 20€ a month for two months to have it in our bungalow so we don’t have to use the common area for internet, which is rather hard to have any type of conversations with anybody on Skype.

The fist week of classes was great. We played with chocolate, baked different cakes, made different desserts and then had a buffet of all of our creations on Friday. So every Friday from here till the end we will have a buffet of all the products we produce. I’m happy about that b/c more than just our class will get to see it. It is encouraging to have the other pastry chefs from around France and Europe to see what we have done and get their feedback.

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to a small town called Le Puy-en-Velay with my roommate Emily, and two others from our ENSP group, Matt and Alice. We are some of the older people on this internship so we have naturally gravitated towards each other. Yesterday we did a lot of hiking around the town. Ate a whole roasted chicken and roasted potatoes for our lunch with some bread. It was amazing getting to eat all the food from the towns farmers market. It was amazing food. After our lunch we went and saw two historic churches and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The first church was Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy, dating from around the first half of the 12th century. It was amazing. The four of us were walking kind of aimlessly trying to find it and we took a turn and look to our right and it was an amazing sight to see the church. You are looking up this road and it is towering at the top and the colors on the façade are stunning. The interior is all stone and I got a little tickled when I saw the Bose speakers that were custom made to bled in with the walls.

After the Cathédrale Notre-Dame we took the trek up to the bronze statue of Notre-Dame de France (The Virgin Mary). You were able to climb to the very top of the interior of the statue and look out. It was a tight climb but worth the view. I was shaking a little bit looking out just knowing how old the statue was… It was fun though. We then walked/hiked over to the other church; Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe Chapel. That was hike and was kind of scary at some parts. It was also well worth the hike.

All the hiking and walking around let me indulge later in a Nutella crepe. It was a fun day trip. Got to see a lot and really enjoy the day. There is so much to do in just our region of France. I know I’m not going to get to do all that I really want to do but that just means I have to come back. There will be more pictures to come soon. 

Anncey, France

Ok so by now I have had a few days to get my bearings straight here. This past Friday was spent just in orientation of the program. So not bad at all. We had a little bit of the afternoon to prepare for the French placement. I was the first to go, I honestly wanted it over with. My prep with Rosetta Stone did help out a lot. After that the afternoon was ours. My roommate, Emily, and I wanted to take a trip to a town called Annecy. So we started planning, well more so her than me. We had to get help with the train situation (which was a slight headache) but then it all worked out and we got a taxi called for us, had a hotel room booked and we were set.

A fellow student, Matt, decided to tag along with us to Annecy. The taxi came to early in the morning to take us to the train station and thus began our journey. We made it to Annecy, which was much larger than we had thought it would be. But I later found out it was the capital of Haute-Savoie region.  The old part of town, which Emily and I stayed in, was a maze of winding narrow roads crossing over and running beside canals. It was flooded with people. We all grabbed a quick bite just outside our hotel and began exploring the town.

We found a chocolate shop by Yves Thuriès, one of the chef’s of our school ENSP. His store was not bad at all. I got a chocolate caramel square and a chocolate tart… Absolutely perfect. The three of us took our goodies to this lakeside park to enjoy them. It was relaxing and fun to just people watch.

When I bit into that chocolate tart, everything that was going on around us faded. The velvety smooth texture of the chocolate with the crisp crunch of the crust was an experience. I’ve never had anything quite like it. Same goes for the chocolate caramel.

We continued to explore the town and we later all met back up and got dinner at a restaurant that served fondue… we thought it was fitting since we were in a region that is known for their cheese. We were right beside a canal at this café. We were served a big dipping pot of cheese and all of us got a plate of a few cold cuts (prosciutto, ham and some type of salami I think) and a small salad. Of course there was a basket of bread on the table. We had some of the house red wine and then dessert was a pot of melted chocolate with fruits and marshmallows to dip. Went great with my coffee.

 

The next day we took a boat ride on the massive glacial melt lake. It was an hour long but the lake was so clear that it looked like water you would see in the Caribbean. Didn’t learn too much about the lake b/c it was mostly in French and I couldn’t understand the accent. Worth it regardless. Walked more around town and indulged in ice cream. I got nutella, citron and small free scoop of vanilla. Then the second time I got tiramisu. Emily got citron and raspberry with almond scoop, and then she got chocolate noir. Matt got chocolate noir and something else. And then he got grand mariner and something. I can’t remember. But we enjoyed the markets and walking around and seeing what they had and also saw an interesting window display at a lingerie… squirrels were in the display so I’m not sure what the message was suppose to be… You can decide for yourself.. We got a kick out of it to say the least.

 

Day One

Ok so today is my first day in Yssingeaux, France But before I got here I had to do all that traveling. I’m not that big of a fan of flying really. But it is necessary to get around the world in a timely manner. But anyway, I had to go through my whole anxiousness 3 times. I’m fine while in the air but the take-off and landing make me nervous. But besides all that I obviously made it. Made a friend on the Memphis to Atlanta flight. Nice older man who was on his way to a friends in St. Louis that he was in the service with. It seemed like the two of them saw a lot while together. Spoke politics with him, showed me pictures of his 20 y/o cat (so of course I showed him photos of my 9 y/o lab and my momma's French bulldogs), and even got to talk food with him. Made that flight much easier. I had to run to catch my flight to Amsterdam... Barely made it but left enough time to call home. That flight was not fun... Lady I was sitting next to... didn't smell so pleasant, the man in front of me was in my lap pretty much the whole flight and moved so much that I wasn't able to put my head down to sleep, crying baby and couldn't watch a movie b/c the control didn't work... I could only watch the preview for one movie. That was all I could do. But the connection in Amsterdam was not bad at all. Customs were rather quick and got to use my the German I know during the check point. Was a little intimidated by the officials with their guns but they actually smiled at me. Had some conversations in German (finally getting to use it). 

Made finally to Lyon, got on the bus to Yssingeaux to the school, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie , and we (all the students in the program) are getting to stay at the chateau b/c of construction taking place at the bungalows we are suppose to be staying at. Jet lag isn't that bad for me (slept a whole 12 hrs last night... was in bed by 9 and woke up at 9!). 

The town of Yssingeaux is beautiful and small. Everything is within walking distance. Just have to hop on a bus to the train station in Lyon or two others in smaller towns but bigger than Yssingeaux. So far things have been great. It has been fun communicating with others. The little French that I know and their broken English makes it interesting. But for now I'm heading down to town to get a few things. I'll post some pictures on here soon. 

One Week

A week from today I'll be heading to Yssingeaux, France for a baking and pastry internship. I'll be attending Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie or ENSP for short. I can't believe that it is finally time to head over there! I'm ready to get over there and get the adventure started!
I'm looking forward to updating this blog for everybody to keep up with me while I'm abroad. I've named this blog "South Meets South" because I'm from the American South and this will be my first time in the South of France. Sooo "South Meets South" was a logical title. I plan on writing about all my experiences while I'm over there to keep y'all (friends and family) with what I'm up to and learning over there. I plan on uploading photos and maybe even some videos for y'all to enjoy. I can't make any promises on how often I'll be updating it, but hopefully every other day. 
The other day I got my EuRail Pass in the mail! That was a surreal moment for me. Well more so a moment of "Oh my! It is finally time for me to get over there! " Then a flood of all the stuff I felt like I had to do/get done before I leave. Luckily it is nothing major like "get a passport," I know I procrastinate but not that badly. More so on the lines of "I need to get a packing list going. What should I put in my carry on..." list goes on so I won't bore you with that. 
I'm going to end this for now and maybe the next time I post I'll be abroad :)