Part Trois: The Dinner Party

Alright, back to why I was so lousy and useless on Sunday, hah...

After I returned to Saint-Dizier from Reims, I went straight to work. I had to prepare a cake for the dinner party we were going to at Eric's, Papa's friend. I wanted to make my go-to wine cake, but change it up a bit with Chardonnay Anise Icing. I once read, "DO NOT try new recipes for people you don't know." I should have listened. I was heavy handed with the anise and it overpowered the flavor of the cake, not to mention my poor math skills because I think my conversions were off and I added too many grams of butter. Whoops! Somehow, everyone enjoyed it but me...or maybe they were just pretending?

Eat. Drink. And be merry.

That is how the French do it! As soon as we got to Eric's, he was filling glasses of Champagne for us out on his second floor patio. Even though, I don't understand much French, being surrounded by native speakers makes you understand it somehow. Francois, the doctor, asked if I understood their conversations a couple of times and I actually did! I might not have been able to understand every single word, but I got the just of the stories. I felt honored that they even included me in their gathering seeing that I don't speak and understand their language that well ;D

Round 1: Champagne. Snacks & Such: Cherry tomatoes, some type of Salami, Roasted & Salted Cashews, and a cold buttery bread with jambon in it. More Champagne. And more Champagne.

After being in complete bliss with Champagne in my hand, sitting out on the deck in the beautiful weather, the France vs. Spain football match in the background, admiring the French sense in fashion and watching a group of good friends eat, drink and be merry, I thought to myself, "Life is good." Just observing my new friends and listening to their rapid French conversations was the highlight of my night! Patrick, one of the men I met that night was my favorite ;D He was thrilled every time he could speak to me in English and more excited when I understood him. He got a kick out of correcting the other men's English too, haha :D What a jolly man! Patrick even offered me his sweater before dinner, quite the gentleman ;)

We headed to the dining room after Round 1. It was simply gorgeous! A taupe table cloth, white plates and wine glasses and water glasses galore and colorful napkins! Eric had even arranged a seating chart for us. A novel idea! Every one was intermingled and the couples did not sit together. I felt like I was in leadership class again participating in an ice breaker. Great job, Eric!!!

Round 2: Appetizers: Blocks of salmon and tuna seasoned and prepared with some type of creamy sauce (surprisingly I favored the tuna over the salmon), Baby Spinach Salad in an awesome Balsamic Reduction, Pain and now...Rosé.

I was regretting not taking a second helping of spinach salad because that dressing was BOMB!!! But not to worry because the night was still young at 10:00pm.

Round 3: Rosé. Entreés: Julienned Carrot & Celery Salads, Cucumber Salad in a white dressing (like Tzatkiki), Merguez Sausage and Barbecued Chicken.

Wow...this was a never-ending feast!!! The cucumber salad was so fresh and crisp, I loved it ;P And CHICKEN! CHICKEN! I haven't had chicken since before I came to France and was in 7th heaven, especially because it was barbecued chicken...ahhhhhhh ;P

Round 4: Dessert: Maman's Beautiful Fruit Tart and my not so pretty Chardonnay Anise Gâteau, garnished with dark red cherries and Le Vin Rouge (Red wine).

I couldn't wait to bite into Maman's tart! I am a huge, HUGE fan of tarts!! I always asked my mom for a fruit tart when we celebrated my birthday back in the day. And now...a hand-made one! What a treat! It was fresh, subtlety sweet and I loved the crunch of the roasted pistachios she added at the final second. By now, Tibo, Francois's son had joined us. He needed to practice his English because he was going to his aunt's wedding in Boston in a couple of weeks, so it was nice to converse with someone for more than a couple minutes. However, I kept speaking in French, hah! What a nut!

The end of the night was a bit of a blur. From Champagne, to Rosé and finally Le Vin Rouge...ay yay yay!!! No wonder I was useless on Sunday!

Part Deux: Paolo

Paolo.

Ahhhh...what a beautiful man! And I say beautiful, not handsome, because he truly is. I could stare at him all day long ;D Paolo, is maman et papa's nephew from maman's sister. I had been anticipating this meeting because just from the photos around our house I've had my eyes on him. He is 5th year med school student in Reims. If I understood correctly, he is going to specialize in pathology, and has five more years of school to complete. Yikes! Paolo came to pick me up with papa since he is now on holiday, and we gave him a ride back to his small village next to Saint-Dizier.

Paolo was extremely polite and introduced himself formally. He was quite charming with his light coffee brown eyes. His fascination with art is admirable. He showed papa et moi the Bibliothèque de Reims which Andrew Carnegie founded. It's unique for it's art-deco architecture, and Carnegie built it to honor people in service industries. Inside the lobby are portraits made of onyx of those who serve or help others such as doctors, preachers, etc. The study room to the right of the lobby was incredible. It was a Double Decker room and the ceiling was a stained glass piece of art by Jacques Grüber. It was an art-deco piece that Paolo was completely enamored with. He told me this is where he studied all the time, and I could see why... it was so zen.

Next to the bibliothèque was the famous Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims. It was breathtaking! Just standing in front of it I felt emotional. Paolo told me that it was completed destroyed during WWII, and Rockefeller gave money to help restore this sacred cathedral. It was originally built in the 13th century. Papa told me it was in this very cathedral that the Kings of France were granted kingship. The architecture of the cathedral is Gothic style that was a major artistic achievement for France. I have always been a fan of Gothic architecture, cathedrals in particular so I was astounded by it's intricate and delicate façades. My head was tilted towards the sky the entire time we toured the cathedral. I was beating myself up for not bringing my real camera, but thank heavens the for the iPhone!

Fascinating detail

These sculptures and the ones just to the left (not photographed) were just restored 10 days ago.

Paolo et Papa on the right

I lit a candle (second tallest from the left) for my Mom at the back of the church near this mini replica.

After walking around the exterior and interior in complete silence, we headed to a brasserie for lunch. Well unfortunately, I could not stuff another meal inside me :( I had not been to a restaurant this whole time I've been in France because ma famille says the restaurants in Saint-Dizier are not very good so I took their words for it. Finally, my first chance to dine in a French restaurant and I can't because I'm stuffed like Thanksgiving turkey. I opted for a glass of champagne while I watched and listened to papa et Paolo eat, drink and converse. I thought it was a little hilarious that in a nice brasserie the meals were served with frites. I know it's common here, but in appearance it did not fit it's upscale counterpart. I was ashamed I couldn't even take the offer of a coffee. I slightly regretted it after the cute petit cups were brought to the table along with a piece of chocolat noir. Damn! Perhaps next time :/

We exited the restaurant back out to the street with a lovely view of the cathedral. I noticed this time that there was a deck near the top of the cathedral that visitors could go up to. If I get a chance to go back to Reims, that is the first place I'm going to. I could stare at the stained glass, fine details and enormous Gothic structure all day long..... just like Paolo ;P

À poursuirve...

A Day To Remember

I've been useless today. Completely and utterly, useless! But it's all for good reason...

Yesterday, was the best day I've had in France so far! It was definitely a day to remember :D

It started off with a drive to Reims. I would be meeting with Pâtissier Olìvìer Biston, one of ma papa's clients, and shadowing him for the day. I had no expectations whatsoever, but was pleased that as soon as I got to the pâtisserie, Chef Biston gave me a white coat and a hat, and put me to work. I WORKED IN A FRENCH PâTISSERIE!!!!! This has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and I was beside myself while observing, working with and tasting French pastry. What an incredible privilege! I was honored just to walk into the back where all the magic happened.

I arranged freshly baked brioche on platters for an order for a wedding cocktail hour. Then, I decorated pastries with two apprentices and one graduate pastry student. They continually offered me tastes of everything, and I flew to heaven :p. The brioche was warm and soft. The framboise pastry was creamy, yet velvety.

Pastry of Fruits Rouges that I helped decorate.

Chocolat Pastry I topped off with chocolat decorations and Champagne corks from Papa's Chocogil.

The graduate student took me upstairs to the chocolate room, where Biston's father was cleaning the machines as he had finished his work for the day. She let me take a citron chocolat du lait, and here final project, a chocolat mold filled with framboise and framboise liqueur. The filling was lovely, so lovely!

Watching the grad student roll pâte a choux in sugar syrup (or caramel). Finished product is below. These will be used for the Champagne piece that Chef Biston was going to prepare that afternoon.

Then, I watched Chef Biston, quickly ice six wedding cakes and cover them with fondant. His speed and ease of movement was beautiful. It was like watching Picasso paint a masterpiece in front of my eyes. Sigh.......... One thing I know I'd like to invest in for my own pâtisserie, is a laminator. Goodness gracious that one piece of equipment saves so much time and stress, it's a must!

Before I left, again he quickly showed me how to make sugar decorations out of blown sugar. A time consuming process, but the results of the product are magnificent and brilliant!

Blown sugar - Initial Stage

Sugar colored with black colorant and set under the warmer to change it's texture for pliable sugar. 

Blown sugar - Final stage

Biston's mother was filling in yesterday for his wife who was sick. His mother, whose name has escaped me - pardon Madame - was so pleasant, cheerful and a joy to be around. She cooked lunch for us, poisson with a white cream sauce and tagliatelle. It was such a simple meal, but comforting. And of course, dessert! I got to choose from the case in the front and was overwhelmed with the varieties. I choose Tanzanie, it was a chocolate mousse filled with mango and pineapple, sandwiched by two semi-circle pieces of chocolate, then decorated with two peach colored macarons (almond flavored) and topped off with a real mirabelle, a plum fruit native to Lorraine, France. The fruit is also used to make a popular liqueur (which I mistakenly missed out on last night :/.)

iPhone Chocolates that sell for 10€!

I was sad to leave, but incredibly grateful for the experience. I hope to return to Pâtisserie Biston for another lesson before I leave, but if the opportunity does not arise, at least I've made the connection. I am seriously considering coming back to France to be his apprentice in the near future. Stay tuned...

Pâtissier Biston et moi

I realize that yesterday was absolutely positively A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, but quite long. So in order to not bore you, I'm splitting the day into three posts. Voila, Part One: Pâtisserie Oliver Biston, Part Deux: Paolo and Part Trois: The Dinner Party.

Part Deux: To be continued...

Teaching - it just might be in my future...

So I was pretty bummed yesterday when Maman et moi did not head out for Paris :( Her conference was cancelled so we stayed in Saint-Dizier. But when one door closes, another opens.... I was asked to teach English for the third time at Louise's school by her teacher, Monsieur Guy.

I taught my first English class last week and absolutely loved it! I enjoyed being in the limelight, and sharing knowledge about my country and myself. It was a learning experience for me as well as the children. I think I was just as nervous as some of the students when I spoke. I could tell my face was cherry red! The students were so eager to know about the US, even the shy ones who didn't want to speak had grins on their faces when I told them about Americans, New York City, Mr. Barack Obama, celebrities or the working in the entertainment business.

Since it was my first time (ever) teaching a class, I did not have structure or any clue what I was doing really. My strategy was to just engage the children and have some fun. I think their curiosity put me at ease, and help things flow. When we got to the portion of the class where the children asked me questions about myself and my country, I had to laugh at one young fellow. "Can I have your number?" he mumbled under his breath. Boys will  be boys, won't they?!? By the end of the class, no one wanted to leave and they even asked me if I could join them in their next period, so I think I made an impact :D

On Wednesday, I taught an Advanced English class and was not prepared whatsoever. There were only 12 students in this class and all eyes were on me. I did not turn cherry red like the first time, but I felt like I wasn't sharing enough interesting information about my country or myself. It was like they were waiting for some GRAND news, but I had nothing :(. Hopefully, I didn't bore them to death!

Yesterday however, I was so much more prepared for my second Advanced class. I told the students new items about myself and asked the students about themselves. I had all my US history down and transitioned smoothly to each section of my class (Three sections: Speaking/Listening, Questions & Answers and a Short Comprehension Quiz). I was so proud of myself for being super prepared! I'm not sure if it was the students themselves or the ungodly hour of the class, 17:00h (5:00pm ST), but they were beyond shy and lacked participation skills. There were two boys out of 12 students and they did all the talking. I waited to start the quiz just so I could ask questions about themselves so they would have to participate. I think it helped them break out of their shells a bit. Mission accomplished!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would do it over and over again! The smiles on the children's faces, the enthusiasm and motivation they had to learn, speak and correct themselves if they happened to make a mistake made me proud. :D I felt honored simply because I was in their presence. I thought to myself each time I left the classroom, "I could see myself teaching again. I want to be back in front of that classroom!" So maybe it's written in the stars that Arikka will become Miss Arikka or Miss Rin, the teacher? I'd gladly accept the challenge.

Oh, and I think I made a good impression on Monsieur Guy as well! He introduced me to Monsieur Rondst, another English teacher, who wanted me to teach his class. They even invited me to a dinner party with all the English teachers at the end of the school year (coming up in two weeks.) Not too shabby, eh?!?

CBO & Heine @ McDonald's

Blog worthy indeed!

My lunch from none other than, McDonald's :D

 CBO avec Deluxe Potatoes

 YES! You can order a beer at McDonald's! And yes, I drank beer from a straw just because I could ;P

CBO (Chicken, Bacon, Onion) - Up close and personal

Damn good sandwich!!! The bun has bacon bits as well as bacon inside, French fried onion strings and a yellow cheese (not American though!) Aww...salty goodness ;P

And that's a wrap!

Prét à Manger

No, not the deli chain in Manhattan. I'm talking to you. Are you ready to eat?

If you know me well, I LOVE FOOD! When I'm eating breakfast I think about lunch, when I eating lunch I think about dinner, when I'm eating dinner I think about breakfast and I always, ALWAYS think about dessert ;P It occurred to me I've failed to tell you about meals here in France so here we go...

This was my dinner tonight, not typical but it felt very special and made with <3.

Épinards Tarte (Spinach  Tart)

Boules de Cantaloup (Canteloupe Balls)

Gâteau au Chocolat Mini-sans gluten, sans lactose (Chocolate Cake made with chocolate from Chocogil)

Maman made the meal minus the dessert. Louise and I made the dessert of course, and it had to be chocolat because the girl absolutely loves chocolat. I made Gâteau au Châtaigne Mini (Chestnut Cake) the other day and she cut it in half and stuck two chocolat du lait (milk chocolate) tablets in the middle and made a cake sandwich. There is not a day when the girl doesn't eat chocolat!

Any who, I say our dinner was not typical tonight because every meal (or 9/10) is eaten with le pain- bread. If you're on the Atkins diet, Paleo diet or anything that steers you away from carbs, then you won't survive in France! Thank heavens the Lenten season is in February because I had given up bread and stuck to it for a while after Lent ended. When I got here, that old habit of cutting the carbs flew out the window, down the street and I've never seen it since!

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. It still is for the most-part here in France, but there's something missing. Breakfast consists of le pain or le croissant avec le buerre and/or confiture et café. Bread or croissants with butter and/or jam and coffee. I love, love, love croissants aux amande or croissants aux chocolat, but haven't been too pleased with the ones here in Saint-Dizier ;( (I made up for that in Paris when I had the best croissant aux chocolat at Poilâne. Didn't even have time to snap a photo because after the first bite it was gone in hot second!) It's a light breakfast and gets me going for the day, but something is missing!....CEREAL!!! I enjoy a great bowl a cereal with fresh fruit, dried fruit or nuts with almond milk. That's the Breakfast of Champions in my book! I bought granola cereal and it left much to be desired, and the only dairy alternative here is soy, which is not so great for drinking (much better for baking.) So that's breakfast for ya.

Lunch and dinner are similar or even the same as each other at times. A vegetable, a protein, bread, cheese and an aperitif (usually red currant wine my papí makes). Today, I prepared gluten-free pasta with tomato basil marinara and smoked salmon and bread, of course. Maman et moi had yaourt de soja cerisse (Soy Cherry Yogurt) for dessert. The soy yogurt here is so bomb!!! We get it from a specialty store or a bio marché that sells all organic products. I was surprised they even have stores like that here!

The first week I was here though, we ate more traditionally. After your meal comes the fromage (cheese), then dessert, then café or thé. Lately, we've been omitted the fromage (but not because I have issues with dairy, I think Maman prefers her meals without lactose.) So tonight's meal of no pain or fromage was unusual but a nice change.

I'm already dreaming of my croissant aux amande et crème for breakfast...

On the road again...

Sites from the eyes of a natural born RUNNER, yours truly ;P

Oui! There is a McD's in town!

I would love to have these prices back home (still under $3). 

Graffiti here is so amazing! Real artistes!!

The playgrounds are much more complex.

I caught a cat sleeping, and he woke up at just the right moment :D

I fell in love today...

...with Paris!

Need I say more?

The obligatory tourist photo. 

(Challenge: Spot a real photographer when near Tour Eiffel. This was the best I could get :/)

I was trying to get a cool angle and captured a couple taking their own photo on the iPhone ;D

La Seine

Military School across from Tour Eiffel

Going to try my best to make it to one of these events!

Dope seats underground!

My fav ad en le Metro (this one's for you JJ)!

Pâtisserie Sadaharu Aoki, Japanese inspired French pastries, my favorite (for appearance only) is the Matcha Croissant. And to the right, the cream puffs, what Aoki is known for. Some say the best in town! Check out the rest here: http://www.sadaharuaoki.com/

I want to lick this Fiat! :b

Not sure if you can see across the way but all the cafés are set up like Le Nemrod where you're faced towards the street for people watching. 

Le pain at Poilâne

Saint-Germain

Restaurant that Hemingway use to frequent across from Saint-Germain (Thanks Lara for the heads up!)

More to come on Jeudi!!!

Bisou. Bisou.