In and out of class

Within the walls of my "classroom" and hardly the city limits of Paris, the exposure to the fundamentals of pastry and boulangerie have been coming in all forms. In class we have continued to build our skills of basic pastry knowledge and execution with puff pastry, pate a choux, and pastry cream, in multiple forms, such as: Religeous, Paris Brest, Eclairs, and more. Interestingly, in the United States, Paris Brest was one of my least favorite pastries, but it has been by far one of my favorites here. The taste of the praline pastry cream and powdered sugar covered pate a choux is just so...simply delicious.

On another note, I have had a recommendation to also write about my out of class experiences, and what better than last weekend at Europain. Europain is something I had never heard of before, but my classmates informed me that we were all welcome to go, for 20 Euros of course, but OH such a small price to pay for the incredible experience. It is, in my opinion, the BEST way to single handedly form opinions of multiple companies within a single space and time frame. I now KNOW a few chocolate companies that I prefer for only dark chocolate, or only milk chocolate, and why. Samples, explanations, packets, and did I mention samples? Bleh, I felt so sick at the end of the day I had to go home and workout just to even begin thinking I wasn't going to lapse into a sugar coma.

Other small expeditions have included my friends Stephanie and Patrizia going to the Champs Elysees for coffee and browsing. Buying? Haha funny. China town is very fun, and I highly recommend it for Sunday. Everything in Paris is closed on Sunday except the movie theater and China town shops. I had the best, and probably the only real Thai food today with my friend Nam. I thought I was confused going to Brasseries here? Man oh man. In China town you must either speak French or Chinese/Thai/etc...So, the menu is translated from Thai to French. Wonderful. Haha. This is why we make friends.

Who knew it would be so easy to buy things like aged Camembert cheese in my local market, but toilet paper is NOT to be had in Paris. I guess they just don't believe in it here? The strangest thing...I had to go to 8 different stores before I finally found some, and of course it was colored and scented. I kinda liked that...haha. Along the lines of strange grocery shopping, milk: 89 cents for a Liter, not so bad, Bread: practically free; seriously...50 cents for a 30 inch loaf? And ah yes, a cucumber: 6 dollars....wow. I was...confused? I mean, almost 5 Euros for a mid-sized cucumber, seriously? What is going ON? I simply cut particular vegetables out of the diet I guess.

If you ever move to Paris, you MUST learn how to push: elbow, shove, and...hm, spacially abuse one another? Haha. For anyone who knows me, space is a bit of an issue, and going to school in a metro car containing 50+ people in a 25 person space is...interesting. Who knew the elderly could throw such blows with no remorse? The key: .....J'ne sais pas... :/ Haha.

On a last note, I would have to say I love the French and almost everything about them. There has never been a time in my life where I thought everyone around me was dressing to impress someone, looking focused, and yes, enjoying things in life that I aspire to create, aka delicious foods and pastries. Aside from the lack of general organization when it comes to customer service, the actual civilians themselves are more welcoming than I ever could have hoped for.

Au revoir a la prochaine, Tanner