Old Lyon

After a long and tiring week, Chelsea and I went to Lyon again. This time at Lyon, we went to the Croix Rousse area where there was a huge market.  We left early Saturday morning and had a cab bring us to the train station. This cab was not your typically cab, we think it was one of Ann Marie’s Friend. Ann Marie is our house mother who lives in the same apartment buildings as us. We go to her with questions. The cab had a really nice car and was really nice as well. He was also very cheap compared to the real taxi drivers.

 

Our Metro Map

We arrived in Lyon a little bit before nine in the morning. Once at the train station, we had to go on the metro to get to the Croix Rousse area. We had no problems purchasing tickets this time, as we are pros now navigating through the metros. While going down to the metro, this young lady, probably a couple years older than Chelsea and I, asked us how to get to Hotel de Ville. We could understand her a little bit as she spoke some English. Chelsea and I had a hand drawn map that our chef gave us for our first trip, so we told her just to follow us, because we were going to the stop after hers. We all made it to our destination without getting lost. The lady was very thankful. Chelsea and I both thought it was funny that we helped out a Parisian, when we hardly know how the metro runs. If it wasn’t for the map we would be right there with her.

The Market

The Market was huge. There were a lot of venders on both sides of the streets. I got a few fruits and vegetables while I was there. Everything is so cheap at a market. I absolutely love markets; that is one thing I am going to miss when I return home.

The Walk to Bellecour

After the market we walked to Bellecour, it was a very nice walk with spectacular views. We had to stop and ask for directions multiple times. We did run into another American guy who is studying there in France just like we are. He overheard Chelsea and I talking, and stop to talk to us because we spoke English as well. Come to find out he was from Seattle, Washington.

A Church in Old Lyon

Once we finally made it to Bellecour we ate lunch and purchased all of our train reservations at a SNCF office. We also spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the old city of Lyon.

Old Lyon

 This coming up week is a busy one. I am going on a field to Valrhona which is a chocolate factory, along with a Fruit Puree company. I am also starting a new class called Plated Desserts and I will be having a practical midterm this Friday. Oh yeah, I can’t forget about French, Thursday we will be making a video. Wish me luck!

Entremets

My third week here at ENSP, was all about Entremets. I was very excited for this class because this is one pastry that France is known for; almost every bakery sells them. Theses entremets are different from the ones back in the states. They are smaller, and are more up to date with the time. For everyone who does not know what an entremet is, it is a multi-layered mousse cake, with a variety of textures and flavors.

I had Chef Richard again for this class! This class began on Tuesday March 2nd, and ended on that Friday. Monday was a holiday here in France. It is the day where everyone celebrates Easter.

During the week we focused on five entremets. Each day we focused on a certain component for each entremet. By the end of the week, on Friday, we held a buffet to show off all of our entremets we made.

The entremets we made were Exotique, Pomme 'n' Nuts, Carburer au Café, Tête de Linotte, and Fruits Rouges/Amandes. Each entremet is made up of a crunch component, a creamy insert, a mousse, a sponge, and topped with a glaze.



Exotique Entremet

Pomme 'n' Nuts

Our first entremet, Exotique, is made with Biscuit Dacuoise Coco, Crémeux Mangue Passion, Mousse Coco, and Guimauve.

Our second entremet we made was the Pomme 'n' Nuts. It consisted of Biscuit Noisette, Croustillant Praline Lactee, Compotée de Pommes á la Vanille, and a Mousse Légère Gianduja Lactée. This one is one of my favorite entremets we made all week. It tasted so good.

Another entremet we made was the Carburer au café. This had layers of Biscuit Chocolat, Crémeux Lactee café, Mousse Au Chocolat Noir, and Glacage Ivoire Café. 

Carburer Au Cafe

Tête de Linotte is another entremet we made during the week. It was consist of a Pâté Sablé, Biscuit Brownies, Crémeux Caramel, and Mouse Légère Lactée. This was also a very yummy entremet, and is my second favorite!

Finally, our last entremet we made was the Fruits Rouges / Amandes. This entremet had layers of Croquant Amande, Biscuit Dacquoise Amande, Coulis Abricot, and Bavaroise Amande.

Fruit Rouges / Amandes

Tête de Linotte

 

 

I also had French class on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Wednesday's class was three hours long. It was the longest class ever. On Tuesday, we watched a French video of a chef making chocolates. We had to translate everything she said. In the end, we learned many kitchen and pastry words. This would help us for when we have to make our own cooking video in French. On Wednesday, class was used to help us prepare for the video. We had to translate our recipe that we will be making. I am not looking forward to this day. It will be fun, but I cannot speak French! We shall see how this goes.

Cross-Section View

It's been a long and tiring week. I am off to a different district in Lyon tomorrow, and hopefully we will be able to book the rest of our trips on the way home!

Barcelona, Spain

ROAD TRIP!

We’ve made it! After a long six hour car ride which turned into nine hours, we have finally made it to Barcelona, Spain. Friday night we began to prepare for our road trip by picking up our rental car. All the cars are stick, luckily for us; we had someone in our group who knew how to drive a standard. The car was very nice, we thought we were going to get a small beaten down car; however it was the total opposite. After we checked out the car and we were on our own, he had to reverse the car; however, the reverse function was a little bit different then back in the states. Since we could not figure out how to reverse the car, we put it in neutral and we had Joe, and Kelly push the car out. It was too funny. We eventually went back inside to ask how to reverse the car.


View driving to Barcelona

We left early Saturday morning March 30, at five, we packed the car and we were off. We did not have a GPS so we were going to Spain old school with  printed out directions. We started off great until we were about twenty minutes in. This was when we got off the highway and had to go through about three roundabouts. None of the signs had where we were going. Since it was so early in the morning, we spent our time going around in circles, stopping in the middle and reading all the signs. We tried each exit on the roundabouts until we figured we had to turn around. We finally went the other way and continued until we noticed that we were in Le Puy en Velay where we were the other weekend. We decided to stop at the train station to ask for directions. They gave us directions and continued to follow the signs until we reach the highway. Once we reached the highway it was smooth sailing until we got to Barcelona, and had to find our hostel. Somehow we found our hostel after getting lost yet again. While on the highway we had to pay close to 40 Euros in tolls on the way there. It was a little bit more on the way back. I can tell you one thing; there are too many roundabouts in Europe!


Las Ramblas

After we arrived to the hostel, and check in and unpacked, we made our way to Las Ramblas. The weather was perfect! The sun was shining and it was not cold. For everyone who doesn't know, this is a very busy street with a lot of tourist, shopping, and human statues. We spent our afternoon and evening like any tourist shopping, and dinning.

On Easter Sunday, we got up early and did a sightseeing tour of Barcelona on a hop on, hop off bus. The weather was beautiful out! There were three lines, blue, red, and green. We started on the blue line and eventually switched to the red line to see everything Barcelona had to offer. The green line was not running that day. There were so many breathe taking views. We saw everything such as the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Camp Nou which is the Futbol Club of Barcelona, Placa d’ Espanya, Poble Espanyol and Anella Olimpica.



Sagrade Familia

The Sagrade Familia was huge. It was still under construction which had begun in the late 19^th-century. I didn’t get to go inside of the cathedral because the line was so long. It was wrapping around so many blocks. I was so amazed just by the outside of it.

Anella Olimpica

Two of my favorite stops were the Futbul Club of Barcelona also known as Camp Nou and Anella Olimpica. Camp Nou is the soccer stadium. Everything there was all about soccer. The stadium was huge and I absolutely loved it. It would be so cool to play there while thousands are watching you. This stadium is known to be one of the world’s largest stadiums. One the other hand, Anella Olimpica was also very cool and amazing. This is where the 1992 Olympics were held. I got to see the stadium where soccer was played along with track and field.

Camp Nou

Placa d’ Espanya, and Park Guell both had great views. Both of these spots were great for pictures and to take in the breath taking views.  

At the top of Park Guell

Poble Espanyol

Finally, I visited Poble Espanyol. This is a Spanish village where I had a nice lunch outdoors and got to go shopping in the village. It was great here with more fantastic views. However, it felt more like a castle then a village.

Chelsea and I spilt up from the rest of the group, so we could see more. We ate a nice lunch in Poble Espanyol, and continued the tour until the end. Later that night, Chelsea and I went out for dinner and went to a bar to get some drinks. We each got a strawberry daiquiri. They were so good and much needed; however, they were 10 Euros each, but totally worth it!

We left early the next day to drive back to Yssingeaux. Before we got to Yssingeaux, we stopped at the train station to book our next trip to Paris!
The ride back was just as long as the drive there. We left at 9:30 in the morning and got back at 6:30 in the evening, after making a detour to the train station. Yes we got lost! We actually got lost coming home from the train station.

This week I start my entremet class. I am eager and excited to learn about entremets, as they are very popular in France plus our project is on creating our very own. Check back later to see how my week in entremets went.

Boulangerie

Chef Damien and I

This week was all about breads. The name of this class was called Boulangerie which translates to bakery in English. I had a new chef. He was just as great as my first one and he has really nice blue eyes. His name was Chef Damien.

This class began on Monday March, 25. I was not too excited for this class because breads are one of my least favorite subjects to study. I find it very boring as there is a lot of waiting around for the bread to rise. However, just after the first day, I did learn some new techniques and formulas that I love. One of my favorite is Pâté Levee Feuilletee Sur Pâté Fermentee which is our croissant/laminated dough. It was very easy to laminate and fold this dough. There were not so many steps involved. It also had brown butter in it which was very different from the formula back at home from JWU. However, in the end, these croissants and chocolate croissants were so good!

Buffet Table

Monday was also one of my friends birthday. Since our group of five could not all be there due to class that Monday night, we celebrated her birthday earlier on Saturday. We ordered pizza, watched a movie, and celebrated with a raspberry entremet and Kinder Eggs! It was such a great time and she was surprised about the birthday entremet!

Alain Ducasse and I

Tuesday was just as exciting. We had class like we normally do, however we had a special presentation that day. We got to meet Alain Ducasse. He is a very famous chef that is known worldwide. He also founded and is the owner of the school, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie, where I am studying here in Yssingeaux. We had a question and answer session as he talked about himself and his career as a chef. Alain only spoke French, so he had a translator there for all of the English speakers, like myself. I also got a picture with him; it was very exciting to meet him. The most exciting part was when he came into our kitchen and we took a class photo for the local newspaper. I made it in a French newspaper!!!! The next day right after class I went down into town to pick up a couple of newspapers. I made it on the front page in color with a couple other classmates! However, I have no clue what it says! Who knew, I would be famous in a newspaper in France! 

On Wednesday, and the beginning of Thursday, we continued to prep for our buffet that was being held later in the morning on Thursday. Once again the buffet came out great. We got to look and evaluate all of the bread we made during the week. We also got our chef to make some cinnamon buns that day. We were told by the administration, that he makes the best cinnamon buns, and they were right! They were absolutely amazing!

Joe, Kayla, Chef Alain Ducasse, Chelsea,
Tabitha, and Kelly

 I continued going to French Class, and let me tell you, it is not getting any easier for me. Luckily for me, I am half way done with my sixteen hours. However, I found out we will be doing a project video next week, and will have class for three hours! Hopefully this project is easy and class flies by. I’ll keep everyone posted for sure. 

Instead of having class on Friday, we had a presentation on our Entremet Project. We also received our chef whites with our names sewn on.  The presentation went good and we got to start planning out what we will be creating for our entremet, which we will be making in the next couple of weeks. I am excited to start making my entremet; hopefully it will turn out how I want it too! 

Well, my weekend is just about here and since it is a three day weekend, I am going to Barcelona, Spain. This will be an adventure of a life time! I hope everyone has a good weekend and a good holiday, Happy Easter!

Le Puy En Velay

At the Market

After a great day at Lyon, we came back and got ready for our next trip on Saturday, March 24 to a very small town called Le Puy en Velay. We caught the first bus out of town at 9:10 in the morning. This was a very short bus ride. As we arrived we walked to the center of town to find the market. We could not miss the market; there were so many venders all over the town. While at the market, I picked up some fresh apples, broccoli, bananas, and some rotisserie chicken and potatoes. The market was very cheap. We all got fresh fruits and veggies for a low price! The market ended at noon, and soon after we explored the rest of the town until the last bus came at 6 in the afternoon. We went into so many cute shops and bakeries.

Throughout our journey in Le Puy we came across a public park called Bienvenue Au Jardin Henri Vinay. In this cute little park we saw some goats, doves, peacocks, and some deer. It was so cool to see all this animals especially the deer, because I am so accustomed to them back at home. There was a buck and a couple of does. They all had spots on them, and the buck had a big rack. I had to take a picture to show my dad and brother who are big hunters.

Le Puy en Velay was a very relaxing day, in a quiet town. It was nothing like the city. This coming week I start a new lab called Boulangerie which means Bakery in English. Basically, I will be making many different kinds of French Breads all week! See you all soon.

Notre Dame

OnlyLyon

St. Etienne Train Station

Bellecous

Today was the first day we adventured outside of Yssingeaux. Our first stop was Lyon! We left early Friday morning, March 22 (since we had no class) to catch a bus in town to take us to the St. Etienne train station. As we arrived in Lyon we had to take a metro to get to the district Bellecous. It took us a while to figure out how to pay for a day ticket on the metro. The machine was not accepting our cards, so we had to get Euro coins. Once we figured that out it was smooth sailing until we reached our final destination.

Lyon is the third largest city in France. It was very breathtaking as we came up from underground! There were so many beautiful views and many expensive shopping boutiques. We spent most of the day shopping and exploring the city! We stopped and finally found after searching, looking at maps and asking people in French (who we didn’t understand) where the OL store was. This is the Olympique Lyonnais soccer store. Here is where I got a souvenir for a friend. This store was amazing. It had everything soccer there! We also checked out many pastry shops as we are all pastry students and I bought my first chocolate pastry, grand cru, for only 3,40 Euros. It was so good, if you are a chocolate lover like I am!

Grand Cru

 

Before we left to adventure back home to Yssingeaux, we had our first French dinner all together. We ate at a small restaurant called Café Perl. Luckily for us, they had menus in English, so we did not have to guess what we were ordering. I got pasta with chicken and parmesan sauce. I was thinking the sauce would be red, but it wasn’t. However it was still very good.

As the day was coming to the end, we made our way back to the train station to where our house mother, Ann Marie, picked us up at the Retournac train station. She brought us back to our apartments as our personal taxi.  

Streets of Lyon

Overall today was a great day, and we made it to and from Lyon without getting lost! I am so proud of us all. I am glad I planned and wrote everything down and very thankful my chef gave us directions for the metro!

See you all soon on my next adventure to Le Puy en Velay!

Petit Fours

Monday started my first class here at ENSP. Each class is a weeklong and we cover a certain topic. This week we were making petit fours. I was a little nervous at the beginning because I was not sure what to expect. However, it ran very much like my other labs back at JWU.

My chef was really nice, his name was Chef Richard. He has an Australian accent. He told me on the first day right after I met him that I was going to be the sous chef for the whole week. This meant I had to help him out and make sure the kitchen was up to par.

Chef Richard and I

The class began at 6 in the morning. This meant I had to wake up at 5 every morning to get ready and walk to the castle. From where I was living to the castle, it was about a 10 to 15 minute walk. Not only was today my first day of class, but we woke up to a blizzard and had to walk in the snow.

The Castle

As 6 o’clock arrived we entered the kitchen. It was nice and big and very different to the ones back at home. I was very much amused by both the refrigerator and the freezer. They looked like old boxes in the wall. We also had a dishwasher in the kitchen. This was new to all of us because we are usually doing all of our dishes by hand in the pot sink. Once we figured out how to use the dishwasher it was great!

Refrigerator and Freezer

Everyday we get a break for breakfast. We get a choice from fruit, cereal, and fresh bake croissants. I had Rice Krispies this morning, however I had to eat it in a stainless steel cooking bowl, and it reminded me of a dogs bowl! I also ate a chocolate croissant. Yummy French breakfast!

Though out the week, we made many different French petit fours. These included items like a Sable Breton, Pate a Choux, different types of Macarons, Canneles, Brownies Caramel, Financier Chocolat, and Smile Chocolate. We were given a formula packet for the week; each recipe was in French with English translation so we could get use to their language.

I also learned many new French words that relate to the kitchen this week. These include words like une maryse which is a spatula, un cul de poule which is a stainless steel bowl, un fouet which is a whisk, une triangle which is a bench scraper and une corne which is a bowl scraper.

The next three days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were just as good as the first day! We continued to prep for the buffet that was held on Thursday with all of the different petit fours we made. Wednesday was also the first day of French class. For the whole time I am here I have to take 16 hours of French. Wednesday was the beginning of the first two hours. I was very confused the first day and had no clue what the teacher was talking about. He would ask was questions and we would have to respond. I had no idea what he was saying and I could not pronounce anything. It was not fun! However, the second day of French which was on Thursday was a little bit better. I figured out how to read both a bus and train schedule. We also learned our numbers and letters. I was feeling better after this day, as I was slowly beginning to understand the language. However, I still can't pronounce half of the French words!

Thursday was the last day of petit fours. We made some last minute chocolate decorations and put together the rest of the petit fours that we made all week. When everything was finished we put it all together on a buffet table to show off all of the products we made during the week. Other classes came in to check out what we made and to sample everything. Overall the buffet table came out great, and I learned so many new ways of doing things. I can't wait for my next class to begin next week!

I am looking forward to this longer weekend to travel and to catch up on sleep. Check back soon to see where I went this weekend!