Translated from the French this means...Let the Cooking Begin!
As you may remember Tom got us cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris for Christmas. This past weekend was our first weekend (of three) and it was bread making!
But first, let's go to the weekend before that trip...
It was an overcast day and we wanted to get out of the house. We decided that a short trip to Neuchatel. Neuchatel is a small town about 30 minutes north of Lausanne and it sits on the Northwest side of Lake Neuchatel. It is a beautiful little town and a nice day out. Take a look...
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| The Neuchatel Riverboat... |
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| A view along the lake... |
The town has a few wonderful quirks, including a pier that goes out into the lake and a giant park bench for relaxing.
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| The pier with glass panels... |
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| Me relaxing on the bench! |
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| The water was crystal clear... |
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| ...& the sunset lovely! |
It's definitely a cute little town!
Now, let's move on to the main attraction! A weekend of cooking, eating and exploring in Paris!
On Friday afternoon Tom & I boarded a train in Lausanne bound for the amazing city of Paris! To make it even better it was Valentines Day! After a brief 3+ hour train ride we were in the City of Lights!
We checked into our hotel, the lovely & quirky St. James, and had a romantic and delicious Valentines Dinner...
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| Interesting decor... |
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A Wonderful Valentines Dinner
Including Live music,
Martinis & My Honey! |
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| A grand mansion hidden in... |
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| ...the middle of the city! |
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| Just a great atmosphere... |
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| ...& fun interior! |
The next morning we were off to the Le Cordon Bleu Paris! Founded in 1895, Le Cordon Bleu was the place where Julia Child took her training while living in Paris. From the outside it definitely not what I expected but inside it definitely lived up to it's reputation!
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| Tom & I outside the school... |
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| ...on your mark, get set...bake! |
Our first class is bread baking! Today we would learn the fine art of baking many different styles of bread including baguettes, country style bread, rye bread, olive & tomato fougasse and kugelhof (a dessert bread). Our teacher and chef was Olivier Boudot who has won many titles including Champion of France at the French Breadbaking Cup in 2009 and in 2012 won the Swiss National Competition (Bakery Trophy). The class was taught in French but we had a marvelous women, Rhona, who translated everything for us.
After receiving our aprons & tea towels we were off to the kitchen to start baking...
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| Tom's dough ready to rise... |
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| Me, taking 100 notes... |
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| Chef Olivier Boudot |
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Chef weighing out some dough
while Rhona (our translator)
described everything... |
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| Mix the ingredients into dough... |
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| ...knead the dough... |
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| ...beat the heck out of the dough... |
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| ...& form the dough! |
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| Place in racks to rise... |
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...then score with a razor
before baking!
Lots of work & lots of Fun! |
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| Many forms from simple... |
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| ...to a braided country loaf... |
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| tadpoles that turn into... |
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| ...a lovely country loaf of bread! |
As to not bore you too much we can skip to the end...
When finished you get to take everything you made home with you...
Here is what Tom & I ended up with...
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The table in our hotel room!
For breakfast we just ordered coffee, butter and jam! |
It was an amazing day of learning new things, meeting new people and most of all...cooking with my honey!
After a full day of baking bread it was time to enjoy a little dinner and enjoy just being in Paris!
Tom was in the mood for local oysters so we asked the front desk for a suggestion - we were sent in the direction of a small place called Stella's! After a delicious meal of oysters, escargot, tripe and sausages...we wanted a little dessert. When in Paris one must have a Chocolate Eclair - so we each ordered one to enjoy! Take a look at what we received...OMG!
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Each Eclair was about 14" long and just filled with
chocolate goodness! If we only knew...we would have
only ordered one! |
The next day we decided to explore the city and have some lunch - so we went down towards Notre Dame and Ile-de-la-Cite' (City Island). Many, many, many years ago I was in Paris with James, Greg and John. While there we ate at a cute little local place called Auberge de la Reine Blanche (Hotel of the White Queen). We had the most amazing meal and the decor was just charming... 15-20 years later I wanted to take Tom there. It is still cute and charming with amazing food! The funny part of the meal was when I mentioned to the 20'something waitress that I had been here 15-20 years ago and loved the place. She responded to me with '...you know the management has changed...right?'. I just had to laugh and enjoy!
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| The Auberge de la Reine Blanche! |
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| Revisited many years later... |
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| The inside is exactly as I remembered |
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| In this case - you can go back! |
Lastly, we headed over to Notre Dame...
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| Still majestic! |
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| Still beautiful! |
It was time for us to head back to the train and back home. We decided that since it would be dinner time while we were on the train - we would make a picnic of it! We definitely had enough bread so all we needed was a little cheese, a little pate and a little wine! Dinner was served! It was one of the best ways to finish off a beautiful, amazing, wonderful weekend on Paris with my honey! Can't wait for the next one...
On the home front...
Tom is busy with meetings at work and watercolours, while I continue to play with ceramics...
I finally finished my jigsaw puzzle trivet and I think it came out pretty nice. Next, I have to start working on Christmas stuff (no comments please)...
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| Came out pretty nice... |
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| Homemade ornaments for all! |
Everything else is pretty calm and we are just looking forward to the warmer weather.
To end I would like to wish my niece Christina and her finance Blake a wonderful wedding day (March 1). We wish we could join them on their special day but they know our thoughts are with them for a wonderful life together!
To the rest of our family and friends...we wish Love and Happiness!
Ciao for now!
Ron & Tom
