Petit Fours Class

Petit Fours was the first week long class we had.  After my first experience with Petit fours at JWU and whole awful the teacher was, I was actually looking forward to this class.  It was much more enjoyable and Chef Pierre was awesome!  His English wasn't as bad as he (or I) thought it would be.  But here are a few pictures to make you salivate.  Sorry :)

This is our final buffet presentation with everything we made!

Orange Curry Macaroons on chocolate, with Orange Jelly, Orange Curry Whipped Ganache and a White Chocolate Decoration.

Chocolate Macaroons with Chocolate Ganache

Strawberry Macaroons with Whipped Lemon Ganache, Fresh Strawberries, and Strawberry Marshmallows.

Chocolate Macaroon on Melted Chocolate with (wait for this....) Praline Ganache, a chocolate disk, Milk Chocolate Ganache, and another Chocolate Disk with the school logo on it.

We made some other stuff too... but our whole class, including the teacher, usually forgot to take them out of the oven in time.  So they were all slightly darker than should be and didn't look as pretty.  Here is a group photo of our class with our buffet set up :)

And the next shot for your enjoyment, was when the photographer told us to make a silly face.  Apparently I was the only one who heard him.

Au Revior for now!

My visit to Le Puy-en-Velay

These next few posts are going to be slightly out of order, but I visited Le Puy today and it is fresh on my mind so let me share my experience with you.

Le Puy-en-Velay is a small town about 30-45 minutes away from Yssingeaux.  We took a bus there this beautiful Saturday morning since we heard they have a market on Saturday morning.  Our first stop in

Le Puy-en-Velay was to pick up our train tickets for a couple of day trips we booked to Paris and Venice.  That was interesting!  Thankfully people speak some English and are usually more than willing to help, but booking our tickets took over an hour!  I am happy to report that those trips are successfully planned!

Le Puy is beautiful.  It is a larger city than Yssingeaux so it has much more going on.  It even has traffic lights... which I have yet to see in Yssingeaux.  It is known for the Cathedral of Notre Dame and another church. You can usually see these perched high on top of two hills in the town.  One was down do to maintenance, and the other... well..... sipping wine at an outdoor cafe seemed more appealing at the moment then climbing a ton of stairs.  Actually, when does that not seem like the better choice?  Anyways, here are a few pictures from the town!

Here are the public markets that are set up on the streets.... very cool!  There is one in Yssingeaux, wish I forgot to take pictures at this week.  Will follow up with some next week!

We had a pretty relaxed day in Le Puy.  We walked around and shopped and were on the hunt for a chicken truck because we heard they serve the best chicken.  Luckily... we found one!  They only sell chicken and potatoes.  They throw them altogether in a bag and you eat them like that. No forks, no napkins... just you eating chicken and potatoes out of a bag.  Very good.... but VERY greasy!  It was probably the best chicken I have ever had.  Luckily I will have the memory of this chicken forever because I am pretty sure that there is a greased size hand print on my tank top.

We also had the chance to stop for crepes!  My first crepe in France!  Now on a previous note... I have never been a crepe fan, but if the ones in America tasted like these then I would be in trouble!  This one was a nutella crepe.  Hold on, let me wipe the drool just thinking about it.

After a crepe, we walked around the block and decided it was about time to rest.  We sat down at an outdoor cafe and ordered a glass of wine.  It was so different ordering here.  There was no menu, the waiter asked "red or white, dry or sweet?"  That was the extent of ordering.  Whatever kind of wine he brought to the table had to be the most delicious wine I have ever tasted. 

We then decided that now was a good time for another crepe.  Damn they are addicting.  This time it was caramel.  Just as good as the nutella.

That was about all the eating we did in Le Puy.  Lord knows we didn't need anymore!  Well I will leave you with a few more pics from the trip before signing off for the night! 

Au Revior!

I have arrived!

So I know my posts on this page have been minimal, obviously since this is the first one.  But a minor computer problem let to me not being able to post until now. Let me tell you about my worldly travels so far...

My flights here were pretty good, besides a little confusion as to what terminal I leave out of in Logan, all in all it was a success.  The Madrid airport was slightly confusing, and my lack of attention in high school Spanish didn't help at all.  But I got to Lyon just fine!  I arrived in France a day early and stayed at the airport to make sure that I got the bus for school at the right time.  The hotel luckily spoke English.  I think the first REAL confusing part of this whole excursion was figuring out how to flush the toilet in the hotel.  Honestly took me about ten minutes.  Who knew that a giant plastic plaque on the wall, not attached to the toilet and looks nothing like a button, was the button to the toilet.  Guess I am the dumb one! 

The next day I met all my class mates and we were off to Yssingeaux (pronounced ease-sain-joe for anyone who cares).  The bus ride was only about an hour and a half which wasn't too bad!  We quickly settled into our bungalows and prepared for a welcome dinner.  We also quickly learned that the walk to school wasn't a nice walk in the park.  Apparently Yssingeaux is very hilly.  I can now officially say to my grandchildren that I had to walk up hill both ways to school when I was their age.

But enough about that.  To put it simply, France is BEAUTIFUL!   The first weekend we were here it was about 70 and sunny everyday.  Here are just a few of the pictures of my new home for now.  More to come, but right now I must get ready to walk to the supermarket (yes we walk everywhere!)

Here is the view from my bungalow.... sucks huh? :)

Here is my school...



And some of the tempting desserts we get...





Au revior for now!