Montelimar, first impressions

OK, we've been living here a week. Here is our life, so far, in pictures:

Old-timey keys are super awesome. I can't really explain it--they just feel good.

One of the few original city gates that is still intact. This is on the north end of "centre ville," the old walled city that is now "downtown."

Here you can see the gate from the inside. This was actually taken from right outside the Internet cafe I'm sitting at right now!

When not at the cafe, we get free Internet when we sit at this fountain. Not bad, eh?

The streets look like this. See, even puppies love it!

Here is the patisserie where Josh works, right in the middle of a central square. It's been here for 70 years at least.

Here is the outside of our apartment building. Clearly it was, at one time, a storefront. We're on the second floor.

This is the inside of our front door. The landlady said her husband created the mailboxes himself.

 This cool, old lamp hangs in our entryway.

These steps lead to our front door. They look pretty unspectacular, but they're made of actual stone. They've been here a very, very long time.

Inside our studio apartment. Like I said, it's pretty basic. Had to hide some of our suitcases under the shelf in the kitchen--classy! And the shower is, simply put, super lame. Too small to be enjoyable. The couch is actually a futon.

The patio actually makes our little place seem quite big. As you can see I did laundry this morning and hung it up to line dry like a proper Frenchwoman.

That's all for today. I'll try to take more pics while I'm out and about--maybe at the Saturday market!

Part Deux: Montelimar

We are finally here in Montelimar, nougat capital of the world! Ha. Seriously, though, after about a week here, settling in, I'm really beginning to like it here. The city is quite a bit bigger than Yssingeaux, with tons of restaurants, three movie theaters(!), a few different kinds of museums and several nice parks. The apartment we finally found is a studio, "semi-furnished," meaning it came with a futon bed, a coffee table, a very old chest of drawers and a hot plate. The landlady is super nice, though, and understanding our situation she came back with some pots, dishes, a sheet for the bed and a minifridge. The building itself is super cool! It's in the old part of the city, which used to be walled, and she says it was built in the early 1800s. We have those old-fashioned keys that you only see in old-timey movies ... or France.

Josh had his first day at his internship yesterday. I think it's going well, though a film crew came in today from Valhrona, so he spent yesterday cleaning the pastry shop kitchen and today sort of hanging out while the chef was on camera. The shop itself is very nice. It couldn't be any better situated--it's smack in the center of town, in the main market square. And the pastries there are delicious. I've only tried a few so far, but I'm definitely impressed!

Stay tuned for more. This week I plan to take pictures of our apartment and of the town.

Graduation day!

More than five months have passed since we left our cozy world of Northern California and made our way east, over an ocean, and into the heart of France. Yesterday, the students in the French Pastry Arts program gathered for one last time at the chateau to reflect on all the hard work, determination, passion for pastry and creativity that went into completing their course. Several of the students--Josh included--had family in attendance. The school staff offered heartfelt congratulations and even a few tears for the class. And their beloved chef, Kyung-Ran Baccon, prepared personalized speeches for each of them.

Words can't even describe how proud I am right now of Josh--and all of his classmates. The FPA program at ENSP, while it had a few hiccups here and there, was really quite amazing. I'm really excited to see what everyone will do, not just in their internships but after.

Sitting here on the Saturday after graduation in our Yssingeaux apartment, we have said goodbye to almost all of Josh's classmates, who are making their ways now to where their internships will be. Cindy went to Paris; Lizzy to the Alps town of Thonon-les-Bains; Jeneva will be going to Bordeaux after traveling with her parents for a while; Ani went to Lyon; and Yulia to St. Etienne. Tomorrow Josh and I will drop off Clovis in the nearby town of Monistrol. Then we're off to Montelimar first thing Monday. Wish us luck!

One. More. Week.

I can hardly believe that exactly five months ago today, Josh and I were boarding a plane from Chicago to Paris. This whole adventure was ahead of us. The reason for that adventure--and the only part we knew how to prepare for--was five months of pastry school in a little town called Yssingeaux. 

On Monday and Tuesday Josh and his class have their final exam. On Thursday, his dad gets into town. And on Friday, he graduates! Well, he won't officially receive his diploma until he finishes his internship. But the ceremony will wrap up five months of hard work in the lab, as well as classes in French, food technology and hygiene. And it will mark the end of phase one in France and the beginning of phase two. Stay tuned ...

Plated desserts, anyone?

By now you've seen the cakes. You've seen wedding cakes! You've seen eclairs, chocolates and breads. But have you seen plated desserts?? Basically these are desserts that you would order in a restaurant rather than in a patisserie or other storefront. Here you go!

 This is a chocolate shell filled with vanilla ice cream.

Here, Cindy demonstrates how you pour the raspberry (framboise in French) sauce on top at the table. Super delicious.

This is another ice cream dish, but it includes pineapple (ananas in French) and the little liquid dropper at the back is filled with rum. So, when you get this at your table, you lift the dropper to spread the rum.

I got one all to myself! (OK, I shared ...)

This deliciousness basically tastes like an Oreo-cookie sundae. 

The dessert of the moment in France is the macaron. Here they have a regular macaron on top of a large macaron filled with cream and rum-dipped cherries.

This is another chocolate ball, filled (I believe) with strawberries or raspberries and covered in a beautiful shiny glaze.

A few of the others included tarts--mango, apple and lime (left to right).

Nice job!!

Delicate flowers

Last week Josh got a compliment he wasn't expecting: He was praised for his delicate flowers. Apparently big guys like him can't usually make the small flowers--but he did! This was all part of wedding-cake week. The class made traditional French wedding cakes--called croquembouche ...

This is Josh's croquembouche from two angles.

And then they made cakes that are more closely tied to American and other cultures, though you'd be hard-pressed to find anything quite like this in the U.S.

 Josh with his masterpiece. They worked for days on these.

Delicate flowers indeed!

The class and the other cakes.

Another view of the cakes.

The next step

We finally have some more to share about Josh's internship! We visited the town, called Montelimar, over the weekend and it is really very cool. Its population is about 60,000, it's located on the Rhone River, and you can still find parts of the medieval wall that once surrounded the city.

In addition, Montelimar is home to some genuine quirkiness. While we were there, we visited the Museum of Miniatures, where many of the exhibits were so small they had to be viewed through magnifying glasses. It's also famous for its nougat--the town's unique nougat recipe including honey and egg whites and was created in the 17th century. You can even visit the Palace of Sweets and Nougat in Montelimar!

The town is easy to navigate and it's full of shopping and restaurants. Definitely more going on there than in Yssingeaux. There was a Renaissance Fair going on the day we were there.

The pastry shop where Josh will be an intern is located smack in the middle of the "centre ville" and was opened in the 1930s. You can see a picture here--they do everything from small cakes and pastries to chocolates, ice creams, jams, syrups and, of course, nougat.

Exciting times ahead, with just a month of school left.