One Year Reflections

View at the Last Picnic
May 2006, Champs de Mars

I miss Paris.

I miss walking in that beautiful city at night, watching the lights reflecting off the Seine.  I miss lingering for hours in a café, watching the chic and the shabby go by.  I miss restaurants where there is usually only one seating, and you can chat endlessly over a half-full glass of wine, never feeling rushed.  I miss baguettes, cheese, pastries, wine, picnics, chocolat chaud, spending my entire food budget at Pierre Hermé.  I miss wandering the outdoor produce markets and bantering with the sellers.

I even miss squishing in the Metro, walking till my feet are about to fall off, crappy Asian food, endless lines, expensive everything, old ladies with their lethal chariots, and understanding 50% of what people are saying.

*sigh*  Ça va?  Ça va pas.  I've finally had Paris withdrawal.  In the last 2 months since leaving, I've been traveling, too busy to stop, think, and reflect.  But now that I'm in a lull before my next move, the memories have seeped back into my consciousness.

Exactly one year ago on this date, I was sitting in the second floor demonstration room at LCB Paris for the first time.  Happy Anniversary to my cooking school accomplices.  I was nervous, scared, but excited to finally be there.  Looking around at the faces around me, I wondered, "Will these people become close friends or just passing acquaintances?  Will I actually cook well after I finish?  Will I be able to speak French when I'm done?  Why am I here again?"

I recently printed out some photos to give friends at home a glimpse into the last year of my life.  I had thousands of photos to sort through, and choosing only 250 was incredibly difficult.  Flipping through the finished album, I saw good friends, amazing trips, some of the best food I've ever had in my life, and experiences that I could have never predicted for myself. Life was good and gave me so much more than I was hoping for.

Random memories flood in unexpectedly, like my walking route from my apartment to H's: past Opera Garnier, down towards the Louvre, through the magnificent courtyard, across the Pont des Arts, and along the side of the Seine towards Notre Dame.  I did this so many times I knew every little shop, every café, every corner along the way.  The city cast her spell on me, and she still lures me back from thousands of miles away. I catch myself thinking of places to eat and visit when I return, wondering how much the city will have changed in my absence.

Paris, this mademoiselle is anxious to be back. 
A bientôt.

Bon appétit!

Comments

[mich]

i miss it too. i wish i could've experienced half of what you did! i'm so proud of what you've accomplished! congratulations to you!

[David]

I'd be happy to send you a care package from one of the Chinese take-outs (not that there's any lack of 'em around here.)

You can always come back in the future, when perhaps some of those little old ladies will have become a little more, um, docile...

[Andy]

Though I only had 6 months there, meeting all of you and the times we had in that city was the most amazing part of Europe for me. I'll never forget it and I can't wait to go back. I'll see you all at our reunion!!!

[Andrea]

Wow… This Blog is EXACTLY what I am feeling, Only I am moving FROM San Diego TO Paris. I start LCB Le Grand Diplume in the spring, and can not wait! I truly have been enjoying your blog for the past week, and it does put my mind at ease knowing what I am in for. There is another blog that I have been reading from a woman who went to LCB as well and did her stage at Guy Savoy… I was (embarrassingly) exited when you mentioned that you got to tour the kitchen and met a girl who was staging there! Its funny how Paths cross. I would love to pick your brain if ever you have a moment.

[Mélanie]

Paris doesn't change... except 1 or 2 shops sometimes. Dont worry.

I have passed about 2 or 3 hours on your blog, from work, I'm going to be killed by my boss !!!
But it has been a magical moment, to read about all theese magnificiant meals and desserts. Thank you.
But I'm hungry now, and would kill for chocolate mouss.

I was in Paris wednesday and went to Ladurée, but didn't know about Pierre Hermé !!!! It's planed for next time.
I'm lucky I have one of his "old suttents" in Lyon where I live and so I can buy an Ispanha any moment (but not the ice cream version I'm affraid) !

All this to say, that I love your blog and will add it in my favourites at home.
Dam' my fridge is desperatly empty, so no hope of cooking something terrible tonight, but beeing a good cook, I will go for lots of your recepices time to time.

It's a chame I am frensh and have no idea of what some cooking vocabulary mean, or what exactlly is lb !!!
* Mélanie *