Paris, France: Up early this morning to get the children ready for school, except I did not have to prepare lunch for them because we were going to a cooking school. The four of us were going to learn how to make croissants! Is there anything more Parisian?
Okay. Apparently there is - a macaron class. One was happening in the kitchen next to ours. Little girls, giggling. No doubt on a sugar high.
I chose Madison Fleuret Cooking School because it was recommended by a Paris restaurant critic I follow and it was just a few blocks from our apartment, so was a bit bummed when an email received Sunday morning stating the location would be changed to another space about one mile from us. It was fine and a quick walk, but we had to leave the house at 8:30a (strict instructions to NOT BE LATE!) only to have to stand outside the school for ten minutes until they let us all in at 9:10. That was annoying - especially as the sun doesn’t rise until 7:30 this time of year, and it was COLD. But that was the only issue. The class was fantastic and our young teacher could make croissants in her sleep. She was also patient and great with the three kids in her class. There was another little boy and he was also called Leo. What are the chances?
If you have ever made croissants, just skip ahead. A dough is made with flour, milk, sugar, salt and yeast. Balls of the dough are rolled out to long rectangles, approximately 8x18” or so. A slab of cold butter is placed over the dough rectangle and then the dough is folded over the butter to seal it inside, rolled again, and once more so there are 12 layers of dough and butter. Then the dough (easily resembling the stuff you see from Pepperidge Farms) is left in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, the layered dough is rolled out again, cut into long triangles and rolled-up like a snail to create the croissant we all know and love.
The school cleverly has the class from the day prior prepare the dough to the next day, so our dough was ready for us to roll and cut into shapes to roll.
Everyone had enough dough to make two croissants and two pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant).
Then the pastries were coated in an egg wash and set in a warm place to proof for 40 minutes or so.
we prepped dough for tomorrow’s class!
It was a very interesting class and our classmates were a fun group - Americans from California and New York, and one German. Just as our class was tidying up and packaging our pastries, the gaggle of girls from the macaron class next door stopped by to trade their sweets for our buttery pastry. Clever girls.
We stopped back to our apartment to off-load the pastries - more than a dozen in all. No idea how we are going to eat them all. Leo wanted to visit a shop on Rue Montaigne. Lucile wanted to visit a shop in the Printemps Department Store near Gare du Nord. To save time, DT decided it would be best to take a taxi up to Printemps and walk to Leo’s shop… then wander back to our apartment. This would still be about four miles, but had already walked two miles round-trip to our class.
After Lucy found her desired item at Printemps, she decided she did not want it. Maybe she could buy it cheaper in the states - even though she wanted a souvenir for herself from Paris. We turned on our phones and found the item could be delivered to her house in Los Angeles before she returned from Paris. She hemmed. She hawed. Then she decided she didn’t want it at all.
Off we went towards the river to find Leo’s shop - a men’s clothing store I had never heard of. He went in with a photo of the tee shirt he wanted. Sold out, but the clerk she could sell him a $6000 cashmere hoodie. Another shopping experience that included no buying. Dave called this a very successful shopping trip.
No matter, it was well past noon, so we sat ourselves down in a pretty little cafe for salads/light lunch, while discussing our route home. We were, by this time, very close to the Eiffel Tower, but we had all been to the tower on previous trips of Paris and did not feel the need to stand in line (in the cold - again 53 degrees and windy) to climb up again. Photos on the bridge worked just fine.
The kids found a climbing wall along the river:
Leo thought it would be interesting to visit Napoleon’s tomb at Invalides… and as it was on the way back to our apartment, we headed that way, walking along the river.
To the rear of the above photo is the Grand Palais with green glass domed roof - newly reopened after an extensive remodel. This building, and the Petit Palace (across the street from her) were built for the 1900 World Exposition.
The back of The Thinker statue is visible over Rodin’s garden wall as you walk along the east wall of Invalides, so the kids had a little art today!
Invalides is surrounded by a (now dry) moat. Louis XIV built Invalides in 1670 for a hospital and old-age home for soldiers. Amazingly enough, soldiers still live in the complex, but the compound also has a massive chapel, a war museum and tombs of famous war hero’s - number one being Napoleon Bonaparte.
Our continued walk back to the apartment did not happen. We spent so much time in Invalides, and the sky was turning so dark/windy, we caught a taxi back to Saint Germain in time for our dinner reservation.
Dave was sitting next to the remains of a massive stone tower in the restaurant that appeared to be ancient. I wondered if it could be part of the famed Philip Augustus Wall - the original wall around Paris - over 800 years old. It seemed to have been placed inside the restaurant as an art piece though… but we asked our server. She was completely surprised we knew about this wall (more about this tomorrow), but said it was indeed original and the restaurant is built around it - without touching even one bit of it, as required by law. Wow. This was an amazing find, especially as the first time we dined at Brasserie Dés Pres we were seated in the opposite side of the building and did not even get a glimpse/hint of the amazing history within steps.
Another little adventure planned for tomorrow.
PEDOMETER: 17,495 steps. Seven miles.
Until my next update, I remain, your well-schooled correspondent.
LINKS:
Maison Fleuret Cooking School
Brasserie Dés Pres
The baked goodies looked delicious.
You had a Louis Vuitton bag on the train. What is the name of that bag? Wonderful trip albeit a cold one!
It is a 14 year old Iena.