A little bit of this and that, here and there......

Whilst July was a slow month of fun and sun, August seems to unravel at such a rapid pace. I've had back-to-back sessions in school almost everyday with little time to catch up on notes from Chef's demos, let alone blog updates. We've just completed our written exam which constitutes 10% of our grades and by noon next Friday, we would have wrapped up the final demo session with less than one week to go thereafter before our finals. They've revealed the potential 10 - a list of recipes that we've made during our practicals throughout the entire term and on the day of the exam, the Chefs will pick 3 out of 10, then each of us will need to draw from that same pool to ascertain what we'll be baking for the final exam. We'll be given 2 1/2 hours to complete and present our bakes to a panel of internal as well as external Chefs. There's also a technical section that every student will need to complete within the same duration, in addition to the recipe which we'll be making. Grading will be based on organization, technique execution, presentation and taste. During yesterday's briefing session, Chef gave us a pep talk, stated that he has confidence in us, we'll all do just fine and also mentioned that while chances are slim, it is possible to fail the finals, especially for pastry students. That's so motivating.
The pressure's on!
I'm hoping that I'll get to make this for the finals

or maybe this, which was one of my favorites

but not this

or this

I've learnt a lot from school this past couple months but it's just a scratch of the surface. The initial doubt about the curriculum is slowly diminishing as we get deeper into the program and the Chefs share more about the minute yet critical details for our bakes.I'm still hungry for more on the science of baking and hope that there're more nuggets of information in the subsequent levels. I've also gotten to know a few Chefs better (vice versa) and they've been encouraging. The past three weeks' bakes have all been good and overall I've been pleased with the results. We also had couple of new Chefs overseeing the practicals and since they were new, they were very thorough and fairly objective when it came to grading.  That was quite a refreshing change from before. 
Paris has switched to a more tranquil mode in August - the sweltering heat replaced by cooler winds and occasional showers, the peak-hour Metro crowd has reduced as Parisians flocked out of town but unfortunately, replaced by hoards of tourists during the off-peak periods. 

Paris Plage

Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the overall slower pace in the city

....discovering little treasures at my own leisure, like this gem of a gelato place in St. Germain des Pres

Italian-style gelato in a zillion flavors made with all-natural ingredients

the staff scooping and forming the "petals" in the cone as she piles on the gelato. The kicker is, you can pile on as many flavors as you like. Yes, unlimited amount; trickiest part would be choosing the flavors (I'm too fickle-minded and the flavors are all so tempting) and hoping that the flavor pairings are complementary

my fabulous florette of chocolate and speculoos gelato with rapsberry and apricot sorbet. 


I also threw a small dinner and wine party last week. My friends from LCB were thrilled to have dinner with a full view of Eiffel Tower, much better than Jules Verne dining experience, n'est-ce pas?!

When it comes to food, there's really a wide variety that you can find in Paris, although I stay away from Japanese and Chinese food in my neighborhood  which, in general, are poorly done and tastes nothing like the original cuisines. I do, however, love to visit the open markets for fresh fruits, vegetables and freshly-prepared foods

Delicious potato galettes at the Sunday morning Raspail Organic market

cheese stand at Raspail Market - supposedly, Ina Garten buys from this vendor all the time

and I finally trekked to Marais for this

standing in line for falafels at the famed L'as Du Falafel in the Marais district


I also attended a concert in one of the most beautiful church I've ever seen

Eglise St. Chapelle

where I was not only mesmerized by the beautiful sounds of the ensemble, but was also "smitten" by this talented violinist. What happens in Paris stays in Paris, alright?

no, not this one, it's the other one....on the far left

On a serious note, my stay in Paris is now nearing an end and in less than a month, I'll be heading home. It feels as though it was just yesterday when I had first set foot here. I thought it's also interesting to note that I started to bake at home on a frequent basis just a year ago, then I had this epiphany and now I'm here in Paris 12 months later. Surreal. It'll be over 2 1/2 months since I saw D and I can't wait to see him again. In fact, he'll be here in Paris with me soon and I can't wait to show him the little treasures I've discovered in Paris, my city. I think I can call it my city now, peut-être?