Sun in Provence, Snow in Paris

As part of the Abroadco program package, we are entitled to attend a demonstration at the Cordon Bleu. Last week Anna, Cara, Cara's mom and I all took advantage of this opportunity to pick up some secrets of the Cordon Bleu chefs. We watched the chef prepare an Asian flavored chicken salad and sea bass with shellfish. I was most impressed by our chef's ability to butcher and fillet an entire bass. Granted it made me a little sick to my stomach to see blood squirting everywhere while he hacked away at the fish with a hatchet, but I can appreciate the skill involved. Each dish was fairly complicated, definitely not something that I could replicate at this point in my cooking career but it was eye opening to see the attention to detail coupled with speed in everything the chef did in the kitchen. The food turned out flawless. To me, the sea bass dish was perfection.

The weather was beautiful all week and on Friday, Anna and I had a mini picnic on the grass at Champs de Mars (the park in front of the Eiffel Tower) and attempted to soak up a little sun, not that we needed to as we left for Provence the next day.

Our last excursion with Abroadco was an overnight trip to Aix-en-Provence and Cassis. Provence was so beautiful, never a cloud in the sky the whole time we were there and it was warm enough to wear a dress without tights (although I think I may have blinded the population with my city "tan"). In Aix on Saturday, there was a huge outdoor market that sold everything from lingerie to table cloths to produce and flowers. We arrived too late to spend much time wandering around but it was quite a bustling spectacle that spanned several of the town's squares. We took a walking tour of the city and learned of its history. There was a church in one part of the town that contained architectural remnants from 3 different time periods: Roman, Gothic and Baroque, it was sort of strange looking but a neat voyage through Christian architectural history. Aix is full of college age students and it was a fun change from the more reserved energy of Paris. The one disappointment/surprise of Aix was that many more people were rude in comparison to Paris.

The second day we went to Cassis, a seaside and vineyard town. It is the home of Creme de Cassis, the key ingredient in Kir. While there, we took a mini boat cruise around the inlets along the coastline. I fell in love with the Mediterranean. After the cruise we were left to our own devices so Anna and I had a long meal sitting in the sun. We tried the regional aperitif, Kir Royal, and I had some of the best scallops of my life. After filling ourselves to the brim we hung out on the beach, hoping for a little tan. We could only put our feet in the water because it was so cold but it was such a treat to be at the ocean. When we arrived home everyone was riding on a high from two whole days of sun, only to be hit with freezing weather that brought snow to Paris on Monday morning. I loved the south and can't wait to go back!