‘A visit to my new school’ was first published on bee-bakes.com, September 16, 2014
In less than two weeks’ time I’ll be leaving for pâtisserie school: exciting! I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not nervous—I’m not one of those people who think you must say everything is like, super-fantastic all the time. It’s not a good idea to dwell on the negative things, but it’s also not a good idea to pretend all’s dandy when it’s not, either! It is what it is; a spade is a spade etc. So there you have it: I’m nervous…and well excited, too! Bring on piping!
A couple of weekends ago Nick and I took a journey into Auvergne, the region of France I’ll be studying in. It was our second Big Fat Greek Wedding Anniversary (BFGWA)* so we thought we’d have a weekend away and check out the countryside. Last year for our first BFGWA we drove ten hours to south of Bordeaux, ate at the only place open, McDonalds, crashed in a hotel in an industrial park, got a speeding fine driving back to Lyon the next day—all just so we could pick up a gorgeous wee puppy. So now it’s the BFGWA and the AFA (Arrival of Fortescue Anniversary) weekend.
Anyway, I digress. Nick and I stayed in Le Puy-en-Valey which is down the road from my new school and home of Puy lentils, in case you thought it sounded familiar. For anyone who plans to visit France and wants to see more than the usual tourist sites in Paris, Provence and the Côte d’Azur, I would really recommend taking a road trip into this part of the country. It was once a volcanic area, but has been dormant for several thousand years. The result of the volcanic activity is that there are now kilometres of rounded hills called ‘puys’ and volcanic craters which make for amazing viewing. The first time we drove by Le Puy-en-Valey I thought we had somehow teleported to South America or anywhere but Europe. There were chapels and a giant statue of Mary teetering on the top of rocky outcrops and the undulating countryside wasn’t what I’d expected to find in France. Now I’m going back to this region for five months!
In less than two weeks’ time I’ll be leaving for pâtisserie school: exciting! I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not nervous—I’m not one of those people who think you must say everything is like, super-fantastic all the time. It’s not a good idea to dwell on the negative things, but it’s also not a good idea to pretend all’s dandy when it’s not, either! It is what it is; a spade is a spade etc. So there you have it: I’m nervous…and well excited, too! Bring on piping!
A couple of weekends ago Nick and I took a journey into Auvergne, the region of France I’ll be studying in. It was our second Big Fat Greek Wedding Anniversary (BFGWA)* so we thought we’d have a weekend away and check out the countryside. Last year for our first BFGWA we drove ten hours to south of Bordeaux, ate at the only place open, McDonalds, crashed in a hotel in an industrial park, got a speeding fine driving back to Lyon the next day—all just so we could pick up a gorgeous wee puppy. So now it’s the BFGWA and the AFA (Arrival of Fortescue Anniversary) weekend.
Anyway, I digress. Nick and I stayed in Le Puy-en-Valey which is down the road from my new school and home of Puy lentils, in case you thought it sounded familiar. For anyone who plans to visit France and wants to see more than the usual tourist sites in Paris, Provence and the Côte d’Azur, I would really recommend taking a road trip into this part of the country. It was once a volcanic area, but has been dormant for several thousand years. The result of the volcanic activity is that there are now kilometres of rounded hills called ‘puys’ and volcanic craters which make for amazing viewing. The first time we drove by Le Puy-en-Valey I thought we had somehow teleported to South America or anywhere but Europe. There were chapels and a giant statue of Mary teetering on the top of rocky outcrops and the undulating countryside wasn’t what I’d expected to find in France. Now I’m going back to this region for five months!
After checking out Le Puy-en-Valey and nearby Polignac, we headed to my new village, Yssingeaux, and had a two hour tour of the facilities at the château school, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie. Yes, that’s right people: my school is in a château—oh là là! There were several kitchen labs stocked with Kitchen Aids and industrial mixers, more stainless steel benches than you’d see this side of a stainless steel factory and lovely looking stone bench tops for pastry. Classes were ‘practising chocolate drizzling’, choux pastry was baking in the oven, prize winning sugar sculptures graced the windows and student work lined the hallways. The air was heady with the scent of sugary goodness as we peeked into freezers that provided a glimpse of the intricate cakes I’ll soon be making. Student’s miniature wedding cakes stood proudly in the foyer, while a staff member’s giant sugar sculpture design was constructed in one of the teaching rooms in preparation for the MOF**… In short, it was all happening.
The village itself is quite small with around 7000 people living there. Apparently the locals love the students because they bring so much business into the town, which is a good thing for me with my bad French! The Programs Manager from the school warned me that it will be a bit of a culture shock moving to a small place where everyone knows what clothes you wore to the supermarket the night before. He warned me that it will take some getting used to as all the shops close early. When I pressed him to define what ‘early’ meant, thinking 16h or similar, he said 19h…seven in the evening. Even though it’s been a few years since I lived at home, after growing up on a farm in rural Australia near a town where the shops closed at 17:30h and shopping happened fortnightly or weekly, at the most, I think I have a fair chance of surviving. Especially after living in the UK where there are odd Sunday trading laws that result in 24h supermarkets closing early on Saturday night to be able to re-open late on Sunday morning, making impromptu Saturday night BBQs impossible. A place where department stores open half an hour earlier on Sunday for ‘browsing’ time before you’re allowed to buy. With a little bit of effort, I think I can adjust…
There was an air of business and purpose about the château patisserie school, even though I was assured that it was a ‘quiet time’ because most of the students had gone out for an industry field trip. The staff and the chefs were extremely friendly, helpful and courteous and answered my long list of questions. At the end of the tour I asked Programs Manager what I could do to prepare for the course, meaning what should I read up on, buy, study etc. His reply was: I’d say prepare mentally and physically for the course… After that, there’s only one question left that no one can answer for me but time: just what have I got myself into?
*We were married twice: once in Australia and once in Greece six months later, hence the differentiation between wedding anniversaries!
**Meilleurs Ouvriers de France is a prestigious award given to artisans and competitions are held every four years. See the movie Kings of Pastry to get a taste of the action.