Day 16: A Piece of Cake

Friday was by far the worst day I have had since moving to Paris.  To the average American, me included, living in Paris probably seems like a fantasy, and most of the time it is, but sometimes it is not all that it is cracked up to be.  It can be lonely, tiring, especially cold, you have to take public transportation every day multiple times, and to top it off, there is dog poop on sidewalks EVERYWHERE just waiting to be stepped in!

While Friday started off like a seemingly perfect day, it quickly turned into the worst day ever.  My group was only scheduled for one class from 12:30pm to 3:30pm and we were going to be making a cake called a Mocha that we'd observed in our demonstration class the night before.  The cake seemed like an average two layer iced cake that could potentially have been served as a gourmet birthday cake.  It seemed like it would truly be "a piece of cake" to make.

When we entered our kitchen we were greeted by Chef Deguignet.  While we had watched him perform demos we had never had him as the Chef in our kitchen for a practical class before.  It was clear from the beginning that he was going to be especially strict.  He didn't really want us talking, he constantly wanted to hear "Oui Chef!" and he was forever telling us to do everything faster and faster.  His presence in our practical class made everyone tense and put us all in a bad mood.  There was suddenly no positive energy in our kitchen.

As we went along trying to put our cakes together things got worse.  The cake proved to be much tougher than it looked to assemble.  It required a glaze, icing, and creative, yet traditional, decorations on top.  I cannot explain what happened during that class, but it was the first time I felt like I wanted to quit. I just wanted to walk out of that kitchen and not look back.  It was a terrible, angry feeling.

Then, just when things seemed to be getting really dark, our favorite chef, Chef Bernarde, walked in and asked us to stop what we were doing so he could talk to us.  He told us that he was sorry to be informing us that he was leaving the school and today would be his last day.   It was truly as if someone had sucked the air out of the room.  No one knew what to say at first, we were all heartbroken.  Then we asked What?  Where are you going?  When are you coming back?  And he told us, smilingly, that he was going away to pursue a new adventure.  And just like that with a few smiles and blown kisses he was gone.  I really think every single person in the room was close to tears and from the looks in my friends' eyes they had the same distinct idea in their heads that I had in mine, I'm ready to throw this cake at the wall!

But that's not what a pastry chef does.  No matter how bad your day is or what's wrong inside, you have to make the outside shine.  You have to finish the project no matter what because someone is counting on that cake. While it was only a practice cake on Friday, it could be a birthday cake or even a wedding cake someday soon and that thing needs to be completed to perfection.  So, I took my time, I finished my cake and when it was done Chef Deguignet told me I'd done a good job.

My Mocha Cake (It really was kind of pretty.)

I can't really explain how or why this did not make me feel better, but it did not.  I took the cake down to the communal hall and left it there for everyone to have a piece.  Then I went to a cafe with my friend Lydia to drown our sorrows.  We talked about Chef Bernarde and we talked about the class we'd just finished.  We also talked about living in a foreign country and how hard it can be.  After two glasses of Vin Chaud, or hot mulled wine, we both went our separate ways to decompress.  Around 8pm I went out with Lydia and two of our other friends for dinner and while we had a really great meal, something was still amiss.  We couldn't stop talking about how awful we all felt about our day.

I think the positive thing that really resounds with me after this experience is how quickly people can grow together when they are working in a very close environment.  While it was a crappy day it was fantastic to know that in only 4 weeks I've made some awesome connections and some great friends.  Our night ended up very fun and we all got in bed at reasonable times anxiously awaiting Saturday and the culmination of French pastries-Croissants.  So, thanks for listening to me complain.  I know it can't always be a bowl of cherries every day, but let me be clear, a bad day in Paris usually does beat a bad day anywhere else!

Until next time Au Revoir and Bon Appetit!