Au Revoir Paris!

I have been meaning to tell you about my last few weeks at Le Cordon Bleu for some time now.   I was side-tracked by the second half of 2011, but after ringing in 2012, I am ready to knock some things off my resolution list.

In May, with a few weeks left at school, I received the upsetting news that my grandma was diagnosed with cancer.  A week later I got a call that had me on the next plane back to the US.  My dad, fifty-one years old and a seemingly healthy man, had gone for his daily 3 mile run and collapsed in cardiac arrest.  It was over ten minutes before the paramedics were able to revive him and he was now laying in a medically induced coma while doctors worked to prevent brain damage.  Back in the US I was reunited with my family as we kept vigil at the hospital and hoped that the 50/50 odds my dad would be able to wake up were on our side.  To all the family and friends who visited us and reached out during that time— thank you, it meant so much.  I’m incredibly grateful for the wonderful nurses and doctors at Mercy Fairfield Hospital and the Arctic Sun technology that cools body temperature down to 90 degrees and helps brains heal after oxygen deprivation.  It has been about 8 months since those tense weeks in May and I am happy to report that my dad is back to his old self and claims bragging rights to the ability to “hold his breath” longer than anyone else in the family.

Although I missed my final exam at Le Cordon Bleu, I had come too far to quit without a diploma.  It took some convincing of the administration to allow me to come back to just take the final exam.  “As the rules stated,” I needed to take the superior course over again since I missed the exam.  But, there is a certain technique to getting what you want in France, and after a few bisous for their derrières I was on my way back to France. 

My final exam sugar piece with pulled and poured sugar

The Chef said my sugar flowers were beautiful, but made him sad because I put them "on the ground" of my sculpture.  Sorry Chef, but I do believe flowers grow from the ground.

Receiving my toque and LCB medal with the famous blue ribbon

Paris was the experience of a lifetime.  At Le Cordon Bleu I learned pastry techniques from esteemed chefs and sampled fabulous food and wine.  I traveled throughout France, skied the Alps, spent a weekend in Amsterdam, spotted celebrities at the Cannes film festival and visited pastry school friends in Israel.  I am so grateful for my incredible parents for all of their encouragement and helping to make these experiences possible.

As this will be my last post on this blog before I leave it here in cyberspace, I would like to bestow on it a dedication.  To my Grandma Bonnie.  She shared with me her recipes and philosophy in life—keep on laughing.  She taught me how to gamble and my first few words of “French.”  But greater than any of those things, she had an unconditional faith in me that was always a source of comfort.  My life is better because she was a part of it and her faith in me has contributed to a confidence within myself.  Sometimes, all we need is to know that others believe in us to take a chance and embark on an adventure. 

Alright, Oprah moment over.  My adventures continue in a new city, New York City to be exact.  Visit my new blog Sugar Coated Life to read about food, fashion, and all things fabulous. 

Bisou, bisou,

Maggie

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

-Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast