. deLuxique .: My Europe Travelogue - Part III

Having came from two beautiful cities in Europe and getting used to being in a clean environment, Paris was sort of a shock for me. Not that I haven't been to Paris, I have, 3 years back, but back then, I was so excited about the new country that I wasn't so observant about the surroundings.

My first day in Paris was filled with fear - as I travelled on their Metro and observing so many Blacks and Gypsies, I held on to my bag dearly. The first Parisian who greeted me in Paris when I touched down at the East Station was also a Black in the taxi but good thing was he looked more like a family man who was serious about his work in Paris than some crook out to target foreigners like me. He was fairly cordial and helped me with my heavy luggage when I reached the hotel.

Hotel Du Levant

This is the same hotel I stayed years back. It wasn't my choice of stay, for fear of reminisce and also that my impression of the hotel rooms was poor - bleak, small and without any view out of the window. Surrounding was noisy, with several restaurants and pubs at the street level.

I had to book this hotel at the last minute when I gave up looking for the best ideal hotel at its best locale. Good thing was I had the biggest room available and so I was sort of curious what was in-store for me when I arrived.

The room was good size - My habit is always to put the luggage open for easy access.
It scored brownie points for the good natural lightings too! EUR175PN

Street View from my room

Interiors of the Hotel

Fresh Flowers in front of my window

It was in the afternoon when I finally settled down. I decided to visit their Printemps in Opera, but ended up distracted by Galeries Lafayette - something I missed the last time I was in Paris as it was Sunday then and it was closed. I miss Printemps this time round as I had to rush for my first cooking class in the evening.

Cook'n With Class

When I first shared with my friends about my intention to learn cooking in Paris, some looked at me in disbelief (like I was some stupido wasting EUR180 per class and not spending time in a more worthwhile manner) while some warned me about the differences in herbs and spices that I will not be able to find here in our local stores.

Nonetheless, I couldn't care less. I just wanted to experience something different and since it was my first ever solo trip in Europe, I was MY trip and mine alone.

Arriving at the Jules Joffrin station, our Chef Constance was late. There were 4 other participants in the class - a retired couple from the States, and another pair of girlfriends from Australia, Sydney, of which one of them is currently working in London.

I had great fun exploring the markets in the streets (rue du Poteau) where Constance brought us to buy our ingredients. The practice is to decide what to cook only after buying what is available in the stores. I had my first lesson on Cheeses (well after all the technical terms I could only recall there are broadly two categories of cheese - one cooked and the other isn't) and there is a special term AOP on cheeses that are of fine quality and depending on the types of cheese, some rinds can be eaten and the correct way is to start from the lightest in flavor, to the strongest one.

And my, their bleu cheese was fantastic! The after taste was not so strong, unlike the ones I eat from Jones the Grocer!

This reminds me of "Who Stole My Cheese?"

The Green Grocery Shopping Bag which Chef Constance lugged

And so we continued to other stores which sell other stuff - poultry, vegetables and fruits. My, I was so impressed with the selection of the vegetables that I couldn't help but took photographs of them!

Constance: "Notice the colours of the feet? It does not mean any superiority in quality.
Just that they are different."

Fish: Which I am not so impressed. Well, I don't like fish!

Berries of all sorts! Their Strawberries look sweet, but I still prefer the Korean ones!

Cute mini potatoes. Good to serve with mains!

That's Basil Leaves for you.
We got several bunches of these to make Pesto Sauce!

It was a great experience doing marketing in Paris - doing as the Parisians do. When we were back in class, all of us were famished but had to endure the hunger pangs and concentrate hard on what our Chef had to share with us. Each of us were given small tasks to do while we observe how the meals were prepared.

So here's the menu of the day:

Appetizer

Salad with Toast topped with Pan-Fried Sardines & Home-Cooked Pesto Sauce

Main

Roasted Turkey Breast with Cheese and Sauteed Vegetables

Cheese Platter

Dessert

Strawberry Muffin with Berries

It was great fun at Cook'n with Class (check out their website at http://cooknwithclass.com).

La Cuisine

The next day was another early one as I rushed to get ready for my 0930hours class at Bastille. This time, the class was bigger, with all but three (including myself) from the States. As it was not as cosy as the previous class, I decided to really focus on the class (and not eating).

Instead of the stores that I went the evening before, this time was to their open air market which opens only every Thursday and Sunday mornings till about 1pm. I was really glad I registered for two difference classes with two different schools because I got to experience a wider scope of things.

The Bastille Market is a very huge one. Take the Metro to Bastille, exit at Rue de la Roquette and you walk across two streets and you are there.