Today we had the opportunity to visit the Rungis Market, known to be the largest wholesale market in the world. Due to the fact that the market operates mainly between 1 and 11 AM, we made sure to be up and ready to take the bus at 3:45 AM, probably the earliest field trip I have had in my life, totally worth rising early. Rungis is composed by five huge markets within the complex, Fish, Meat, Dairy/Cheese, Fruits and Legumes, and Horticulture markets. Accompanied by our gracious tour guide Philippe, we received a very detailed tour of the fish market as well as a brief tour of the other four markets, this gentleman is very passionate about the history and logistics of his company, which made the tour a lot more interesting.

Besides having a lot to sell, this market also has a long story to tell, one full of interesting facts our tour guide was pleased to share. We split the time between the tours and the bus, which was used by Philippe as a scenario to tell us the history, fun facts, and operation processes of the Market. It was overall a great experience, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit such important food trading market.

Fish Market

Mr Philippe (Tour Guide)

Meat Market

Cheese Market

Horticulture Market

Vegetables

Today was our first day doing hotel tour at Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel. Jocelyn, the sales manager and Anne from human resources did a presentation on the hotel history and background. The Ambassador Hotel first opened in 1917 and was named the biggest hotel in Paris for having a 1,000 room, but now its only 300 room. After the presentation, they accompanied and showed us a room and the rooftop executive lounge. The view was magnificent!

After our lunch break, we did our first walking tour at Palace de la Concorde. Stephanie, Murielle, and Natasha covered a lot of information on their project from the history of the obelisk to the hotels and garden nearby.

The restaurant / kitchen tour at Assemblee Nationale led by Frank Languille was very thorough. He explained all the details on how this restaurant and kitchen operate. There were a lot of stations in different floors and three different type of restaurants (cafeteria, fast service, and fine dining). Again, the view from the restaurants was as beautiful as the hotel!

Hotel Ambassador

Hotel Ambassador’s restaurant Haussmann 16

Hotel Ambassador when it first opened in 1917

Walking tour at Palace de la Concorde

Cheese tasting

Restaurant Assemblee Nationale

Sunday fun day! My favorite day of the week, our 9th day in Paris and it is all coming along. Today was the last day of the “Programme du Salon de la Patisserie” so a few classmates and I decided to experience the world of French Pastries. The Salon was full of different booths from; “Le Macaron par Bruno Laffargue”, “French Touch” to “Le Cordon Bleu” and so much more. There was also a few competitions among the favorite local artisans as well as pastry classes. Not to mention the tasting and the goodies! It was a beautiful and amazing event.

Since it was such a beautiful day we also went to the “Palais de Doree” located at the Bois de Vincennes. The Palais offers three different attractions: ” Le Musee national de l’histoire de l’immigration” ( The National Museum of the History of immigration). The Palais history including its architectural style and the one we visited; “Aquarium Tropical”. Since it was a group of us we only paid 4.20 euro and the experience worth way more than that!

overall it was a fun and beautiful day. let’s take a look at the pictures!

long line but it was moving fast!

Ready to eat my favorite macaron colors!

Sweet Art Booth -Chef demonstration of ” Cacao and Tomate”

Very tight pastry competition!

Palace of Versailles.

Some of my peers and I decided to go to the Palace of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles is a big palace that was once the residence of the king of France Louis XIV. In order for anybody to visit this beautiful palace, tickets are needed to be brought online with a specific date and the events that you want to see. Upon arriving at the Palace of Versailles, the beauty of it is indescribable to even put into words. There was a ton of places within the palace that took up most of my memory on my phone because I couldn’t get enough of how beautiful and majestic the place is. The design and the architecture inside and outside of the palace is mind blowing. To see the craftsmanship and the details, its indescribable to put into words. There was a little hiccup on the ticket concerning the night show but it was all sorted out  in the end. Being at the Palace at night is looking with a new perspective and a whole new world. Everything inside and the outside of the palace is lit up. The fountains inside the garden was lit up with different colors along with a water show and classical music that paired up with it. At 10:50pm they had a firework display that was being held in Neptune’s fountain. Even though today was a long day for me and for some of the others, I’m glad I got to experience this breathtaking event. If you are going to the Palace of Versailles in the near future, I do recommend taking everything in and getting a ticket to the night show, it is definitely worth the wait.

Inside of the Palace of Versailles at night.

My favorite place of Versailles.

The garden.

The Palace of Versailles at night.

Night show fireworks.

Today was the fourth and last day of Culinary and Pasty classes.  Today we cook lunch for the Dir. of Lycée Des Métiers and our professors, Professor Warner and Zinder.  We all also received a Certificat de Formation. It was a happy day for some but also a sad day.  For example, I will not miss the long commute but I will miss the fun and the learning opportunities that were had in the kitchens.  Chef Sandrien and Chef Nicolas will truly be missed.  The weekend is finally here and it is time for a small break.  It seems like this trip has been non stop since we got to Paris. Each day is running into each other.  I do not know what day it is.

Yvonne, Cherish, Destiny

Table set up for Lunch

Certificates

Another day at Brunoy! Today wasn’t as dreading to get out of bed as yesterday because most of us slept-in for another 20 minutes since the meet up time was at 7:00AM instead of 6:40AM. As usual, it was a long train ride, some took naps, some stayed awake. We arrived at Saint Pierre Institute fairly early, around 8:55AM, all because the bus that gets to Saint Pierre was right there when we got off the Metro RER D (We got lucky). The class started at 9:30 (ish), and our goal was to finish cooking/baking by 12:30. and WE achieved that! We were afraid it was going to be like yesterday’s disaster and not being to eat until 1:30ish. I felt the menu was pretty straightforward and easy. The appetizer was Thai/French Style Mussels. The Entree was Fillet of Cod with mushrooms, and finally the desserts were various flavors of macarons. The meal was delicious, especially the macarons! After eating, we all cleaned up as a team, and made our way back to the hotel to relax. I went into the city (Paris) to roam around, shopped a little. Then ended the night with eating frozen food (too lazy to cook), but IT was pretty good for what it is. wasn’t that filling though.

Cleaning Mussels for the Thai/French Style Mussels

Stephanie and Joe plating the mussels!

Cherish, Murielle, Destiny, Welthy, and Sarah helping plating the Cod Fish!

Joe & his macarons!

The Paris Group!

First Day Going to Brunoy for Culinary Classes at Evry University! – 13/06/2018

Gare De Brunoy

The first day of culinary class at Brunoy, Evry University, was exciting! We woke up very early to make sure we got there on time because it we were also trying to memorize how to get back since we were supposed to get back to the hotel on our own. This ride was full of energy, anxiety, and happiness because we were on our way to have our first ever culinary class in Paris. We arrived at the school on time and our professors and the director of the school welcomed us with some pastry, coffee, and orange juice, what a nice warming welcome.

Ready to Represent City Tech

Brunoy, Evry Univeristy

This picture was taken right before we started getting ready to stat our first day of class. We were so ready to start our classes and to practice french with our new professors. Right after this we changed our clothes and got ready for the kitchen in Paris.

On Stage

The group was divided in two teams (A & B), team A was located in the baking kitchen and team B was located in the culinary kitchen. Team A made Tarte Chiboust Strawberries, Tarte Bourdaloue, Apple Tarte Soufflee, Passion Tarte Souffee, and Mango Tarte Tatin. Team B made Brochette croustillante de mignon d’agneau aux amandes quinoa et panchetta and Scallops salad.
It is interesting to mention that our first day of Baking and Cooking was a little challenging at the beginning because in the U.S. we use Oz. and in Paris they use Kg.

Our Family Meal

After few hours of cooking, sweating, and learning, we have plated and prepare our table to enjoy what we have all cook. We all ate and talked about our experience and how good the food was. Right after eating we cleaned the kitchen and the cafeteria and we left the school to go shopping.

The day was cloudy and rainy but it did not stop us from exploring the city after class. The group split and we all went towards different directions. I personally went to Galaries Lafayette Haussman where there are tremendous amount of tourist and a lot of stores with all type of prices, from Gucci to H&M, from Saint Lauren to Zara, etc.

Indonésia Restaurant

After shopping with some students of the group, we went to a Indonesian restaurant. This restaurant is part of professor Hoffman’s guide and it is amazing! It has a great menu, tasteful food, and great customer service. We enjoyed our experience and highly recommend it as well.

Today was our trip to Champagne! Although we had a 6:55 am call time, we were all looking forward to better understanding the process and complexities of champagne. The group was able to take a nap in the most comfortable bus ride. Upon our arrival our tour guide Ben showed us a movie of how Moët & Chandon makes their champagne. We were then given a tour of the dark and cold (so the wine is of excellent quality) wine cellar. We proceeded into the tasting room where the class was able to try  Moët & Chandon’s Imperial Champagne. There was a small detour when the alarm went off but once we were given the all clear, the class was able to go back into the gift shop to make purchases.

The next champagne estate visited was René Geoffroy. Although it was not as big or largely marketed as Moët & Chandon, their wines were of exceptional quality. The class was also able to tour the cellar (although some parts were under construction) and try champagne. This time there were three champagnes to be enjoyed. The first was the “vintage expression” which Reno (our tour guide) advised as a champagne to be had for any and every occasion. The second wine, “empreinte 2011” this had more notes of cooked apple and a sweeter aroma with more bubbles. The third wine was the “rose de saignée.”

Geoffroy Champagne Estate- the three champagnes tried during the tasting

An assortment of macaroons from Ladurée

Riddling Machine

bonjour classe!

Reno as he mise en places for the champagne tasting

The dead yeast decent to the neck of the bottle.

Moet and Chandon Estate

Both estates use the three grapes to make champagne: pinot noir, chardonnay, pinot meunier. The day ended on a sweet note when the class celebrated Professor Warner and her engagement with and assortment of macaroons from Ladurée.

We had a very productive day. Last night Professor Warner told everyone to meet in the lobby at 9:15 SHARP so we can all walk to the metro together. Those who were late would have to walk there themselves and possibly take the 13 line alone. Of course no one wants to be left behind, so everyone made it apparent to be there on time. Some students were running a little late, myself included, but luckily Yvonne ,one of the liaisons, was their to pick up any stragglers and we made it just in time to take the metro with our colleagues. The train stations in France are similar to that ok NYC. The only differences is that it is cleaner and more sufficient (faster and no delays). We took line 13 all the way to Champs Elysee-Clemenceau, which was nine stops away from Malakoff Plateau de Vanves. Once we arrived there we meet up with Professor Zinder. She gave us a tour of Paris and some history facts. Here are some pictures of what we came across:

Professor Zinder told us about some places to go shopping on Rue Cler, but due to it being close to the Eiffel Tower the prices are higher. As we were walking some students started to get hungry so we all stopped by Moulin De La Vierge. Some students received crepes, croissants, and also coffee. Once we arrived at the Eiffel Tower, there were merchants tryin to sell us keychains, selfie sticks. etc. We learned about why the Eiffel tower was created, needed a centerpiece for the world’s fair. The engineers who helped in the building of it; the names are showcased along the middle of the tower. As we were there we noticed that they were doing construction work  on the bottom of the tower so we weren’t able to walk through it. Instead we walked around it and saw the entrance to get inside. After Professor Zinder finished giving us the tour, it was then time for each group to go visit their tourist sites for the walking tour project.

P.s. The weather forecast was suppose to be rainy but the day turned out to be hot with frequent breezes.