Laundry in Paris

It is not common for Paris apartments to have washer and dryers. As I found during my search. I was able to land myself an apartment with a washer – but no dryer.

I am determined to be as French as I can during my time here. And so, out came the clothesline. Here was the chaos of my apartment yesterday. (I think the apartment will forever smell of Tide!)

Do not worry – the end result was satisfactory. (For those of you that can’t tell, I’m a Virgo. And yes, each pile has a specific “assignment” for my use.)

Le Cordon Bleu - Orientation

Sun rise today was 8:45 a.m. Rather late compared to the U.S. By the time I made my first official walk to school the sun was starting to peak through the Paris sky – beautiful.

Today was orientation. Orientation in three parts.

Part One
Greeted by coffee and croissants I took a seat in the second row, middle section of the main demonstration room. The academic director entered the room and welcomed us into the school and into our programs. There are 86 of us, in both cuisine and pastry. After the welcome, some ground rules, and of course, the history of the school we got a chance to introduce ourselves.

Cuisine and pastry students were segregated from the beginning, leaving 30 in my section. We all had a chance to say our name, where we are from, what languages we speak, and why we chose Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. I must admit that in the first five minutes of being in the school I was already tearing with joy.

The room looked like this.

Isreal (1)
U.S. (8; LA, San Fran, 2 NM, 2 NYC, Chicago, et moi: Utah)
S. Korea (2)
Italy
Portugal
China
Columbia
Japan (3)
Brazil
France (3)
Turkey
Thailand
Canada
Taiwan
Greece (2)
Dubai
U.K.

Part Two
We made our way from the demonstration room to the Winter Garden (I am not sure the origin of this room other than it has no heat and was freezing). Here we were given our uniforms, knives, scale, etc… We all tried on our uniforms for size in the world’s smallest locker room. Luckily, everything of mine fit just right! All that was given to me came home so that I can play and personalize it all (mark my name on everything).

Part Three
A quick visit to the administrative office to ensure that we were paid in full and ready to be launched forth.

__________________________

All students, cuisine and pastry, came together for some light refreshments of brie, baguette, fruits, and pâté. After a bit of socialization I made my way home - to rest for tomorrow’s full schedule.

Oh, schedule you ask? Yes I did receive it – and it is the most complicated, seemingly unorganized thing I have ever seen. I am sure there is some logic. That which I hope to learn soon.

The friendships have already begun to bind and will manifest over the next few days. The energy of this morning was full of excitement and nerves.

I woke up today feeling good; physically, mentally, and emotionally. Things are settled, happy, and in progress.

Amoureux partie

Terminal 2. Hall E. 9:15 a.m. We embraced.

As I held his cheek close to my ear I could feel warmth. Warmth from his heart. Out-pouring love. Wishing good luck on my first day of school tomorrow. Hoping for a speedy recovery from my cold. Loving me to my core.

I didn’t want to pull away. I didn’t want to see his eyes again, because I knew it would be my last opportunity for some time. I told him that I loved him. I warned him of flying safely. And made him promise to call the moment he lands.

Then we stepped back from each other’s arms – the place that has brought comfort, peace, joy, congratulations, love, and laugher. Tears in both our eyes, we kissed. Said I love you, one last time.

We turned our backs to each other and walked in opposite directions. James through airport security. I toward the train for Paris. I welled inside. Yearning for him.

I turned down the hall for the train to find myself alone.

This is so strange, I whispered to myself. CDG is one of the busiest airports in the world and there I was utterly alone – in the dark.

I sat down. And exploded with tears.

I have never felt so vacant and so lonely in my life. Time in the U.S. was 1 a.m. – too early to call my parents, or a friend. I've yet to meet any friends in Paris.

Alone. With my heart aflame of passion. I cried. Not a gentle sob, but a verbal wail.

I knew that this day and this moment was coming. I just didn’t know how terribly hard it was going to be. The laws of happiness were not clear to me at this moment. I was fulfilling my life-long dream, yet I was so unhappy. Confusing my heart.

Snot was already stuffing my nose from the cold – by now I was unable to control the flow. I rushed for the bathroom.

After settling my nose down and catching a breath I looked up in the mirror. I saw comfort. I saw the excitement about starting Le Cordon Bleu tomorrow. I saw the, “Hurrahs,” and the, “Go get ‘em’s,” from my friends and family. I saw my husband full of pride for me. And I saw myself. I saw the strong, confident, life-living soul of mine. I wailed one more time – part sadness and part lion’s roar.

I made no attempt of wiping my face dry. I turned toward the door. Exited the bathroom. Bought my ticket. And waited for the next train to Paris. The -3 Celsius (26.6 Fahrenheit) wind that ripped through the platform was quite sobering.

I sobbed quietly to myself here and there on my hour, fifteen minute ride home. When I reached the Dupleix Métro stop I was composed and ready to move forward full steam ahead. I headed to the bank - practicing French in my head - ready to wire some money to my landlord.

I cry as I write to you today. Tears full of every emotion. Happiness about living my dream. Sadness for being alone. Frustration for my broken French. Anger for my sickness. Relief for getting myself here. Anxiety for tomorrow. Comfort from you. Peace from within.

"You feel pains of all sorts when you are alive, but then, it is better than to be dead."
Tunde Alan-Taiwo

Jet-Lag Crazed

As my Facebook status says, “Anthony Fassio and jet-lag are not getting along.”

I have traveled to Europe and Asia many times before and have never quite had the struggle with getting adjusted as I have this time.

I am asleep by midnight, but wide awake at 3 a.m. I am sawing logs by 6 a.m. and down until 1 p.m. What is the deal?

The day of my arrival I forced myself to stay up until 10 p.m. Thinking that this would automatically switch me over. Not so much. What am I doing wrong?

I am starting to get worried about being ‘fresh’ for my first day of school – which is in 2 days. Tuesday. 9:30 a.m. School begins with orientation. I am excited and nervous, oh, and tired!

This is how James and I feel these days...sleeping at the most inappropriate moments.

Settling In

The first meal after an eight hour time change is always eclectic.

Upon arrival into Paris, James and I first met the landlord, Falih, at my apartment. With no traffic from Charles de Gaulle we were 10 minutes early. As we stood on the street, luggage galore in tow, we both began to take in our surroundings. We sensed immediately that there was something ‘foreign’ to this land. James turned to me and said, “Are you going to be ok here? Are you ready for this? Can you do this?”

“I think so…I mean yes! Yes, I can do this. I am ready,” I replied.

Then I stopped to think, “Paris is here. The day that I thought about for so long was upon me.” And so we jumped right into life here.

Once we finished the neighborhood tour and some coffee with Falih, we did our own walking tour of the land.

Our first stop was at my bank to handle some business. Nervous as hell about speaking French, I put my head down and barreled my way up to the receptionist. As I proceeded to ask if Mme Bidi was available and if I could pick up my check book in French I began to calm. I was calm until the receptionist responded to me.

“They are talking back to me, why?” I thought to myself. I had been so worked up on what I would say, that I forgot about what they would say. So after a mumbled moment of mine explaining that my French is not that good – we determined that I should come back on Monday for my check book.

Heart racing, we left the bank and started our ‘dry-run’ to Le Cordon Bleu from my apartment. The 1.5 km was slick. Passing many shops, cafes, hotels, and venues that all need to be explored. James and I were secretly hoping that the school would be open and that I would be able to retrieve my schedule. We weren’t so lucky. We gasped at the epic-ness of what is yet to come for me at LCB, smiled at each other, and started the walk home.

By this point we were ready for some food. We trialed an organic grocery store, Bio. Once we navigated our way into the store we picked up some items for dinner; camembert, pizza with chèvre, potatoes for James’ mashed potatoes, a small baguette, some fruit for the morning, and salami.

Not quite sure what dinner was going to be, I began boiling the potatoes for James. The only means of getting the potatoes mashed was a fork – and that wasn’t going to happen. So once the cooked, cubed potatoes were finished I sprinkled them with some salt, dashed them with a bit of vinegar and slapped a nice wedge of camembert on top.

Eclectic is was. Delicious as hell!

Bonne Année

I was asleep – not sure if it was it was a nap or my night’s sleep, the jet-lag is still with me. But, I was awakened by a sparkling light and cheers of jubilation.

The sparkling, of course, was from the Eiffel Tower which can be seen from my apartment windows. And the cheering was Paris welcoming 2010.

Happy New Year! I hope to catch some of my American readers before their new year settles into their homes – Best of Happiness in this New Year!

The direct flight from SLC to CDG was so easy. All 9 hours and 45 minutes ‘flew’ by (no pun intended) with eating, sleeping, and day dreaming.

When the rest of the aircraft was restlessly sleeping I was gazing into the darkness thinking about my time to come. I anticipated my arrival into Paris. Thought about what I would say to the cab driver – beginning to panic that I had forgotten the conjugation of aller. I thought about meeting my landlord and seeing the apartment for the first time. I contemplated what the first day of school would be like.

Above all, I felt peaceful. Happy that this moment finally arrived. Ready to begin 2010 full speed ahead.

This is what New Year's in Paris usually looks like. This year, however, the city has been blanketed with fog. Here is the picture from my apartment window - can you make out the Eiffel Tower sparkling?