Tales of France

On the plane to New York for my connection to Nice, a priest sat next to me.  Then I noticed a Jewish gentleman (with beard and hat and suit) seated two rows ahead.  At first, I thought that I'd stepped into a scene from a Woody Allen movie.  After some conversation, I came to discover that they were on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  My favorite exchange though:

Priest sneezes.

I say, "God bless you."

Priest says, "Thank you.  I'm usually the one who says that."

Once the plane landed at JFK, I quickly learned that the airport needs some attention.  Perhaps a wrecking ball.  I had a four hour layover until my Nice flight and finding out that I needed to take a shuttle to another terminal ate up some time.  A pleasant surprise waited for me though; no one sat next to me on the eight hour flight to France.  Sigh.  I had two blankets, two pillows, and just enough room to curl up and sleep.  After a bad airline dinner washed down with some bad airline wine, I tucked myself in with Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and did get to sleep.  No jet lag for me this time.

I met two of my fellow culinary students who sat behind me, Jessica and Allison from South Carolina.  As the plane landed, we saw what would become our backdrop for the next three weeks on the French Riviera:  blue skies; sun drenched beaches; picturesque cities and towns; and finally mountains teasing us with their mystery.

By 9:30 AM, a large group of us, culinary students, film students, business students, had arrived and boarded a shuttle to take us to the Maeva apartment building, our home away from home for the next few weeks.  After a 45-minute drive, we were in Cannes la Bocca, a suburb ten minutes away from downtown and the Palais, where the film festival would be held.

The apartment building had its own pool and was a block away from the beach.  The views from the balconies were of the brilliant sea.  Other than that, the accommodations were nothing to write home about, so I won't.

I took the afternoon to walk around and discover the bakery and pastry shop (Boulangerie/Patisserie), the neighborhood grocery store, several cafes, a wine shop, and a small, but beautiful park that led me to the beach.

That evening, the culinary team had an orientation meeting.  We met the chefs, Chef Michael and Sous Chef Stephanie, and the event manager/tour guide/master of everything, Armand.  There were only nine culinary students accepted this year.  

The aforementioned Jessica and Allison

Meredith, John, and Trip--all from Louisiana

Sheryl from Seattle

Rachael from Portland (originally from the UP in Michigan)

Thornton from Detroit (who graduated from Schoolcraft a couple of years back)

and me

We didn't know what we'd gotten ourselves into as we introduced ourselves that first night.  Such innocents.  Well, about the program anyway.

Next up:  sightseeing, farmers' markets, and acquaintance of Cannes