I was full already, but I kept on eating.

Me, Lorraine, Carol, Diane, Dave, Nicole

The first thing is that today when I looked at the 10 day forecast, the 10^th day is when we get on the ship in Barcelona. And also, as of 7:00 this morning we have been travelling for two weeks. And also, I’m writing this in the middle of the day and I’ve just had 4 glasses of wine and spent most of the morning talking to French people, so you may have to excuse my syntax.

I woke up on my own just before 8, and I’d laid out my things last night so I was able to get dressed quietly. Dave’s alarm went off just as I was leaving. As I’d hoped, no-one was in the little bar with the disco ball, so I was able to close the door, turn my music pod up and dance through most of Feeling. It went much better than last time because I was focused on keeping going no matter what. So the moves weren’t always in the “right” place, but they flowed smoothly. I also consciously did a lot of simplifying, because the people on the ship probably won’t have done Nia before. So I am feeling better.

I had my usual breakfast and we presented ourselves at 9:30 for the cooking. We finished the chicken, which involved more wrapping in saran wrap and twisting the ends. I’m a pro. Then we were each supposed to thinly slice a scallop for our appetizers. I was waiting my turn and probably looking a little dubious (thin slicing not being my best thing) when Chef Franz suddenly pointed at me and said, “You. Here.” So I went there, and he had me rice the potatoes and break the eggs and then stir them with a whisk while he added the eggs, egg yolks, salt, and flour. There was a small mishap during the ricing portion when we got our signals crossed and a potato flew through the air and landed in the morel sauce, but we just laughed it off. Well, I laughed, he cleaned up for about 5 minutes. He got me back by having me whip the potatoes with a whisk while he added the other ingredients for what seemed like an hour. I hope to regain the use of my right arm soon.

A typical scene in the kitchen. That's Arnaud in the hat.

We continued cooking, poaching eggs; cutting, par boiling and sautéing lardons; making pancakes, and I don’t know what all else, until Patrick poured the Pouilly-Loche. Then we took a group picture with Arnaud (who, it turns out is the head chef) and Franz, and then they signed our aprons and gave us each a disposable chef hat like they wear. So a couple of thoughts here, because it was our last morning of cooking. In no particular order. First, the privilege of working in a professional kitchen with professional chefs who are so patient and kind and such good teachers. It was Arnaud’s first time leading the class and he was wonderful. This morning he and I even shared a laugh, and I got a “perfect”. The whole time that they are working with us, they and their apprentice chefs are also preparing the lunch service for the hotel restaurant. The apprentices probably can’t believe what the chefs are letting us get away with – if they did it, the chefs would probably throw it out and make them start over, but instead they are telling us we’re doing great. Another thing that makes this super-special is that Patrick, the hotelier, is spending the week with us, pouring outrageously good wines, and making us feel welcome. Finally, how the class built our kitchen confidence – on the first day, we were peeling mushrooms and taking the leaves off of parsley stems. By the end of the class we were breaking down proteins, cooking, and so on. It’s a wonderful progression. If you can’t tell, I would recommend this or its sister class in Italy to anyone who loves food. It’s a truly one of a kind experience.

For lunch we had the sliced scallop ceviche. They’d marked the plates, so everyone got the plate they’d made – I assume one of the apprentices made mine. Patrick had selected a Sancerre (Sauv blanc) to pair with it, and it wasn’t just a perfect pairing, it was an exceptional wine. So I had two glasses of that. And then Valerie had not only bought us each a selection of mustards in tiny jars, she also brought a 2006 Bordeaux (cab sauv, cab franc, merlot) that was delicious on its own but also perfect with the oeufs en meurette, a burgundian speciality (are you hearing spécialité in your head? Because I am) of poached eggs in the same sauce used for boeuf bourguignon, with croutons and lardons and mushrooms. Très très bon, if we do say so ourselves.

Nobody wanted lunch to end, but Patrick had a meeting at 2. We had been planning a petanque tournament for the afternoon but it was chilly and raining quite hard, so instead we took a nap and got caught up on our writing before heading out to the beer cave. This is something that previous cooking classes haven’t done, and it was fun and a change from wine. It’s called Biere Attitude, and on one side they have a shop with many, many kinds of beer (mostly from Belgium), and on the other side they have a bar with 3 different beers on tap and most of the ones they sell in the shop, as well as some non-alcoholic drinks. Dave tried all 3 of the beers on tap, starting with the very interesting 3% abv Cherry beer. I had to have the Rince Cochon, which means pig wash water or swill and had pretty much the same pig from the Hogwash we used to get in Cannon Beach on the label. It was fairly high alcohol – 8.5 abv – but not bitter. It was good, and it was fun to be sitting there having the experience.

We got back to the hotel and changed for dinner. We ate again in the private dining room – I think they’re putting us in there so we won’t disturb the other guests. Dinner was its usual excellent self, with two different wines and a sparkling rose with dinner. The dessert had “magic sugar” which pops in your mouth like pop rocks, and Cedric in particular enjoyed putting some in his mouth and shaping his lips so you could hear it fizzing, which totally made Diane hysterical.

I brought my toque down and had everybody in the group sign it. Tomorrow I’m hoping I can send it to the kitchen for Franz, Arnaud and Remy to sign. It is an excellent souvenir. This is an excellent adventure.

When Patrick pours the wine, it means the end of the cooking This is the end of all the cooking.