A dream come true... cooking in Paris

Traveling to other countries is probably my favorite pastime. My husband Ralph, and I have traveled to Europe with our daughter quite a bit over the years because he is German, and most of his family is there. Usually we visit family during our holidays, and therefore our travel experiences center around Germany and Austria. Our daughter is all grown up now… and so we planned a trip for a couple of weeks in September and October, this time, on our own. When my husband asked if I would like take a side trip and to spend a few days in Paris, I was thrilled.

We left central southern Germany on the morning of Sunday, September 28, and took the ICE, also known as the bullet train, straight into central Paris. In only three hours we stepped into a completely different cultural experience. What a gorgeous city! We had booked numerous tours over the internet before we left the U.S., all designed for brand new Parisians. Each experience was magical in its own way- our half day tour of Paris landmarks, our evening dinner cruise on the River Seine, and our day in Versailles and Giverny (the historical home of Monet and his famous gardens). But as far as I’m concerned, the best decision of all was to take a half day cooking class with Muriel-Marguerite Foucher. Her cooking school is Marguerite’s Elegant Home Cooking, and I just love her story. Muriel-Marguerite learned to cook from her grandmother (the original Marguerite). Muriel-Marguerite worked as a marketing professional, and while she enjoyed her job, she loved her cooking more. So she decided to take a leap of faith and open her own home-cooking school, and named it after her grandmother.

I found her on the internet, signed up for her class, and was delighted when we finally met. Muriel-Marguerite met all 8 of her students at a metro stop near the open air farmers market where she likes to shop. She has a great working relationship with everyone operating her favorite market stands- the butcher, the fish monger, the diary vendor, etc. She taught us about French markets and how various foods are graded so that we would know the quality of what we were buying.

Then, it was off to her home where her cooking school is upstairs. It’s a wonderful set up, with four cooking stations in a charming French country setting. We prepared two lovely dishes- a red pepper cream soup appetizer featuring fresh mussels, and a stuffed sea bass. Actually, you might think these dishes are pretty complicated, but I found them to be relatively simple and very delicious. As students, we worked in pairs so we had a great opportunity to get to know one another. There were two journalists in the class, and my cooking buddy was Heidi Ellison, who has already written an article about her experiences in Muriel-Marguerite’s kitchen. http://www.paris-update.com/topics/cooking_classes.htm

When dinner was ready, we were able to enjoy our meal with a beautifully paired French wine. The entire experience was tres magnifique! Bon appétit!

And if you would llke to prepare the dishes I learned to make while in Paris, here are the recipes.Click here to view and the starter recipe. Click here to view and print the main course recipe.
Finally, if you plan to spend a little time in Paris, you can find Marguerite’s Elegant Home Cooking on the web at www.elegantcooking.com!