Study Abroad Day 8: OECD, Le Cordon Bleu & Moulin Rouge

Lets just get straight into the meat of things because today was an extremely busy day! We woke up ate breakfast and headed out on a bus to OECD. We attended class in their auditorium and broke for lunch in the cafeteria. We then attended a professional visit at OECD where they explained that they are an international organization helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalized economy. To be completely honest sitting for another lecture after classes was pretty monotonous, but the upside was we got to see the grounds:

We left directly from OECD to Le Cordon Bleu. When Cal and I signed up for the program the visit to this infamous cooking school was at the top of our list! We arrived and couldn't stop smiling, both of us have a passion for food so being here was magical.

One of the chefs stuck his head out the window above us and smiled, had to take a photo:

We all went inside and were ushered into a room that on one half looked like a normal lecture hall with layers of chairs. The other half had a full kitchen equipped with cameras and mirrors above so you could see the cooking techniques better. We sat down and watched a short presentation on the history of Le Cordon Bleu then the teaching began. They did a demonstration the same way they would to a class of future chefs. The chef and sommelier spoke in french and were translated into english by a man who stood to the side. We were given a sheet of paper with the ingredients and told to take notes on how the dish was made. We didn't get to do a practical application, but normal students go straight to another kitchen and make what they had taken notes on. This is the methodology used to teach all students who attend.

We each got a small sample of the dish that was created as well as a wine selected by the sommelier:

Callie in the little cafe/resting area outside the classrooms:

Overall the experience at Le Cordon Bleu was great! I only had one complaint and it was about the other students in our program... They talked a lot during the presentation and had to be shushed every 5 minutes. Otherwise the experience was perfection.

After Le Cordon Bleu, Sam Cal and I went to a local supermarket and grabbed a couple of snacks. I didn't get pictures of them because it was hard to juggle holding things, protecting our purses and flagging down a taxi. It was time for the Moulin Rouge! We got to the theater about an hour and fifteen minutes before showtime, took photos in front then waited in line so we would get good seats!

Sam and I snacked on our first street crepes of Paris! Got to love some Nutella and Banana:

Once in the theater we were not allowed to take photos so sam snapped these ones very quickly on her phone:

The view from our seats

The show included 1/2 a bottle of champagne for each of us, bring on the bubbly:

As soon as the performance began Cal and I looked at each other and just smiled. The choreography look just like show choir and they were decked out in full sequin suits. Suddenly the women ripped off their pants and callie exclaimed "its like naked show choir!" I have to say that was a pretty accurate description for the dancing numbers. After some dancing an acrobatic number came on and we were all in awe. I can't explain the impressive act very well but lets just say it was breathtaking. The show continued for two hours rotating between dancing and acrobatic numbers. After the show we flagged down a taxi and got back to the hotel at 2:30. After such a long exciting day I didn't have the energy to write a blog post. I decided to write it as soon as I woke up this morning!

Hope you enjoyed our second day in Paris,

<3 Morg