Baking for souls leads to Paris ... God is good!

In the first post, I mentioned des pâtisseries and that I would provide more explanation on this... In addition to what I mentioned in the first post, I also plan to treat this blog as a documenting of this journey. So, I include personal stories and observations.

There are bulleted ideas that affect the project and am hoping to tap into but will address these tomorrow.

So, why baking and pastries amidst such heady topics?? Well, the reason is because With Mercy and Justice will be incorporating baking into the project on a small scale. This will be done as a means to help support the project. The project does not work for money but the work cannot be done without money either. And since mostly everyone loves sweets, desserts, and chocolate, and baking is a science and art ... why not take a love for baking and actually do something constructive with it?! With Mercy and Justice has decided to BAKE -- so that we can make souls joyful through desserts and through the baking, support a project aimed at promoting healing for souls hurt by domestic abuse/ sexual violence through Christian leadership formation.

Over the past couple months, I have baked 2-3 desserts a week in an effort to improve on speed and technique. My nemesis - of which I have a love-hate relationship with - has been a sponge cake. Being a graduate student at the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, has left me with no shortage of graduate students or seminarians to taste test these creations. My favorite crowds have been the Summer Session crew and this past year's Pre-Theology seminarians ... never have I seen such eyes light up at the sight of dessert and they did provide me with good feedback.

Baking and soliciting taste testers from my networks, I caught the attention of one of the project's benefactors who offered to fly me to Paris to learn how to make des pâtisseries (french pastries), and I would be responsible for everything else once in Paris.

The trip was postponed, however, as all my leads for accommodations fell through, and I began to think I was not supposed to go on this trip. But in the last week, I came across appartager.com - a French resource for finding roommates all across France and allows you to correspond with potential flatmates. When I left for Paris last Friday, I had 10 leads and no set place of where I'd be living but I just believed I was supposed to go and that the Lord would provide. Why would he provide the means of getting to Paris only to leave me in the streets?! Ce n'est pas possible (That's not possible!) !

The 10 I started with in Chicago ended with 3 leads by the time I left Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris; and while I did not believe I would be without a bed that night, I'd be lying if I didn't say my heart was pounding as I headed into Paris. My faith was definitely shaken, and I was begging the Lord that one of the 3 would just fit.

I had nothing to worry about because he already knew where I was staying, and he not only met what I was hoping for (safe and secure accommodations) but he exceeded them in what he provided. My flat is in the 15 ème arrondisement, which is Montparnasse, and it's a nice balance of local life, elderly, families, young adults, traditional, and new. My church for the next month is also within walking distance!

Many thanks to our Lord for giving me a dedicated mother. I flew United and she came with me to Paris! Who does that? She works for United, wasn't working, and wanted to help me get settled in. To be honest, apartment shopping is better done with 2 in a foreign land -- even if it is Paris, and I can't imagine it being with anyone else but my mother. We spent sometime getting acquainted with the arrondisement visiting pâtisseries and fromageries (cheese stores), enjoyed la Tour Eiffel sparkle, and tomorrow she is off to Chicago.

Thus far, the French are as I remember them: lovely and generous. If you are kind, you will be received kindly and will be responded to with kindness. This has always been my experience with the French. Four encounters come to mind.

For our delicious lunch yesterday I ate a home-made pizza with Roquefort cheese, mozzarella, and du chevre (goat) cheese at Pasta Café, Pasta Cherie Bar (187 Rue de Vaugirard, 15ème arrondisement, 75015). It was ridiculously good, and I have high pizza standards since I'm from Chicago. My mother and I were speaking to the owner, Mohammed, who upon finding out my pastry mission gave me an overview of THE pâtisseries I must visit. He then expanded to describing which areas I would most likely not find the best pâtisseries and his explanation behind this which made perfect sense. His insight helped me narrow down my targeted arrondisement area by half. Overall, it was good to talk with an entreprenuer and to hear how he and his wife, Meily, as a young couple have been making it in Paris and love what they do. It showed in the food we ate and the hospitality we received.

Sandrine I think is going to be a good friend here in Paris. She showed me the flat I am currently staying in and insists on taking me to the good pâtisseries in Montparnasse and other noteworthy parts of her arrondisement. She is a good friend of the owner of the flat and discussed at length how french women help other french women in need. That it is natural for them, even helping to take care of one another's children when needed. Sandrine also wants to help me learn French, which is something I love about the French. They are more than willing to be patient with you and teach you their beautiful language because they want you to be able to speak it. I am so thankful for those encounters when I've said something incorrectly, and the French have corrected me with patience.

The Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Server is the third individual of note. I was ordering the vanille crème brownie ice cream, and I asked her how to say it in french. Despite the crazy line, she repeated it and waited for me to recite until I got it with the proper accent. It was as if we were in class practicing. What struck me was that she wanted me to get it and smiled when I did.

Last but not least, I met Annie today at Paroisse Saint-Lambert de Vaugirard for the young adult Mass. It wasn't like a 9 o'clock mass, but it was still sufficiently attended. And I was encouraged because I was around other young adult, Catholics in jeans and some couples and families. The scene reminded me a little of St. Clement's Parish. I wasn't expecting people to kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer because there were no kneelers, but a lot of people did. There was a woman in front of me I saw reading from a French Magnificat, and I realized I had to buy one because I couldn't totally understand the Mass. I asked her after Mass where I could find a Catholic book store; and from that point on, we talked for two hours in French (I had prayed for help to practice my French, and she was my practice, indeed!) about French Catholics, the sacraments, concerns within the church ... I wish I had had a bottle of wine and glasses, we should have just sat on the church steps the conversation was so interesting! What saddened her most was the state of Catholicism in France. I was mostly touched by how she talked about Eucharistic Adoration and her spirituality. I realize she was just one person; but indeed, her soul was passionate and alive for the Lord and I was so happy to hear her reflections. We will either meet up tomorrow after Mass or at la Chappe Médaille Miraculeuse (Miraculous Medal Chapel) on Sunday to meet up with her friends. I hope it happens ...

I've had the blessing to come to Paris in the past, so I feel fairly comfortable with the public transportation and the major sites to see. So, as crazy as this sounds, the first day in Paris I went to Monoprix :) which is kind of like a Super Target, a grocery store/store. I wanted to check out what kind of ingredients they have for baking. I've never seen in one location so many brands for chocolate to be made for baking/pastries - so impressed I had to take a photo. Imagine seeing someone taking a picture of items for sale in a Super Target - yeah, I looked a little silly... But if this doesn't say something about the pâtisserie culture here, I don't know what does.

The plan is to survey and taste the various pâtisseries before I ask to volunteer :) I don't know how I will get into a pâtisserie at this point to learn what I can within the time I'm here, but God will provide a way if it's meant to be. Here's the second pâtisserie I ate on Sunday. It was a marshmallowy crème brûlée filled with pears.


On a last note, I am thankful for this journey, which has just begun, and God. I do not actually know how it will turn out, that I will come back knowing anything intricate beyond the sponge cake recipe, that I will get to visit any of the monasteries within the liturgical Movement, that I will be able to know more french, etc. All I know is I believe I am supposed to be here for the project and am open to whatever God wants of this and me ... I almost think it's a pilgrimage. About 3 people told me I would come back married, which I think is hilarious. If I do :) I hope it is in a spiritual sense and only with Christ. If anything, this is the trip for that kind of thing to happen ... complete dependence and openness because at this point, it's just me ... him and Paris. If it was just me, I'd be in trouble but with him ... it will be good and everything will be molded into place.