Today’s lesson: French Sauces.
To start, the chef had us make chicken, beef, and veal stock, which would be used today, as well as tomorrow, for our meat course. Once we got all the ingredients in the pot for the stocks, we attempted such sauces as Bearnaise, beurre blanc, and bourdelaise. French cooking definitely wasn’t easy. Chef Geurlaine also taught us to make a variety of salad dressings. We packaged all our sauces and dressings, and placed them in the refrigerator ready to be used with the meat courses tomorrow. By the end of class, I had learned a solid foundation in French sauces—another fantastic morning to an already amazing trip.
Tiptoeing into Jake’s room, I found him dressed but back asleep on his bed. He looked just as sweet as he did back in Hawaii but this time insecurity didn’t creep into my heart. We were meant to be together, and if in the future our relationship didn’t work out, I’d be content knowing we had a chance. I placed breakfast on the table and slowly crept into his bed and snuggled into his body. He smiled and cradled his arms around me.
“Hi Beautiful. How was class this morning?” he asked half asleep.
“Excellent,” I replied with a jubilant voice. “I have breakfast for you if you like.”
“I am hungry…but am enjoying laying here with you in my arms.”
“Why are you dressed but asleep?”
“I got an early phone call so I got ready for the day but felt so groggy I decided to go back to sleep. Jet lag must have caught up with me last night.”
“Do you want me to leave so you can sleep some more?”
“No.” He cut me off and let go of me. “I’m ready to get up. We have an appointment with Henri at Boucheron this morning. We should get going.”
Boucheron? Wasn’t this the jewelry store Jake visited yesterday? Why would we have an appointment?
Asking Jake what was going on was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t want to seem presumptuous and I didn’t want to pressure him into proposing.
As thoughts of Boucheron wouldn’t leave my mind, no different scenarios, aside from a proposal, played in my head. Jake stared at me with a smug gaze. Once again, Jake piqued my curiosity.
We left the hotel and walked to Boucheron. It was excruciating waiting for an explanation that never came. Jake talked about the day and told me that we were going to the Louvre and then to a soccer game after lunch.
“You can’t come to Europe and not watch these nationals go crazy over their soccer team. France is playing Italy today. It’ll be a great match up. We’ll have a car take us to the stadium.”
“Will we ever take the Metro here?”
“Why do that when you have a driver at your disposal?”
I let out a chortle and thought what a silly question to ask.
Henri was a delightful elderly gentleman who took us to a small private room upon entering this stunning jewelry shop. I didn’t realize regular people actually shopped in stores as glamorous as this one. Gawking around the main room, I looked for movie stars or some famous person, but to my disappointment, there were no sightings. Henri and Jake spoke in French the entire way into our room. They spoke so quickly I couldn’t catch any of their conversation. I was rather hoping to figure out why I was here. After a few minutes, I finally got an explanation, but this was not the scenario I had spun out in my head.
After all introductions were made, Jake explained he was here on Gram’s request to get her mother’s ring reset.
“Oh. How’s Gram doing? Can we call her after this errand?” I asked. “I miss her.”
“Should we go see her after Paris?”
“I’d love to do that! Do we have time? By the way, do you have a grandfather as well?”
“No he passed away two years ago, and she’s been living on her own since. She and Gramps retired in London back in the late nineties.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but I thought it rude since Henri was waiting for us.
“So, Gram is about to hand down her mother’s diamond to my mom. It was my great grandmother’s desire to see this ring handed down from daughter to daughter. Gram wants Henri, our family’s favorite jewelry setter, to reset this ring so she can pass it down to her. Neither Gram nor Mom will have anyone touch her jewelry except Henri.”
Not the explanation I wanted, but I was still a bit puzzled.
“So I assume the ring is ready and we are here to pick it up?”
“No, it’s not ready yet. We need your help.”
“What could I do?” I wondered aloud.
“You and Mom have the same ring size and I was wondering if you could try on the ring so we won’t have to resize it. Gram thought since we were here in Paris, might as well get it done right.”
I kept playing twenty questions hoping for a favorable answer but it never came.