Patricia Sands

Author

France

Choopy’s Cupcakes and Coffee Shop

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Mon Dieu, what a day I’ve had! There’s malware in my Hotmail apparently sending messages to everyone in my address book that I’m in distress in Greece and need money! It took a few hours of phone calls to Microsoft for them to figure out why I couldn’t access my Hotmail account. Now I will have to wait another 24 to 48 hours before I can get back in.  If you happen to receive one of those messages rest assured I’m not in Greece! You know me, I’d rather be in France!

We were up north visiting friends at their beautiful cottage for three days this week and without internet service. I’m now paying the price with overflowing blog and social media matters to take care of.

So I’m taking the easy way out this week and reposting this piece from last year about one of my favourite places in Antibes and the delightful young couple who make it happen. If you are anywhere in the neighbourhood, drop in to see Vincent and Julie!

HERE IT IS:

I love success stories, don’t you? The reason I’m a little late posting this is because I took a few hours this evening to watch the movie The Help with my DH. As well as being an important and well-told story,  author Kathryn Stockett’s backstory about writing The Help is one everyone should hear. It’s a true success story.

She received 60 rejections over a five-year period before one brave agent with an eye for a good story saw the truth in it. Click here to read it from my archives, in case you missed it. She’s hilarious and her personal journey is inspiring to all of us who believe in our writing.

Okay, I’m getting off topic … as I do … this post is about France and it’s about success. It’s about a young couple I met in Antibes whose story also inspired me.

Meet Julie and Victor, the owners of Choopy’s,  who are natives of nearby Nice and about as sincere and delightful a young couple as you could ever hope to meet. This warm and welcoming shop is in the old town of Antibes, through a short archway off Rue de La République.

I have to admit I’m not a true coffee drinker, unlike my DH who is an espresso afficionado.

I am … full confession here … a faux-coffee drinker. I need chocolate in it . Give me a Café Mocha or a Moccacino and I’m in heaven. I appreciate how seriously the French take their café and I know it’s kind of bad manners to even think of having anything but a café (i.e. espresso) or a café crème so I had been pretending for several weeks that I was cool with that (plus a LOT of sugar). But I wasn’t.

So … Choopy’s was new and had a cosmopolitan ambiance AND they had free wifi – bonus! I wandered in one day to see if possibly they might have one of these North American aberrations on their menu. They didn’t. “Pas de problème!” said Victor with his wonderful smile. “Explain what it is and I’ll make you one.” I did and he did. Magnifique!

Julie, a beautiful and engaging young woman, is a graduate of a prestigious 5-year culinary program. Vincent has a degree in business and finance. Soon after graduation they began working. It took no time for Julie to realize she wanted to be in contact with people and Vincent knew he preferred baking cakes to crunching numbers. Their quest began to figure out just what it was they could do to make this happen.

Like so  many other young people, they packed up and had an adventure working and traveling in Australia and Bali. All the while they were on the lookout for something that might be a sign as to what sort of business they should open. It didn’t take long for the sign to appear and surprisingly it was in the shape of … CUPCAKES! 

It seemed as if every coffee shop in Australia also served cupcakes. Mon Dieu! Qu’est-ce que c’est? Who had heard of cupcakes in France?  Not many. You can find more types of pastries in France than practically anywhere else in the world … but not cupcakes!

Visiting cupcake bakeries in Australia before they left, they were convinced that this was their future.  A bit of research back home indicated only one bakery in Paris was making cupcakes. Amazing. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t enjoy a good cupcake … or two?  Julie has become a cupcake goddess and every kind I sampled through the summer was über-delicieux!

Along with the ever-changing selection of cupcakes there are several other equally delicious choices to accompany your coffee. Victor’s banana bread with it’s mouth-watering crunchy topping has already established it’s own reputation.

Lunches and Sunday brunches are also served with all ingredients fresh from the daily market. Get there early as the space fills up quickly. The word has spread and this bright, hard-working and absolutely delightful young couple are seeing their business become a most successful venture.

It was always a pleasure to stop in and see how busy they were. Their energy and commitment to their business is evident in everything they do. Customer service is their focus and after just a few months it was obvious they were becoming a very important part of the charming old town in Antibes. Never too busy for a smile and a friendly exchange, make sure you stop by the next time you are in the neighbourhood!

The strawberry cupcakes are to die for … but then, so are the chocolate … and  … um, well, the Cupcakes De Noël are out now too. Just try them all!

And ask them how they decided upon the name of their shop … very cute …

Here’s their Facebook link. Stop in and “like” them – they deserve it. Merci beaucoup!

What are some success stories that have inspired you? Have you ever done your homework, taken a big breath and begun something completely new and different in your life? Would you do it again?

À la plage … to the beach!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Pour yourself a favourite summertime beverage and cool off with a visit to a few of my favourite beaches in the south of France .

Going to the beach on the Côte D’Azur is as much about the setting and scenery as anything else … and …bien sûr … food, of course … scrumptious seafood at the beach restaurants and super yummy baguette sandwiches and frites served from Le Truck or Le Snack or Le Whatever at the public beaches. Maybe it was the sea air or we were just lucky but we were never disappointed!

The beaches to the east of Antibes are pebble and take some getting used to. To the west, they are sand. Everywhere the beautiful Mediterranean cools you down. Although the beaches in my photos may look busy, there are countless secluded coves offering peaceful escape. I’ll save those for another post.

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Where is your favourite beach? Is it nearby or a bit of a hike? On a hot day would the beach or an ice cream be your first choice to cool down? Here’s to finding a pleasing way to stay cool in this long hot summer!

A Gold Medal Winner!

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It it’s Friday, it must be France …

During the next two weeks there will be many gold medals awarded at the Olympic Games in London, England.

As I was making my favourite dessert for a dinner party the other evening, I was watching  previews about the Games. It occurred to me that the crème brulée

Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

I was preparing was more than worthy of a gold medal. I first tasted this dessert in France more years ago than I care to remember and if it’s on a menu I’m a goner. It took a while to find just the right recipe to prepare at home. Oo-la-la! I’m not the greatest dessert-maker but this recipe is foolproof.

Here’s the recipe I swear by from FoodNetwork.com. Bon appetit!

To what recipe would you award a gold medal? Were you watching the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics this afternoon, like I was? Here’s the link to the website for schedules and news about all the events. Are you inspired by the amazing athletes each time the Olympics come around? Although I appreciate their tremendous talent and don’t miss any of the competitions ( let’s hear it for Tivo!), even more so I love hearing the stories of their personal journeys. I’m not a big television watcher but I’ll be glued to the Games for the next two weeks. Will you? 

Sur le pont D’Avignon ….

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

I’ve been treating myself to a mini-break this week spending time with our adorable grandchildren, golfing, going out to dinner with friends and later today we are going to a family wedding.

My manuscript for novel #2 is with an editor and when I hear back from him, the fun begins! I love the editing and revising part of writing. The insightful and helpful comments and observations from my beta readers (who are such an important part of the whole process) will be carefully considered when I get back to work on the MS in a week or two. A HUGE shout-out to all of them! More about  this on Tuesday.

Now it’s time to go to France and today we are stopping in beautiful Avignon, situated in the southeastern Vaucluse region, just over 100 kilometres north of Marseille. (It’s also a town that has a part to play in my novel #2. Guess how much fun I had writing about that?)

Most Canadian schoolchildren, and apparently those in many other countries around the world, learn to sing “Sur Le Pont D’Avignon” as part of their introduction to the French language.

When we first visited this historic and well-preserved town, I was excited about seeing the famous bridge. I’m not sure why, but I really was! Obviously, I hadn’t read the guidebook and travel information too carefully because I was in for a surprise.

Entering through the gates of  the preserved walls that have protected the old town for centuries, we wandered the winding streets and treated ourselves to a Papaline or two, which taste way better than they look! The signature sweet of the area, they are actually chocolate filled with a special liqueur made of honey and 60 local herbs.

Then we toured the magnificent and ghostly Palais Des Papes, one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic structures in Europe. Avignon is often referred to as the “City Of Popes” since the seat of the Catholic Church moved here from Rome between 1309 and 1377 during the Catholic schism. I’m sure some great mystery novels have been set in these buildings and surroundings! A sense of foreboding and danger filled the vast empty halls.

Our first view of the bridge, properly known as Pont Saint Bénezet, was from a park on top of a rocky outcropping. Mon Dieu … there seemed to be something missing.

Built between 1171 and 1185, the bridge spanned the Rhone River from Avignon to the left bank. Due to flooding, it suffered many collapses and after numerous repairs was finally put out of use in the 1600’s after a catastrophic flood. It stood abandoned for centuries as the river continued to erode the structure and now only 4 arches remain from the original 22.

The original version of the song was “Sous le pont d’Avignon” as there were cafés and dance halls under the arches on a small island the bridge crossed over. People would have danced there under the arches and not on top of the bridge.

In case you find yourself humming the song (trust me, once you start it’s hard to stop!), you can sing along here.

Have you visited Avignon or read any stories set in this town? Did you learn “Sur le pont d’Avignon” in school? Was there a childhood tune you learned that has stayed with you through the years?