Patricia Sands

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follow your dreams

Choopy’s Cupcakes and Coffee Shop

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

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?

Toronto’s Famous People Players Inspire And Delight!

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FPP’s Mission Statement: “OUR MISSION is to inspire people to achieve more. To instill in the hearts and minds of everyone that dreams can come true when you believe in yourself.”

 

On Saturday three generations of our family laughed and applauded our way through the afternoon performance of the Famous People Players holiday presentation. Never heard of them? Prepare to be inspired.

In 1974, Diane Dupuy had a dream and a vision. Today Diane and her Famous People Players continue to live the dream loud and strong bringing joyful entertainment to audiences in Toronto and around the world. Click here to visit their website.

FPP proudly states it is a non-profit organization which employs people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Those individuals share duties in dining room management, arts administration, and theatrical and visual arts performances. With requests being received from around the world, one troupe remains in Toronto and another tours. Do yourself, your family and friends a favour and get on over to catch a meal and a show.

HISTORICAL MILESTONES:

1980 – Famous PEOPLE Players were chosen by New York’s Radio City Music Hall to choreograph, the first stage production of the “Sorcerers Apprentice”. This was a very important event, as the Famous PEOPLE Players would be officially reopening this famous Hall.

1982 – Famous PEOPLE Players was the first western group to be invited to perform in the People’s Republic of China.

1984 – Joe Cates, a highly regarded producer for television, saw Famous PEOPLE Players at Radio City Music Hall and signed them on the spot for a CBS two-hour movie of the week, “Special People”.

1985 – FPP appeared for a one-hour special on the Phil Donahue Show which was the highest rated Donahue show.

1986 – Famous PEOPLE Players opened on Broadway at the historical Lyceum Theatre. “A Little Like Magic” earned rave reviews.

1994 – New York beckoned the company once again and Famous PEOPLE Players returned with “A Little More Magic” at the Belasco Theatre. After lengthy tours, the Famous PEOPLE Players needed to settle to a place called home.

February 18th, 1994 – Famous PEOPLE Players opened the first dinner theatre dedicated to people with special needs where the veteran performers who no longer perform could further enhance their life skills. Actor Paul Newman who had become a big supporter and fan of Famous PEOPLE Players, generously underwrote the restaurant through the sales of Newman’s Own products.

Phil Collins, saw the company perform in Toronto and was ‘wowed’ by their artistic ability and interpretation of his music on stage. Meeting Phil Collins became such a major force of inspiration to the Famous PEOPLE Players that they now call him “Uncle Phil” and their theatre is called the Phil Collins performance workshop.

In 2009, FPP moved to its current spacious location (bonus – tons of free parking!) in Toronto’s west end. The walls of the new dinner theatre are covered with photos of famous celebrities who have visited and supported this exceptional group.

The black light theatre performances provided by this troupe never cease to amaze. With a variety of shows throughout the year, if you are lucky you  might still be able to snag a ticket to the current holiday production. All the details are included in the following video. Hurry – make your plans now! You will be so pleased you did.

Mon Dieu … I did it!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Two-year-old Kate’s favourite saying is “I did it!” Today I echo that. I finally figured out how to make a slideshow work here. Transferring it from my iPhoto to YouTube was the secret. You probably already know how to do that but it was a big deal for me … truly, you wouldn’t want to know how many hours I’ve spent attempting to make it work in all sorts of other ways.

So now, if you will, follow the footsteps of inspired artists and writers in Arles … through Place de La Republique with it’s Roman obelisk and the Church of St. Trophime (formerly  a cathedral) with its 12th C. cloister that instantly inspire thoughts of mystery and intrigue, along narrow streets past Van Gogh’s hangout, Le Cafe De Nuit, to the Arena/Amphitheatre and the Roman Theatre where crowds continue to be entertained as they have since Roman times and finally, end with a glimpse of life in the Camargue thanks to some postcard photography.

Now that I finally did it, I HAD to share it. If your speakers are on, Edith Piaf accompanies you.

Have you ever visited Arles? I would love to hear what you liked best about the Bouches-Du-Rhone area. Next week we will be back on the Riviera. I hope you’ll be there too.

When the tech stuff tanks, take a stroll …

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If it’s Friday, It must be France …

For whatever reason, I simply cannot download my slideshow of Arles onto this page. I’ll keep working on it.

In the meantime, join me on one of my early morning strolls through our home base of Antibes.

 

Our front yard.

 

Pass through the one original remaining gate in the 500 year-old walls that once enclosed the entire village.

 

Stroll the narrow cobblestone streets.

 

No agenda necessary. Imagine Napoleon attempting to convince new recruits to join his campaign or Picasso rushing through town to his studio.

 

To the other side of the old town. My favourite view of le vieux village.

 

Plan to end up at the daily market with an empty basket to fill.

Where are your favourite places to walk where you live? Do you celebrate your surroundings or would you rather be living elsewhere? Tell me about it.