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friendship
Choopy’s Cupcakes and Coffee Shop
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?
10 Random Facts
10 Random Facts
There’s a quirky little game of tag going around the blogging community right now, and I’ve been poked by the lovely Linda Burke (@LBurkeWriter)N from my #Wana711 blogging class. (Which was presented to us by Social Media Goddess and mighty fine lady, Kristen Lamb.)
To play, you simply need to be tagged by someone. Then you list 10 random facts about yourself and tag four more people.
Here are my random facts. Hmmm – wonder who I’ll tag in return …
1. Like my fellow blogger, Linda Burke, I’ve just been involved in Kristen Lamb’s fantastic blogging course and I’m part of the Zoomer sub-group that consists of six of us of, shall we say, ahem, a certain age. Kristen is offering the course again and I strongly recommend it. Click here for the details.
2. I finally got around to having braces at the age of 59 and now have the nice straight teeth I always wanted.
3. Sometimes I just have popcorn for dinner when I’m alone.
4. I’ve always had pets until a few years ago when our last one passed and our travel plans made it impractical. At one point we had two dogs (a black Lab and a Wheaten Terrier), three cats, and a pet squirrel we rescued when he fell out of a tree.
5. I love to ski and Whistler, B.C. is my favourite ski destination. The first time I went there was in 1970. Um, it’s changed a tad since then! There is a fantastic selection of runs on two mountains (Whistler and Blackcomb) and an awesome new gondola that goes across the valley from one peak to the other. Take a look by clicking here. It’s a great place for golf and a huge mountain biking destination in the summer. The scenery is spectacular at any time!
6. Normally I’m not a picky eater. Just don’t feed me mushrooms or lentils, thanks.
7. Much to my surprise I truly enjoy reading on my Kindle and, although I still appreciate holding a print book in my hands, I would say I’m definitely a convert.
8. I’m a part owner (with five other members of my Bridge Club and two friends who are horse trainers) of a racehorse named Sweet Like Sugar. She gave us all a thrill by winning her first race. We’re waiting to see what happens next. (Let me assure you this was not a major investment but it’s a lot of fun and, well, you just never know … )
9. During the four months we have been in Antibes, France this summer, as well as loving every minute of the experience, I’ve been doing some research for my next novel. A lot of the action takes place in this part of the world and I can’t wait to see what happens next! I’m about halfway through the first draft.
10. I have a wonderful blended family of seven plus 2 sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law and six grandchildren. As much as I love traveling with my husband, I miss them like crazy and will be thrilled to see them when we get back to Toronto. The babysitting requests are already piling up!
I’ve actually got five keen bloggers waiting to share their random facts with you. Thanks to @NatalieHartford, @PatriciaCavigli, @Angela_Peart, @Melissa_Foster, @GeraldineSolon for agreeing to participate with such enthusiasm!
Thanks for stopping by. Every day is a gift so make the most of each one. Give back what you can, count your blessings and spread good karma wherever you go. It’s the least we can do … and that’s not a random fact! Leave a comment and tell us one about you.
Take a break …
Who doesn’t like to laugh, smile, or just feel good? This short video always does it for me. Whether you are a reader or a writer, I hope you get a chuckle from this clever bit. Don’t try to adjust the focus, it’s made the way you see it, but do get up and boogie around if the spirit moves you! Click here and enjoy!
