June 22, 2007 | Europe, France, Louviers, Normandy, On Rue Tatin

Friday was our farewell lunch, and we started the lesson with a debate about foie gras and food politics and another demonstration on making homemade mayo. Although I’ve done this before in cooking school, we flavored these 3 ways – with tarragon, balsamic, and lemon/pepper – and they were fabulous to dip vegetables into as our first course.

The final meal was incredible:

Cucumber puree with fresh cheese (that had been drained)

Pasta with cream, walnuts and foie gras (killer! my new favorite dish of the week!)

Duck breast with orange sauce, almonds and cumin (oh no! my new new favorite dish!)

Green salad with honey vinaigrette

Fromages

Sauteed cherries with a little of the lemon ice cream and almond cookies (a little burned, thanks I think to Silvestro’s hangover)

I went to dinner at the same restaurant Chaumier in Acquigny with Vicki for our parting night and had a wonderful fish special, then home to pack and head out to Paris for the airport in the morning.