Beat that croissant harder, Ngila

Ngila and I (Sheelagh) took a baking class yesterday morning.

We learned how to make the dough for croissants. The same dough is used for pain au chocolate (Ngila's favourite), Pain aux raisin (my favourite), and berry tarts.

I also learned that I will never be making these again. The only thing I could do properly was beat the dough with the rolling pin.

We had a lot of fun and were very proud of our efforts.

In the afternoon, we went to the oldest and tallest medieval keep in Europe.

It's enclosed within the walls of the Chateau Vincennes,which is in the Bois du Vincennes, on the eastern edge of the city.
Ngila remembers fondly doing a project in grade 4 about medieval times.
There had been a hunting lodge here since the 1100's but in 1337 work began on the keep

and it became the royal residence until Louis X1V moved everyone out to Versailles. It is the first example of construction using rebar and was very modern with inside latrines.

After the move to Versailles, it became a prison. During the Revolution, the crowd from our neck of the woods, having pulled down the Bastille prison, decided to tackle this one as well. They did their best but fortunately were stopped before they destroyed the keep and the beautiful Saint Chapelle.

This royal chapel is undergoing major restoration. Half of the medieval windows are back in place.

We'll have to come back in a year or so to see the finished produced.