Page 256 of The Holy Grail
Jules stopped, her chest crushed with emotion and her eyes filling with burning tears, which she tried to blink away. Turning her head just enough to make her profile visible (because she didn’t want Paige to see the actual breakdown), Jules replied back, “I love you to the mattresses and back, too.”
She then hurried into the airport, forcing herself to not look back, because if she did, she was toast. As it was, Jules had to take cover near a giant palm plant so she could wipe at her eyes, then use her phone to check and see if she had streaks of mascara on her face.
By the time she made it through security and customs, and arrived at the gate for her flight to Paris, she had regained most of her composure. The sharp edges of sadness at leaving her friend had dulled a little bit, making it possible to breathe a bit easier and start focusing on the adventure ahead.
When the call for first class boarding was announced, Jules got to her feet, a feeling of anticipation washing over her. Once she got settled in her window seat with a glass of champagne, she opened the Ménage à Trois group chat and sent a text, even though she knew Malcom and Evan were asleep and wouldn’t see it for a few hours.
JULES: I’m on the plane. See you soon!
Epilogue
Seven years later
Malcom glanced around at all the people enjoying themselves as they sat in booths and at tables in his restaurant.
Feast.
After opening two years ago, it had beaten the odds of failing in its first year, and even managed to turn a nice profit. It had motivated him to expand and launch a new, smaller location, which was officially opening for business in one week, and would be devoted strictly to off-site catering, aptly named ‘A Moveable Feast’.
Evan had come up with that name as well.
The four years Malcom, Evan, and Jules had spent in France had been one of the greatest experiences of their lives.
While Malcom attended École Ducasse—and when time allowed—the three of them had gotten to know every corner of Paris, visiting the Eiffel Tower and having picnics in the Champ de Mars park at its base, the Arc de Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge, the Grand Palais, Opéra Garnier, the Palace of Versailles, Luxembourg Gardens, and the Paris Catacombs.
Despite not being overly religious, they also toured many churches, such as the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Sainte-Chapelle church, simply for their stunning beauty and rich history. Because of the devastating fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral a few years prior, they were only able to visit after it had been restored, shortly before they left to return home. They spent time at Normandy, and also at the historic Pere Lachaise Cemetery, visiting the grave of Jim Morrison.
Hours were devoted to walking the city streets, rain or shine.
Among their favorite streets were the Champs-Élysées with its luxury boutiques, theaters, and historic landmarks, the Rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian-only street in Paris, boasting fruit markets, seafood stores, bistros, and pastry shops, as well as Avenue Montaigne, a high-end shopping street, home of Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Valentino stores. They also regularly frequented the Rue De L’abreuvoir in the hilltop neighborhood of Montmartre, full of ivy-adorned houses, cobblestoned streets, and Paris’s only vineyard, Le Clos Montmartre.
For evening fun, they ventured into the historical district of Le Marais, with its art galleries, bars, and amazing restaurants, and spent many Friday nights in the east end of Paris in the trendy Oberkampf district, known for its festive atmosphere, bars, clubs, and live music venues. It was in one of these clubs that Jules was able to cross French karaoke off her Bucket List.
On lazy Sunday mornings, with coffee and croissants in hand, they would stroll one of the thirty-seven bridges spanning the River Seine.
They were all beautiful in their own way, but their favorite ones became the Pont Neuf (the oldest one, dating back to the 16th century), Pont Alexandre III (the most ornate, with sculptures and majestic arches), and the Passerelles des Arts (often called the ‘Love Lock Bridge’ before the locks were removed, due to the added weight causing structural damage to the railings).
They went sight-seeing in the Latin Quarter, visiting the Panthéon atop the Sainte-Geneviève mountain, which served as a mausoleum for some of France’s most notable figures, such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie, and was also home to Foucault’s Pendulum.
They had even gone to the French Open twice, having so much fun it was ridiculous.
During Malcom’s scholastic break times, when they had a few weeks of free time, they traveled to other countries with their Eurail Global Pass. The first little trip was to England, taking the Eurostar, the high-speed train through the undersea Channel Tunnel (aka the Chunnel), which connected France to England in less than two and a half hours.
By the time Malcom had completed his three-year Bachelor in Culinary Arts program, they had been to Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, even making time to get to the town of Corleone, in Sicily … because to not go would have been blasphemy.
However, instead of returning home right after receiving his diploma, with the support of Jules and Evan, Malcom decided to stay another year and get two more diplomas, one in French Pastry Arts and the other in French Chocolate & Confectionary Arts.
Unfortunately, these two courses weren’t offered at the Paris campus, so they had to pack up and move to Yssingeaux, a small town in the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region, where the École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie was located inside the beautiful Château de Montbarnier, which looked more like a castle than a culinary school.
It was much different than Paris, and most of their activities involved the outdoors, like hiking in the summer, skiing in the winter, and walking around Yssingeaux, dining in the local restaurants, bakery and pastry shops, and strolling through the Farmers Market. It was a quieter life, and in many ways helped them prepare for the return home.
Once those last two diplomas were in his hand, Malcom, Jules, and Evan saidau revoirto France and flew back to the United States, equal parts sad and happy that their adventures abroad were at an end.
France had been good for Malcom, in more ways than just learning to be a master chef. The culture, so open and tolerant, had allowed him to flourish and attain a higher level of self-confidence in all areas of his life.
For Jules and Evan, it had mostly been like an extended vacation, although they both managed to obtain part-time jobs, after procuring work visas. Jules got hired to help with the books in an art gallery, while Evan found employment as a weekend bartender in a fairly popular gay club in the Oberkampf district.
The two men became very fluent in French, more so than Jules, who never quite nailed the accent. However, because she was very attractive and charismatic, and could turn on the charm when she wanted, most Parisians were fairly tolerant of her ‘American’ French … especially the men.
