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but always smiling. In these treasured moments, Tali learned what true love was and vowed
to never settle for anything less.
Heartbroken, Tali’s mother threw away everything that reminded her of Paris, her husband,
and the trip that would never be. The poster, purchased for her by her late husband in
place of an engagement ring and placed against her window the night he proposed, was the
only thing she kept. Not strong enough to throw it away but too weak to look at it and be
reminded of what was lost, she tucked it away behind her wooden armoire. That spot, in
the corner of her mother’s bedroom, became an altar for Tali, a place to go to pray, to dream,
and to talk to her dad.
Tali was only ten when her father passed away, but she knew how important Paris was to
her mother and, that somewhere, hiding amidst all of the lights, was a piece of her father’s
heart. In a small jar in her room, Tali began collecting spare change, saving up for a train
ticket that would take her and her mother to Paris some day.
But broken hearts are hard to mend and sometimes, in severe cases, are irreparable. Fifteen
Euros into her savings, Tali’s mother passed away. She died quietly in the hospital early one
morning, Tali and her mother’s sister, holding her hands as she left, anxious to be reunited
with the love of her life. Tali took her fifteen Euros, the poster of Paris, and moved in with
her aunt in her small, two-story stone home in the heart of Swansea. Tali’s aunt was kind,
but too practical to allow for any talk of dreaming, which is why Tali began to draw at age
eleven. She would draw what she saw, the rundown businesses across the street, her cousin’s
obese cat, her mattress on the floor, until she discovered that she could close her eyes and
instead draw what she saw in her own handmade world.
Considering it a favor to Tali that she had a place to live, Tali’s aunt required her to do many
of the household chores, including cooking for the family. Tali learned her way around the
kitchen from the two cookbooks her aunt had in the kitchen, Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery
for Private Families and The Art of French Baking by Ginette Mathiot. She discovered that
there was a big difference between cooking and baking – you cook because you have to, you
bake because you love to. Soon Tali’s aunt’s home filled with the decadent aromas of éclairs,
soufflés, macarons, meringues, brioches, and more. The smells were so incredible that they
could even overpower the stench that settled over Swansea each night, which lead to the
rising popularity of both Tali and her baking.
Tali’s sweets became famous throughout the city and throughout all of Wales. Proud that
her niece was the toast of the town and excited to get her out of the house now that there
was more blossoming than just her culinary skills - the constant advances of men, made
her nervous - Tali’s aunt bought her a ticket to Paris and signed her up to attend a school
for those gifted in the art of pastry. Tali was thrilled to be heading to her City Of Light
and to learn more about baking, but secretly she was most excited to meet fellow artists, to
study their work, and to hone what had now become an obsession almost as potent as the
city of Paris itself.