This article is originally written in French, choose French on the drop-down menu above to see the original.
I have always been fascinated by China, the country of the panda, since I was a little girl! A fascinating and intriguing country at the same time. Flashback to when I was getting ready to join a new school, I heard about a high school where Chinese was taught, something rather rare for the year 2003 in France. For me it was obvious, for my family and friends not so… “Chinese? Is that a joke?” or “But it’s impossible to learn this language” were their main reactions.
Strangely enough, these kinds of remarks had the opposite effect on me and I was more than motivated to start this adventure. Very quickly I made great progress and I went for the first time to China at the age of 16. This trip only confirmed my love for this country.
All along my journey I jumped on every opportunity that came my way to understand this culture better, to learn even more, and to have the chance to go to China for the longest time. So at the age of 19 I decided to go and teach French in Nanjing for 2 years… I can still see the skepticism in my family’s eyes but they finally accepted my choice.
A year at Suzhou University also allowed me to discover this beautiful city and its friendly people.
Back in France, I continued my studies, finished my master’s degree in Chinese and I only thought of one thing: to return to China. My family and friends were no longer surprised.
2013, contract signed with a French company, here I was as a Brand Ambassador based in China, Shanghai. This is how I started my new life. Gourmet that I am, what a chance I have to represent the Gastronomy department of my company. (Chance or danger to keep fit…!)
So I started to make my first business trips all over China, I organized events by inviting French chefs, and I understood little by little the market. This job is perfect for me, thanks to my passion for China and gastronomy. This allows me to understand this country even better and to discover new regions. Each region has its own customs, its own specialties, I love the feeling of always learning more about this country.
Changsha, October 2015, we invited a French chef to do a training for our customers. There were a lot of people at this event but among this crowd I could only see him! I met this talented chef who quickly became my client and eventually my husband. It turned out that he loves France very much, what he loves most of all is French pastry. Since he was a little boy, he helped his parents in their pastry shop and quickly made it his passion. He shared with me his ambitions, his dreams: “One day I will open my own pastry shop that will have your name on it!”
On October 2017, we got married. We had a very happy wedding, my family and friends were able to come. I was very touched… When I announced to my family that my fiancé was Chinese, it came as no surprise! My mother added: “the opposite would have surprised me”.
For our wedding, my husband Luo had prepared everything with such precision. He absolutely wanted to make our wedding cake and buffet himself. I think it was the most exhausting day for both of us because a Chinese wedding is a lot of preparation and customs. Get up at 5am for makeup, change dresses 3 times…
There is a whole tradition where I must first be “stolen” from my family and brought back to his parents, eating hard-boiled tea eggs in the morning paired with good rice alcohol (at least it wakes us up !). The wedding itself is like a show with a presenter, very different from weddings in my country. But in the end it’s still very touching, the decoration Luo chose looks so much like me… Plum tree flowers, which reminds me of my Chinese name梅洛 (Meiluo, “mei” means “plum”).
I love my in-laws from Hunan. I have a great complicity with my mother-in-law, she keeps telling me that I am her daughter and that she wants me to feel at home.
For 5 years we have been living in Xiamen. Whenever we have a vacation, we go back to our family’s home in the countryside of Anhua, a small village in Hunan. What I love most of all is to accompany my mother-in-law in her fields and grow vegetables with her. It teaches me a lot, I love this beautiful nature, this fresh air, this simplicity. The vegetables are excellent!
This year my Chinese mother even taught me how to make our own tofu! We went to harvest bamboo shoots and lit a fire together with the grandmother…
Maybe it’ll become the dernier cri in Paris, who knows?
Mama Luo gave me a big set of pajamas, not to sleep in, but to wear over my clothes during the day, and we would go out in the fields to harvest our vegetables! It is very common, especially in this region of Hunan, to find people dressed in pyjamas in the street. A French woman in pyjamas in the Hunan countryside? A little less common haha! But after all I am a real “湖南媳妇” （it reads Hunan xifu, and means “Hunan young woman” or “wife”）.
April 8, 2022, the construction of my husband Luo’s store is finished!
I am so proud of him, his dream is coming true, today he finally has his own bakery-pastry shop! The name of the store? Melody Luo Bakery 😊 Welcome, food lovers!
Melody Pace
About France: I come from a small village called Chailly-en-Bière, in the suburbs of Paris. My village is surrounded by forests, many people like to practice climbing there. You can also find a lot of horses, small farms… I grew up around nature and animals.
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