She'd always wanted to go to culinary school abroad and, after some online research, submitted her application to a French school on a whim. Tuition ranges from 4,300 euros ($4,666) for two months of just cooking lessons, or up to 18,700 euros ($20,290) for a year-long program with cooking lessons, pastry lessons, French lessons and an internship. She officially moved to France in January 2023 and began her accelerated three-month program of intensive pastry courses and French lessons, followed by a four-month internship. Valcourt says the best things about her pastry job are learning new skills and working with her hands. Looking back, she's grateful her first try at culinary school didn't pan out.

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Persons: Valerie Valcourt, it's, Valcourt, She'd, —, France Valcourt, she's Organizations: Big Tech, Seattle, CNBC Locations: South, France, Seattle, New York, Connecticut, Pont, l'Isere