A little over 40 years ago, four friends in the seventh grade were sitting on and around a bench in Our Lady of Fatima’s playground area waiting for school to start. They did this almost every single morning during junior high. This particular morning’s conversation involved a very serious topic… the subject of piercing their ears.
Paul, a future writer, publisher, and legal consultant, shared that guys are wearing earrings now; and he felt it would be necessary for this group to jump on board with this latest trend in
order to maintain their growth towards ultimate “coolness.” He stressed that only one ear needed to be pierced.
Clint, a future anesthesiologist who lacked confidence in his parents’ ability to condone such an extreme fashion statement, warned that men’s ear piercing held a meaning. One ear meant you were “straight” and the other meant you were “gay.” With the latter being the absolute worst possible conceivable message, any seventh-grade boy would ever want to broadcast in 1982… this tabled the discussion.
After a long weekend, Pootie, a future baker and business owner shared that the left ear would indicate that the wearer was “straight,” and the right ear would out the wearer as “gay.” This of course moved the conversation along.
Mike, a future international oilman, asked about the meaning of piercing both ears. This query was immediately met with the most emphatic statement ever made at that bench. “A man with both his ears pierced is a Master Baker,” exclaimed Pootie.
Almost 50 years before this conversation two twins, Jean and Francois Poupart, were born in Perpignan, France to a family of carpenters. The two were very close, and when it became clear as a teenager that construction was not in Francois’ future… the two decided to learn to cook.
Francois joined a French apprenticeship guild Compagnon Du Devoir and would eventually earn the title of Brevet de Matrice (Master Baker). By the time he entered his 20s, after completing his apprenticeship but before earning his final baking distinction, France was at war with the Algerian National Liberation Front, known as the “café war” in some circles. Francois, all 130 pounds of him, served as a paratrooper and a cook in the “Armees de Terre” before returning home to complete his training.
The guild’s tradition and ceremony around achieving Brevet de Matrice, an honor that goes to only 1% of members, includes having both of his ears pierced. The piercing, designed to give the wearer instant status in cooking circles, afforded opportunities to Francois he could have never imagined.
Having lost a young wife to cancer, Francois found himself a single widower in the big city of Paris. The master baker met young woman named Louise working at a café in 1959, the two fell in love and were married. In 1963 the couple, along with Jean and his wife Edmonde, took a leap of faith and headed to Lafayette, Louisiana to work as pastry chefs and eventually start a business. Jean worked with his brother building the business but eventually found his way back into construction and built homes in the Lafayette area until his recent death in 2022.
A man with both his ears pierced is a Master Baker
The bakery eventually became a home [they lived - and Francois still lives – upstairs, on top of the bakery] and by 1970 they had a son, Patrick, who immediately started working in the business. That son picked up the nickname Pootie [later morphed into “Poopsie”] and today runs the family business. Poupart’s Bakery, the only authentic French bakery in the region, has been a Lafayette staple for almost 60 years.
Francois’ wife passed away in 2006, but he, along with his son Patrick, continued to work in the business… and they still do today. His involvement is not what it once was, but he is a big part of the fact that the quality of the deliciousness coming from Poupart’s has been carefully maintained… just ask his loyal customers.
In the early part of June 2023, officials with Compagnon Du Devoir came all the way from France to Lafayette and held a formal ceremony to honor the oldest active baker in the guild… the oldest active anything in the guild according to Patrick. Members from all over the country [and the world] were in attendance to celebrate the career of one of their best.
Francois Poupart is a Lafayette treasure, and his business is one of those “uniquely Lafayette” establishments everyone should experience.
And, yes – both of his ears are still pierced.