Every morning at 6 a.m., Mahmoud M. Saddi has a routine.

He carries a basket, a baguette with 20 of his finest freshly baked baguettes to his truck.

Then he drives them to the Elisée Palace in Paris, a personal delivery for the president of France.

Every day, I carry my truck and carry the baguettes in a baguette.

I will directly walk in the kitchen.

I leave the baguette with 20 bags.

Then I take the baguette and I go.

When he was 18 at age 28, Mahmoud was one of the youngest ever winners of the contest,

which all Parisian bakers dream of winning.

Some enter every year and never make it to the top 10.

Winning the prize was a huge honor for Mahmoud and his family.

Tunisian immigrants who opened a bakery in Paris in the 1980s.

And yet, if it had been up to his mother, Mahmoud would have never even become a baker in the first place.

Bienvenue and welcome to the Duolingo French podcast.

I'm your host, Gauphin Boutouwéle.

Every episode, we bring you fascinating true stories to help you improve your French listening

and gain new perspectives on the world.

The storyteller will be using intermediate French and I'll be timing in for context in English.

If you miss something, you can always skip back and listen again.

And we also offer full transcripts at podcast.duolingo.ca.

Mahmoud's earliest memories are of the back of his parents bakery in the 14th arrondissement.

On Paris's left bank, La Rive Gouche.

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