Another petit voyage I made was to Reims where my friend did her two month stage. It’s a lovely little Champagne town 40 minutes away from Paris, perfect distance for an easy and quiet day trip away from the city.
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europe
Petits Voyages: Antwerpen
It’s funny how the busier you get, the more productive you are. Even though I’m so busy during the week and have absolutely no life outside the restaurant (even to buy milk at the store!), I made it a point not to become a tired hermit and use my off days to the fullest. So, with good company I made a few day trips outside of Paris/France and detoxed the stress of the week as a worn out tourist.
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Le Stage Cuisine: The End is Just the Beginning
Le Stage Cuisine: Back to Patisserie
A lot has changed in the past month and a half I’ve been absent. I went from trimming vegetables in the basement kitchen to working service and making desserts. It was sort of by chance that I was switched from cuisine to patisserie, but the realization that I belonged in pastry began to arise soon after I started my stage. In my gut I just felt like I was more interested and suited for patisserie. A random side comment about that to the chef, and a few days later I was making desserts.
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Le Stage Cuisine: Chef Saw Me Take a Picture…
…and he just smiled. I was so startled when he walked in, the photo didn’t focus correctly. I half expected him to yell at be afterwards, but he just passed by me. All the photos I’ve taken so far have been in secret when I’m alone. It’s not a crime and I’m definitely not taking pictures of super “important” things, but some chefs don’t like it. At my last stage, we were never given the space to take or even ask to take photos. One time, one of the stagiaires asked the chef de partie if she could snap a photo of the display case that we had worked on during the day and he said to take it quickly before the chef came back. I just assumed that most establishments were that way and that this restaurant was no exception, but I guess I was wrong. Because I was so scarred once, it’s hard to believe that this stage is going to be so much better and that the people are going to continue to treat me with decency, but it’s slowly getting there. However, I’m still going to refrain from taking pictures out in the open…for now.