Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. I have been in internship and personal hell, and I didn't want to be a blog downer. But today I got two requests that I post, so here goes. I'll try to post more often after this.

So after a long day of picking apart watercress and pulling the
poop-end off of clams (yup, as gross as it sounds), I got some good
news. But let's backtrack...

Yesterday, after the lunch service, I was told to help Manu, the
pastry chef. This is never a good thing, as he is volatile and very
particular about the way things should be. He goes on loud, yelling
tirades at people all the time over stupid stuff, like how to hold a
sponge. He has never directed these at me, either because I am a girl
or because I am older than he. Whatever. So he told me to make the
tarte tatin aux figues (so yummy, I will be making this at home) and
then I helped make the piece de resistance dessert, the fondant aux
trois chocolat- a three layer mousse and praline awesome thing that I
want to dive into headfirst every time I see it. He was totally
relaxed and nice as he let me do all this stuff he is always really
uppity about. Just before I was to leave, he looked at me and said,
"Well, I'm leaving you. Next Tuesday is my last day." He quit to go
work in Bordeaux! The only person at work that I don't like is leaving
next week! Hooray!

Except for the chef, who has found herself up the proverbial without
the necessary equipment. She wasn't there today, but her husband, the
General Director of all the Guy Savoy restaurants, was there in her
place. He's around a lot and I really, really like him. As I was
leaving, he stopped me before I hit the stairs. "How much longer are
you here, Meg? December? That leaves...TWO months! Wow...that's a long
time." I was prepared for the axe to fall here. It's been great having
you here, but you're too slow, and we don't have room for you
etc.,etc. Instead, he hit me with, "Mise en place is good to see, but
you've seen enough. Would you prefer cuisine or pastry? Cuisine? Okay.
Since you're going to be here for so long, I'm going to check into how
much we can pay you (PAY ME!!!!!) and we'll change your schedule as of
next week so that you can come in and help us do the dinner service
from now on."

Actual cooking. I am going to be doing actual cooking for people and
they are going to eat it and I am going to be PAID! I tried to keep my
cool Parisian, "yeah, that works for me," face, but in reality, I
wanted to kiss the man. He said my work is good and that speed will
come quickly once I start doing service.

Hooray! This stage might not be so bad after all!

On Friday, the chef mentioned that the old intern would be back this week, and that I should go to the meat station and he will tae over the crap duties on the cold station. I was hoping for a more interesting day today, but when I got there this morning, the meat guy said he couldn't take me today. So, it was another day of picking through salad. I am hoping that tomorrow I will be able to go over to the meat station. If not, maybe there will be something a little more interesting in the cold station. The other bad part of the cold station is that the guy in charge is 19 and the other intern is 17, but he's been there for a year. I am having a VERY hard time answering to these kids...especially when they tell me that I have plucked the leaves off a parsley stem incorrectly. Apparently, there is more than one way.

On Friday, the chef mentioned that the old intern would be back this week, and that I should go to the meat station and he will tae over the crap duties on the cold station. I was hoping for a more interesting day today, but when I got there this morning, the meat guy said he couldn't take me today. So, it was another day of picking through salad. I am hoping that tomorrow I will be able to go over to the meat station. If not, maybe there will be something a little more interesting in the cold station. The other bad part of the cold station is that the guy in charge is 19 and the other intern is 17, but he's been there for a year. I am having a VERY hard time answering to these kids...especially when they tell me that I have plucked the leaves off a parsley stem incorrectly. Apparently, there is more than one way.

What can I say about my internship? It’s not that bad really. What I mean by that is: for all the people out there who are jealous that I get to be in Paris, know that I spent today in a basement kitchen brushing the dirt off of mushrooms for three hours. How do you like my glamour now?

The people are really nice. They are mostly all business, but with a friendly edge. Even when they do have to shout and get on each other’s backs, it’s justified and it all blows over really fast. I haven’t gotten to do anything fun, but I stand there picking through lettuce or plucking the leaves off mint stems while the other people do interesting things. I hoping that after the first week, they may let me do something more fun than clean and sort produce.