The real world...

After spending a fun "vacation" week with my mom and Wayne gallivanting around Paris, Nantes, and a chateau in the Loire Valley, it was time to start my internship. I should have taken the fact that I didn't know what time I was starting or where to go on my first day as a sign of the craziness that was to come with my internship at La Grande Epicerie.

On the quai of the Seine

Have you ever seen a steel drum musician play classical music - Amazing!

Went to visit two of my favorites...Josh and Phillip at Le Petit Flore in Nantes

I arrived at La Grande Epicerie on Monday, July 6th and after hearing my fellow classmates' stories about their internships, I was a little worried, but didn't have any expectations. Would I be writing the name of a famous hotel with mini chocolate chips on 500 financiers every morning or dealing with a chef who was super serious and critical? Well, let's see...I ventured down into the 1st basement (we have two) with the chef, was told to change into my school chef's uniform and report to the lab. Then I was thrown to the lions...ok, not literally but I was thrown right into the mix and spent my first day more as a member of the petits gateaux team and not a lowly inept stagiare(intern). We have three stations in the pastry lab - petits gateaux, entremets (cakes) and four (oven). Another stagiare, myself and 4 other people are on petits gateaux and we're responsible for making petits four frais (mini desserts such as cheesecake, clafoutis, linzer), tarts (chocolate, lemon, strawberry, raspberry) and several other things (millefeuille, éclairs, etc.)

Emerging from the metro with a view of my workplace

During my first week, I was less than pleased with my stage because the people telling me what to do seemed to be totally clueless. They would tell me how to do something, I would do it, and then one of the chefs would come around to tell me that I should have done it differently. Plus, our station seems to make pretty much the same thing every day. One of the things I take solace in is that I work with friendly people who don't really look down on interns as peons. The things I make in the lab are put in the pastry case just like everyone else and I'm incredibly thankful that I don't spend the day peeling fruits or washing dishes like some interns do.

It's hard to believe this is my third week at La Grande Epicerie. Even though my internship is not really meeting my expectations (we do everything on such a large scale and with machines that I often feel like I'm working in a factory), but I'm enjoying it more than I did at the beginning and getting more comfortable. Despite this fact, I think I'll stay for 3 months and not 6 month as planned because I think working for a smaller pastry shop would be a more beneficial experience considering my future goals.

Here's to my 4th week at La Grande Epicerie...hope it's a good one!