Although there are number of hardships and challenges about my stage, there are also a lot of things that are great about my internship. Although the chefs (the two owners) are tough, the other people I work with are nice. There are five other interns/apprentices who are both friendly and helpful. I work mainly with one other intern, who has the same afternoon shift as me. She is my life saver and steady mast! Without her, I probably would be lost and 100x more stressed out. We work for one of the two chef de parties…luckily the nicer one. Although he can get annoyed or frustrated, he never directs it towards us with anger or loud emotions. Unlike the other “upper management” people, he doesn’t have crazy mood swings or outbursts. He’s a good boss.
The interns are also given a lot of responsibility. We make recipes from scratch and have dishes that we are in charge of. This came as a big surprise, because I had heard from past interns (from this patisserie and others), that stagieres mostly do packaging and prep work. We still do a lot of stuffing boxes, but on top of that, we have other tasks.
Lastly, I think I have really great hours. I work from 10:30 am to 7-7:30 pm. At first, I preferred the “morning” shift of 7 am to 3 pm, but now I’m really thankful I work the “afternoon” shift. Not having to wake up at the break of dawn really helps me get a full rest. Plus, in the afternoon we work on chocolates and chocolate sculptures. I definitely was bummed when that unit ended in school, so this is a way to gain more practice/knowledge. The downside is that all of the cakes/tarts/macarons/pastries are made in the morning. We get to make some of the stuff, but not a lot. It’s a tradeoff, but overall I’m glad to be where I am right now.
marla says
Even though internships can be difficult at times they are so worth the hands on efforts. Those chocolates could make anyone smile 🙂
jenny says
oh my gosh the chocolates are so cute jess!
im so proud of you 🙂 we have to update soon!
Albert Suh says
🙂 keep on pushing through! I hope you find time to relax and have fun too! haha. And when you get tired and discouraged, remember that we’re all cheering (and waiting) for your success!
Jessica says
Albert- Thanks!!!
Camille says
You get to wear black shoes? Ours are the exact same, but white. (I actually got chewed out by the OSHA equivalent here for wearing Doc Martens in the kitchen. It’s totally stupid, but they insisted that I would slip if I wasn’t wearing the “right” shoes. Number of times I slipped and fell in my Docs? Zero. Number of times I slipped and fell down the stairs in the chaussures de sécurité? Two, plus a lot of close calls.) Glad to hear it’s not all bad, though. And those hours are fantastic! Although 7-3 sounds just fine to me. 🙂
Jessica says
Camille- I know, I’ve had some close calls too! You would think that these special shoes would have some nice gripping on the bottom!
Michelle says
Are those little hippos?? So cute!!!
lynne says
Love the Hippo do they sell them?
Albert Suh says
Happy birthday Jess! 😀
I hope you’re having a ton of fun and eating all sorts of incredible things today! haha
Joyeux anniversaire!
Nisha says
Love those lil hippos, too cute!!!
Crazy Sweet Life says
Wow! Sounds like your stage is quite an adventure…I’m glad you’ve got the ‘nice’ boss. Is it any surprise Parisians get such a bad rap when it comes to rudeness?! Kudos to you!
Jessica says
Good luck at your stage! Keep pushing and don’t get discouraged if your boss ever gets mad. If you don’t stop trying your best, no one can stop you!
parisbreakfast says
Gee those hippos look awfully familiar…
Do they usually sit outside in a glass case?
How many chocolate hippos are there in Paris?
Knowing how insane Parisians are for chocolate animals, there could be many…
Hmmm…
http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2009/03/marche-aux-puce.html
Jessica says
ParisBreakfast- Haha I neither deny or confirm!