Lingua Franca?

Today was Williams second last day...he’s still waiting for his visa for USA but he won’t be working at the bakery after this week. There was also a Japanese lady who’s working and observing for a few days. Chef told me she’s going to open a small boutique in Japan and wants to just get some more exposure to thing here. She speaks really good French. It’s a bit of a mindf*** hearing people of other nationalities speaking French to me...really weird.

Otherwise the day was pretty much the usual.

Starting to look forward to coming home though...

The Big Cheese

Today was standard...I’ve been getting a lot of sarcasm from Alexandre and Alex though. Maybe they just have difficulty saying that they’re going to miss me :p

I got to taste the galette tartiflette...it was served on a pain Texan which is kinda like a flat round roll that they use for burgers, with 2 slices of reblochon and 2 slices of bacon. It was pretty good, but since tasting Alex’s tartiflette, I only accept it with loads of lardons and caramelised onions. Alexandre reckons you judge a tartiflette but whether or not you fart the next day...if you don’t, you need to add more cheese ha-ha

Chef also made a “galette auvernge” which is made from thin slices of potato, salted to remove moisture then mixed with parsley, garlic and layered onto feulletage, then topped with lardons and another layer of feulletage before being baked. Once baked, a circle is removed from the top and whipped crème fraiche is piped inside and slowly melts in.mmmm looks so good but it’s a bit outta my price range at 11 Euros for a small one (which is meant for 2 people though).

An Italian guy stayed the night. Was pretty cool coz his name is Ezio...like in assassin’s creed. Ezio auditore da Firenze :p

Dream Team

Today was a bit of a weird vibe. It was me, Alexandre, Alex and William and we knocked stuff out so quickly it left me a bit disorientated. 

Everything else was smooth sailing and Alexandre tried a small loaf made for a sandwich, in the shape of a pig, made up of 3 balls. His idea was “3 little pigs” and the sandwich would have salami, coppa and Serrano ham on each different section. 

A really cool idea...once you have an understanding of your work, it’s up to you to motivate yourself and look for new ideas.

Something I definitely have to do when I get back.

The weakest link…

Another day, another stitch. Sack of s#*t Benjamin didn’t come in for work...didn’t come since Sunday when he was supposed to work with Alex. He sent a message saying he was sick...and on Monday he was supposed to work but called in sick as well. And on Monday, Alex was off, I was only returning from Switzerland and William was at the Vaise branch. So Alexandre was on his ace and started from midnight...until Izam came in around 6 and Pierre at 9. That’s called f*cking the team one time...

Everyone is really just annoyed with him and the fact that he’s being such a little girl.

Barely a month in and calling in sick, showing lack of drive and just being f***ing useless. So it was me and William with Alexandre. William was working with me but he was a little out of it today...working really slow, meaning that I was running around...which I enjoy to an extent. But only an extent...

Otherwise, day was good. We are trying a new croissant recipe which has more eggs in it and uses melted, cooled butter for better incorporation. Chef and Alexandre aren’t happy at the moment as the croissants are cracking a bit so I think they want richer, softer dough. We’ll see how it comes out.

We also made pain chataigne which is “chestnut bread”, made from chestnut flour and a mixture of bio T80 flour. We shaped it into a chestnut shape but proving a 1.4kg ball of dough in a small basket and then when it was ready to be loaded, turned out and cut into 4 pieces, then scored. It has a beautiful aroma when fermenting and after cooking has a light nutty flavour and light but firm texture.

On another note, it was my parents’ 30^th wedding anniversary today. Nice one ouens. [ ‘peeps’ ]

Goodbye Geneva

I woke up around 6am as going to sleep at 9 meant that I only needed to sleep until 3 am anyway to get my 6 hours sleep. Around 10am tony came out of their room and we made tea and chatted a bit but Emma was feeling sick and threw up during the night so she stayed in bed until before I left around 12 for the train station. 

The weather was miserable and rainy, but driving to the station I still got to see some beautiful parts of the city including small woods which looked like the stereotypical one in movies where joggers get kidnapped J

Waited at the station while it was flippen cold and then off I was to Geneva and this time I found my way a bit easier to my train for Lyon. A pretty uneventful trip, just looking out at the beautiful countryside, even in the crappy weather, with the hills and fields covered in crops of veggies or vineyards varying in colours of yellow, green and tinges of red. Very picturesque seeing a small house and then a massive vineyard.

Once I got back to Lyon I just headed home and got back just before 4pm. To a locked door which is normally left open. This door is the one to a small hallway which then has the door to the apartment. I think it was Chi, the Australian girl who had been staying for the week. She had done it once before and had left that day at 12 so it would have been after Fatiha. If you’ve had a long trip, you just want to get home and chill. At this point I was seriously considering kicking the door in as I was pissed off of note.

Luckily for the door I decided to see if one of the neighbours might have a key of some sort and the one in the level below us did and helped me out. Didn’t really want to ask her as she’s the one who’s come to complain twice already when the shower is left dripping on the ledge of the bath and seeps into the walls and affects her ceiling. But anyway, she was nice to me so no worries.

Just chilled for the rest of the day.

Switzerland

So today kinda started yesterday...we woke up around midday and were feeling roff! [‘rough’; not great] So we only left the house after 1pm and drove for about 40 min to these hot springs (can’t remember the name of the area/town) which was just what the doctor ordered.

It was 25 Francs for 3 hours in the springs...once you used your card to go through a gate; you changed in a cubicle into your swimming costume and then went out the other side and put your stuff into a locker. You then use your card to allow you to lock the locker with a key that is attached to a wristband which you then tie to your wrist.

Then you have to walk through an area where your feet are “washed” by walking through ankle high water and then you take a shower. Afterwards you walk down some steps and enter what is essentially a huge swimming pool, but heated... there are these huge fountains that spurt out water in a steady stream or a cascade which is meant to massage your back...

big Jacuzzi type areas where the water is constantly bubbling and gently exfoliates your skin. There was also a sort of a whirlpool area where it’s a circular area with jet streams all around the interior of the wall that push the water around in a circular motion so that you have to let yourself float or bounce yourself up every now and then and you just keep going round and round. Emma and I loved that thing....each time it was “one more time, one more time!!”

Then we went off to the hammam (spelling?) which is a steam room with 80% humidity. It had little fairy lights in the low, 2m odd high ceiling and a heavy layer of steam near the top of the room.

A faint mint/menthol aroma permeated the heavy steam and when inhaled, seemed to open up your airways. Sitting on the seats were a bit cooler, so I sat on top of the back of the seats so I could have a higher temperature... after about 5 min we went to the Turkish baths which is similar except its 100% humidity. And the Turkish baths are separated for men and women whereas the hammams aren’t. In between you’re supposed to go for a cold shower but I didn’t feel hot enough so I didn’t.

We went back to the springs for a bit before going to the saunas...they have 3, a naturalist sauna which is a nude sauna, a grande sauna which is between 55-75% humidity, but dry heat...after which you take a plunge or rather a slow descent into an ice cold well of water which really makes you feel alive. And lastly there was a biological sauna which was perfumed, but a bit cooler at 55% but afterwards there’s this metal bucket which fills up with filtered, ice cold water which you have to pull a chain and it tips all over you...really fun in building up the anticipation before that cold water hits you.

So all in all we stayed for about just under 2 hours...when you leave you go through the showers and change cubicles again and they have some mirrors and hairdryers for you to make yourself all dry and presentable again.

Another 40 min later and we were back home, with Tony having to head to work at 5pm. Emma and I were still feeling the night before so we just did our own thing, reading and watching TV/series. Emma also made some tom yum soup which she is fanatic about but she added so much chilli...and still ate 3 bowls of the stuff with me managing 1. That chilli definitely cleansed me properly!

We wanted to go out for fondue later, but by 9pm we were both knackered so we just decided to stay in and rest.

Halloween

Seeing as it was Halloween the next day, a lot of shops started to put up all sorts of autumn displays with lots of pumpkin heads and cobwebs and stuff.

 It was also the last day that William and the new sack of s#*t were working with us...had to kick Rudolph’s ass again as he was as unproductive and lacking initiative as always. We managed to get everything done really early so we got onto more cleaning. Fridges, freezers, proving chambers...all that jazz. Got William and Rudolph to clean the kitchen on Jean-Luc's side to keep them busy as we had waaaaay too many people. 

Myself, Alex and Alexandre, Izam, Pierre from 9am, William and Rudolph...

We were done around midday and then I came home and crashed as I was so tired from lack of sleep the Wednesday evening after I came back from Annecy.

Got up after a well-deserved sleep and ate...I was invited to join Alex and Hugo for a beer but I was feeling tired and it was still cold so I declined...they had also planned to only meet at 8pm, which is when I’m usually sleeping. J

Trip to Annecy

Today was the day of my day trip to Annecy with Marie. Even though we were only meeting at 7, I was awake from like 2 because I had already slept 6 hours by then and couldn’t go back to sleep. We met at the metro in Grange Blanche and am glad I had my hoodie and beanie as the air was soooo cold. But I still wore shorts because I’m a badass like that...

We met with a lady named Claire and 2 Chinese girls who were travelling with us. We used a site where you organise a carpool with people who are travelling from one city to another, where you can see what kind of car they have, what time they plan to leave, what size bag you can take and how much it costs per person. You then pay to make the reservation and get sent a code. You give the code to the person you’re travelling with AFTER your trip and then they receive the funds like that. It’s a really cool system and works out pretty cheap as it was 9Euros each for the way back...and it was about a 2 hour drive so it’s reasonable.

First off I was famished so we headed to the closest cafe I could find...I had one of those terrible coffees and a raclette and Grison Panini (Grison was some kind of charcuterie, nothing amazing)...after kinda settling my hunger we walked around a bit and headed to the “vieux ville” or old city.J

It was very quaint and had a beautiful feel to it but everything was closed..and it was 10am! I don’t get these European shop times. While staring through one shop window, the owner opened up and we had a look around at the cool small house feel to the shop with the rafters and beams exposed in the ceiling, all wooden...saucisson and jambon hanging all over and liqueurs and honeys and jams in various shaped bottles and jars. I bought a violet liqueur because it looked and sounded cool...

Walking around, you notice loads of neatly cared for bushes of brightly coloured flowers which makes the old city and cold stone seem more alive. Another charcuterie had a selection of dried sausages and salamis on display outside and I noticed they had one with donkey. Yep, donkey! Unfortunately I didn’t try or buy any of that.

You feel like you’re in an Alice in Wonderland movie with all the beautiful old houses all around you, bridges adorned with plants and flowers, overlooking the peacefully flowing river.

Everything is just peaceful and patient. We check out a painters “atelier” or studio...he had some nice oil paintings, vivid in colour and capturing the feel of an Alpen town.

We then walked through the rest of the old city and started walking around the perimeter of the lake, “lac de Annecy”. Even though the air was still frigid, the sun was shining and it made for a beautiful setting...the water was so clear and blue. Even the leaves in the park on the wayside were full of character...colour and texture.

For lunch we finally decided on a Belgian restaurant as it was really busy and we both liked what was on offer. J I love that stuff....but this wasn’t as good as Alex’s tartiflette as they used cream and less cheese and lardons to obviously make it less expensive. This came with a small salad with some jambon cru (gotta love that stuff too...) all washed down with a deliciously refreshing Hoegaarden.

Marie had onglet with frites and salad and I had tartiflette!!!!

We did some more window shopping and I bought a tarte chocolat for dessert and a jar of caramel beurre sale which I think would be sick inside a cheese cake...booyah! Definitely making one when I get back.

After that we missioned up to the Basilique de Visitation. It was a cathedral which sucked out all the sound...there were only 4 other people there but everything was muffled by the immenseness of the ceiling. Quite imposing actually. We chilled and chatted a while before walking up to the beginning of a selection of hiking trails. We ended up just going with intuition as the signs weren’t that clear after a while and just enjoyed the silence and fresh air. If I was a hermit I’d want to live in a place like that. So picturesque...I loved the patterns on the trees and the moss covered stones and swathes of crunchy leaves covering the ground like a carpet. 

At about 5pm we started to make our way back down and then met with our ride back to Lyon and 2 Mexican girls this time. Aurélie works for some handicapped organisation in France and we had a conversation most of the way back in pretty much just French J

If you’re ever in France you have to visit Annecy.

Another Spring-clean

Today was a bit better. But only because William was working as well... so I had William helping me and Rudolph doing all the shit jobs that were boring and menial... and less important so he couldn’t mess things up. I had about had it with his laziness so I took it upon myself to just call him whenever he was doing nothing and tell him to do something or clean or pack something away. He has honestly f***all initiative.  That kind of person is not worth the time... I mean I explain things to William and correct and give him tips because he is at least interested. But Rudolph doesn’t even try to get involved.

I was at the oven today and owned that. I was done with all the baking just after 9 so I cleaned the fournil (oven area) and then set about cleaning and tidying things up. I got William and the sac a merde to do things as well...things that you normally do when you’re finished early and have time for it. Rearranging and repacking shelves and fridges and stores, properly cleaning equipment and trolleys etc.

I wanted to clean the walk in fridge as it had been irritating me for a long time now... it was really siff because every time there’s a delivery, things just get chucked in and no one does stock rotation or cleans containers and stuff. So I pulled out all the shelves and scrubbed them down...made them look sexy, repacked and reorganised things and washed the walls, door and floor of the fridge. Geez, afterwards what a huge difference!! It looked so nice and tidy. That’s one thing I liked about working at Jordan was how often we cleaned everything. It makes a big difference and influence on your mind-set while at work and that way it’s just a little bit of work each time, as opposed to a crapload in one go.

Ah, Alexandre also made some galette de tartiflette...tartiflette is that dish that Alex made when I went for dinner one night. Its lardons, onions caramelised in the bacon fat, boiled potatoes cut up into medium sized chunks and Reblochon which is a cheese from the savoire faire region I think, but it's made with raw milk (lait cru) and is a rind sprayed cheese like a brie, but it’s softer and mellower in flavour. Yeah we used a lot of that J we mixed everything gently while the potatoes were still hot so the heat melted everything and then just pressed weighed portions into silpat mats and put in the fridge to chill.

After work got home and crashed because I have an early morning tomorrow as I’m going to Annecy with Marie (the Swedish girl I met while staying at Fatihas place)

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer?

Today we had a new stagiare named Rudolph working with us...he is actually French despite the name but I’m guessing he’s from a region close to Germany. But oh my word...sack of shit levels reached an all-time high...this guy is here for a week but he works soooo slow.

Even William who is not a baker works faster than this guy. Literally he works super slow and even then the quality of work is standard or sub par... He also will stand with his hands clasped behind his back

and watch people work or lean against a shelf and talk. No motivation or drive whatsoever...Benjamin at least tries.

Even though he was there, it was pretty much just myself, Alex and Alexandre who did the shaping and stuff...so I had to carry this guy`s performance for the day. Super frustrating...almost wanted to tell him to f*** off.

Sleepy Sunday

Did nothing today except the usually Sunday badassery of sleeping and not doing anything, like a boss...

I had planned to go with Chi (the Australian girl) to a market but I think she misunderstood me and didn’t tell me when she left so I ended up just chilling at home.

French Girls

Phew what a stressful day...

Alexandre and I came in at 1am today as we had a big order to get through and wanted to get a head start on the stuff because Benjamin and William wouldn’t be able to help that much. We were pretty productive...although Benjamin wasn’t on form at all today. He was on mixing the doughs but took incredibly long and some of them weren’t made properly (like forgetting to add gluten to the Sarasin)... Alexandre was kicking his ass hard. I think he ended up making Benjamin cry.

I tried to tell him to refocus and concentrate but I don’t know if maybe there was something else on his mind maybe.

With the pain viennoise it took him so long to divide and shape everything that by the time he was done with everything, the dough was ready to be baked. So he took like over an hour for that...and him giving Alexandre more stress doesn’t help anyone. The big order for 350 dejeunettes tool a while to divide, shape and bake so I was overseeing Benjamin and William and helping with baking while doing most of the shaping.

Ah shit and I forgot my Monster at home... L was bleak about that. We gave the whole place a really nice clean today as well.

Oh and we started burning some of the wooden crates in the wood fired oven...it’s quite interesting how it works. Instead of having a hearth that is heated up from underneath, there is a small chamber where you make a fire using small branches (they use 400kg a day like this) as you want a flame and not just heat. The flames go out from a chute inside the oven which you can direct. Basically it’s heated up by the flames which can shoot out up to about 2m which reaches all the way into the back of the oven which is about 2m deep.

After work Benjamin, William and I went for a beer across the road to talk crap and look at French girls J

nice to socialise a bit and talk with people who get the industry. Also, William mentioned that he’s organised for me and him to go to the gastronomic restaurant of the MOF chef who is a family friend of his. Apparently the chef has invited us, so it’s on him...if not I won’t be able to afford it ha-ha....but should be pretty sick. The guy is 72 and still working, or at least overseeing his restaurants...old school French style.

An Australian girl is staying at Fatihas place for a few days so was cool to speak to her and her sister who are both from Melbourne.

Bull in a China Shop

Good day today...decent push. Williams shaping is improving although he still needs to focus a bit more.  Benjamin was slow again today so Alexandre was kicking his ass hard. He’s an employee, William is just observing and I’m a stagiare...same like when Yann was here. They’re all big talk but then mess up or can’t perform. A little humility goes a long way...I know when to shut up and just work. I’m there to learn so I don’t have a chip on my shoulder, if I’m not open to being told something it’s not possible to learn is it? Day was pretty ok except for around 10am when we were late for an order of dejeunettes because Benjamin forgot to divide them after everything else and shaped slow. Then while he was baking them, he was baking them too long so I took over and as we were changing trolleys, I knocked the one against a till which was next to the side of the display glass and broke it. FML. I had literally cm on each side to spare but still. Had to discard some cakes too because of glass. Felt really shit.

But life goes on...I asked to pay for it but Mme Pozzoli wouldn’t let me. Apparently it’s happened before. And the moved the till before but moved it back a short while ago. Izam also was smiling and joking a bit today...I can see he’s relaxing more and becoming part of the team. He’s only 16...made me think about when I did job shadowing while still in school...around his age as well. I even remembered my 1^st burn, although 10 years later it’s gone. I remember how and why it happened too.

While cleaning up Alexandre and I were talking again. He complimented me saying that I learn quickly which was cool to hear. And we then started talking psychology and work ethics...I really enjoy these chats at the tail end of work. Topics become so deep. Really thought provoking. Everyone needs to stay focused and keep on learning...otherwise you start to die inside.

Alexandre asked me to start at 1 tomorrow with him so we can knock out an order before the others come in so we aren’t delayed at all so gonna nod off soon but now it’s a perfect excuse for Monster!!! Although I don’t really need an excuse for Monster do I? J

Binging

Off day today....was feeling pretty crappy. Then I realised its coz when I looked in my fridge there was barely anything. So I went and bought loads of junk food...mmm emotional binging. : D ha-ha yeah I felt like a fat slob afterwards so I did some isometric exercises...felt much better afterwards so I decided I need to do some every day to help me stay focused and feeling good. And not pick up a gut too. So no more beer for now too.

On the way home from the shop I noticed a house that is one block away from where I stay. It’s beautiful and old and the wall and one side of the house is covered in creepers, reds, yellows and greens...it’s so picturesque. I stopped and stared for a while...it looked awesome. I will have to take a pic of it soon.

So one thing I bought which was pretty cool was this ice-cream thingy....vanilla ice cream, coated in hazelnut pieces and with a meringue centre...flippen weird but I was craving something sweet so whatever.

sweet tooth...