A list of moments

"There is no happiness; there are only moments of happiness” says a Spanish proverb. I think there might be some truth to that. The last days I had a couple of such moments that made me smile for a while ....

Moment #1 :
The chef-owner of my bistrot is not present all the time, he comes in usually three days a week for the lunch service (he is also busy running a second restaurant). Then everybody gets nervous, when he is around, as he is pushing us to accelerate, is very demanding and creating quite some pressure. As long as he is not stressing me too much (he did become a little impatient with me a couple of times), I am quite excited when he is in, as he is the only one of the kitchen team with gastronomic experience including working for Ducasse. For example he turns mistakes into a kind of quiz to make people think why things turned out not the way they were supposed to. Why did the dough not become crispy ? Why is the dessert too liquid ? Also he is forcing everybody to taste every special of the day. But in general the team is very stressed out, when he is around, because he is double checking everything and often makes people redo all their work. When he came in this morning he said the pear tart he had seen yesterday, was the best one he has seen in a very very long time. (Every day we do one apple or pear tart as the "dessert du jour".) I will let my readers guess who had done that pear tart yesterday ! Any idea ? Writing this makes me smile again. I know that details and precision in pastry is something that I have a talent for, but it was very very good for my ego and for some recognition within the team, to have the big boss mentioning it very loud to everybody.

Moment #2 :
One thing I still find difficult is coming home around midnight from work, and go to bed immediately to get the quantity of sleep I would need at my age. I should, but I simply can't and don't want to. So to wind down, I need to have a little bit of entertainment, and since the energy level at that hour is relatively low and even in the animated Monparnasse neighbourhood everything closes down around midnight, I mostly end up in front of the TV. Since a couple of days I have a new internet subscription, that includes international TV programs, and I am sooo happy to be able to switch to something else than French TV. So now every night at midnight I have 30 happy minutes with Jay Leno, that make me giggle and sometimes laugh out lout.

Moment #3 :
Talking about the neighbourhood closing down at midnight (on weekdays), yesterday after my night service, I walked by the Cafe de la Place just before midnight on my way home. It was empty but outside in the rain was my favourite waiter having a cigarette (Since Jan 1st smoking is forbidden in bars and restaurants in France). Since he is always so nice to me, always guesses what I want to order before I even can pronounce it and makes me feel at home there, I decided to stop, shake hands and chat a little bit. Somehow we got to talk about my new profession, my exam last year (I spent all May and June with my books there to study) and life changes. Then he revealed his story, he was not the long experienced waiter that I thougth he was, but in fact the manager of the Cafe de la Place, having left his job as a trader at the Paris stock exchange 2 years ago at the age of 50, just to do eventually something that he enjoys, even if it has nothing to do with his education and university degrees. Amazing. I was very happy that I had decided to stop for a chat, and guess I will spend now even more time in the Cafe de la Place. I want to find out more about his story and who knows maybe even get some advice about my own project from someone who is already 2 steps ahead of me. 

Moment(s) #4:
I am counting down the days until Wednesday next week, I will get a year older again, and to celebrate the occasion I will cross the French border and meet some people that have considerably contributed to my existence on this planet, in Brussels durning my 2.5 days off. There will be happy moments then (Belgium is famous for beer, French (!) fries and chocolate truffels), but the moments of anticipation this week are happy too.

Comments

[Michelle]

We haven't spoken in so long, but I just got up to date for the past few months. Good for you for moving on from the 2 star if you weren't happy. Life is too short Ulla!! I hope you learn all you need to in your Bistro, so you can have a happy and successful business in the South of France!!

[Bolli]

rdv au café de la place?.......Bientöt, nous aurions les meilleures places, même si c'est archi plein!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ulla]

Michelle ! It's good to hear from you. Thanks for your encouraging comment. what have your culinary school plans become ? Hope things are well !

Katia, ja das koennte gut sein ;) Aber lass uns nochmal drueber sprechen, wenn es 15 Grad waermer ist....