what's up everybody??


well, guess what... i'm having an awesome time here at VATEL ...working away..hehehe.. i'm a self proclaimed workaholic..hehehe..
yesterday and today i was made chef de rang..ie. head waiter..voila!!! and they said the indians were not gonna be made so!!!! why do they underestimate?? who knows and who cares???!!!! :D
i'm having a blast working with M. Lasky and M. Jean-Claude and M. Patrice!!!
well, thats whats up...we finished our shift at 11.30 last nite!! voila!!!
a miracle!!!hehheee

ciao bye bye
Arielle

salut!!!

ok lotsa catching up to do.. last friday we went to the city of Sete ... lovely important port city of South France. Me and Asad from Ramaiah, since we were told to explore the city on our own, we chose the least expensive mode of transport, it being our own two pairs of feet..ehhehee.. it was kinda like trekking.. we had 4 hrs to kill from the time we reached, as we decided to spend 15 euros to go on the sub sea explorer. The city of Sete is also the centre for the production of Oysters and scallops..and that was what the sub sea explorer was about!!! we thought that would be a nice experience. ... hmm...so we started our trek along the streets of Sete.. we went along the beaches and up rather steep hills and then down them... while we were trekking along the road along the seaside we found a lovely quite spot.. and since we had walked for nearly half an hour we decided to take a break there. We met a Grand mother named Sophie with her grandson Immanuel :-) . we exchanged pleasantries and i was telling them how different the seaside in kerala was..:-) big advantage for me to be able to speak to them in french:-) the french stick to their native language as much as possible.. disadvantage..they speak too fast for me..so i always need to tell them to slow down:-(

ok..where were we...we watch the pretty calm waves crashing on the rocks and spraying lovely foam everywhere..;-) and then we continued with our trek.. along the roads... finally we decided to take the road through Foret de Pierres Blanches ("Forest of White Stones")...it was the steepest hill i ever had to climb..we had stop about 3 or 4 times :-)...finally we reached the top..saw the board saying forest of white stones and began our descent.hehehe..
the view!!!! was stunning.. beach the oyster beds..etc. etc.

then we went on the sub sea explorer..the water was darn murky cuz the temperatures had reached so high.. that there was algae everywhere..and we din't get to see any of the oysters cuz they'd all pretty much died.. we saw lots of dead scallops..hehehe.

but the view was now from the middle of the mediterranean sea!!!! it was beautiful..spotless blue sky...lovely sun and cool breeze and a light sea spray =)

we came back it was a lovely time.. only thing the party that friday night was cancelled!!!! cuz the neighbors complained we made too much noise..

weekend was BORING!!!!!!! the others went to Marseilles.hehe..
anwayz...started work today but there were 29 interns in the restaurant so no morning shift for me..back to provencal at 645..and there's a long queue here now..so ciao ciao..

love y'all
miss y'all
Arielle

what's up y'all??

heehehhe.. got bored of saying hey everybody!! hehhee.. well, here i am again on amine's laptop..blogging away and chatting with maria byler:-) i start work again at the restaurant provencal on monday!!!!! oh boy!!! gonna be working break shifts now.. got a nice splitting headache right now actually..but can't go to sleep cuz all my group mates are so typically indian ....ils font beaucoup de bruit!!! i.e. they're making too much noise.. so i'm up here..ehhehee..
its nice actually, cuz i can come and work on the laptop while he gets ready for his midnight walk with some friends...hehehe.. after work that is..

hmm...what else...oh today we had our final test!!! it was sooo easy..it was on wines and a french exam too...wow!!! it was good.. and then best part wine and cheese tasting session..

had a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and a Muscat!!! St Jean D'OC chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon..they're young, white and red wines respectively. they're not of the highest quality though!!! they were Vin de Pays D'oc.
The Muscat was a sweet wine called Muscat de Lunel... today when i went by bus to city centre i saw a board directing to Lunel..hehehe..there are lotsa vineyards in this region.. Nimes is part of the Cote du Rhone.. Where we went on sunday, St. Marie de la Mer, is actually the delta of the Rhone, i.e distributaries Petit Rhone and Grand Rhone. and Camargue is what the region is called with lots of white horses..and apparently the others saw lots of flamingoes ..but i din't...but i did get a postcard with pictures of the flamingoes, horses and buffaloes!! hehehe..

I got so high today on the wine that i almost couldn't stand..even though i was eating the cheese and the bread in between !!! can you imagine that?? the chardonnay was nice ..but the cab sauv was awful and the muscat was just more than honey sweet!!!! We had three cheeses too.. the first one was Pelardin, a goat cheese of AOC standard from the region of Nimes, and then a Brie also of AOC std. and a blue cheese..boy i keep forgetting the name!! it was quite a difficult name to remember.. hehhee..
i liked em..dad, i think i'm getting the hang of this cheese stuff..hehehe..i'll bring back some!!! hehehhe..
hmm...what else then i spent the evening in city centre.. wandered around and had dinner there..something different from the usual self stuff..ok.amine says i've got 4 mins left..so i'm off...ciao..

lovey'all
Arielle

Hey Everybody!!!!

Yeah yeah i knw: long time ... sorry can't be helped because amine's comp let me down so my last update got messed up and i can't even remember what i put up that day.. i had put up lots of stuff:: anyway here's the latest: you'll have to bear with the colons in between and the spelling mistakes cuz i have very little time on willy's comp... and i've gotta finish uploading the pics today!!!! it's on ringo: all on my ringo list check it out: i'll put up the link at the end of this hoping it works::
we went to the beach Saintes Marie De la Mer on sunday afternoon it was fun except on our way back i had an embarrassing fall::hehee typically me.. we got to see white horses; and vineyards and i think peach orchards
i'm just putting up the rest of the pics now!!! we had class again today..finished about Bordeaux and Champagne on friday we had finished about Burgundy and Beaujolais::: oh yes; last update was about the wine and cheese tasting session we're going to have after our test

it's back to work for us next week: tomorrow is a holiday here.. :D ... hmmm what else.. seems like the self food is getting better.. heehehee.. the tunisians are leaving the week after:.. yeah and i'be been dancing at every party :D but i think my right leg has had enuf after two alternate nights: so i being a good girl and resting a lot:D
my arm's acting up again but it's ok i came prepared for it ... hehehhee

ok.. that's it for now.. update me plz:: it's too quite out here::
lovey'all
Arielle

Hey everybody!!!

So yet again i skipped a day..not because i didn't have time.but i forgot..i had my last work day on tuesday at the provencal...boo hoooooooo....we had lotsa fun! and i took lotsa fotos..i'm in the process of uploading them onto my ringo and afterwards i'll put em here ok.. i just hope willie hasn't deleted them off his laptop... last night was our welcome party here...it's not only us indians..not much of a welcome party for us because we've been here ten days already..but the rest of them came only yesterday.. there are 12 from South America i.e VATEL Buenos Aires, two from Krgystan...and then the 6 from VATEL Moscow..
We had a blast.. it wasn't much of a drinking party...all the south americans were and the indians were on the floor dancing till 3 am...then us indians decided head to bed cuz we have class this morning... right now.. Nargisa and Aieda from Krygystan are sitting in the same room as me and playing the piano....its beautifull!!!

VATEL is coming to life now.. the old students are returning.. there Ricardo the student council president..he's the one who organises the parties..and most of the parties are in the Cafteteria or the SELF as everybody calls it... breakfast is miserable as always.. but the food is getting better round here..hehehe

we had something like a chicken risotto thing yesterday..who knows what it is we get round here..hehehe.. oh you know what the day before we got goose liver for lunch a.ka. foiegras! :-)
it tasted like regular chicken... next friday we're off to some city to spend on the beaches:-D its part of our visit to the region:-)

Alors,!!! there's a major queue here for the comp..so i'm gonna cut it short.. will put up the pics asap... ciao ciao...

loveya
Arielle.

Salut Encore!!!

Je suis Desolee!!!! (I'm sorry!!!) the library is closed on saturday and sunday since its vacations for the college here only the interns from the different vatels and the indians are here... well, what have i been upto???? Work work work..no i was not able to go for the meeting..today actually i thot it was an offday but no!! no!! no!! they're making us slog it out!! i've a shift again this weekend.

hey, i forgot to add something when i did my first blog.. i went for a walk with asad, who's from ramaiah ...and we went exploring. we went on top of a hill and went through thorny bushes of guess what?????......................blackberries!!!! awesome...isn't it...mike i'm getting pine cones for you:-) the first day my room was smelling fully of it:-)

Le Provencal the restaurant where i'm working is awesome..i've had only two chef de rangs to work with Willie and Mounir..they're both awesome..we always get the busiest areas!!!
and Mounir and I will always have the last customers to leave as well!!!! ehhehe..that's the only thing that delays the end of our shift...

There are some really nice guys and girls from Senegal also here..:-) they go to the Vatel in Tunisia.. Me and my groupmate, Omerah sometimes spend some time at night talking to them..i'm also keep a written diary about what type of food i eat.. usually the food is rather lousy..they cheeses taste awful and so far no WINE!!!!

Friday night we had the busiest shift we served almost a 100 people.. we were exhausted by the end of it!!!! Saturday too was busy!!! There are so many lil cute kids who come to the restaurant with their parents..:-) and the guests are rather polite and nice!!! yesterday i did wine service!!!

Sorry Mr. Jay but i spilt it on the slip cloth twice :-( but i'm getting the hang of it..the guests showed a lot more confidence in me and gave me some more tips on how to do it better.. hehhee.
and you know what Mr. Jay.. pilferage is more out here..hehehee..:-) NO!!! I'M A GOOD GIRL!!! I ca't even think of eating while working.. i always make sure i have enough dinner before my shift..:-)

We work with a coupla students from VAtel RUssia too!! Gregory, Anna and Polina... Gregory was Bar man yesterday..and boy they drink so much booze in the bar!!! hehhee.e.
Yesterday Asad and Me were having an argument in the Bar about which of our colleges is better ..ehhehee..
Oh I broke a plate on friday night too..in front of a guest..boy it was embarassing.. so after that i only clear as much as i feel confident of clearing and most of it is seafood..yuck yuck..there's a sea food buffet everday...so we gotta clear plates with mounds of shells of oysters and scallops and shrimps head!!! yuck yuck!!!
it smells so bad...esp. friday night cuz their main attraction is the seafood buffet!!!
i opened wine bottle yesterday i got so nervous cuz the cork wasn't coming out then willie had to help me:-0

hmm...what else....me and omerah spend quite a lotta time after our shift in Amine (from Tunisia) and Vyasan's(mal guy) Room cuz she gets so damn hungry and wants to cook in the middle of the night.. most days we end up skipping breakfast cuz we can't get up!!! Lunch was good today.. yesteray wasnt that bad either..

we've had hare, turkey, chicken, lamb, beef, lots of fish!! then there's lotsa fruits here..so if we don't like the food ..we just eat fruit..and the dessert ofcourse..hehehee..

Anywayz..that's all for now i guess.. i'll try to take some pictures today and try to upload them from Amine's laptop cuz this comp doesn't support my camera :-(

Miss you all
Arielle

Coucou Mes Amis!!!!

Je vais tres bien!!!! and i'm having more fun each day here....:-) "I'M LOVIN IT!!"
hmm....i'm making lots of new friends here:-) Mostly Tunisians...they're simply amazing..hehhee
they never sleeeep!!! i'm enjoying service a lot..interacting with the customers!=) i still have much to learn and everyday is a great experience at le Provencal :-)

Yet again yesteray i was working with the Tunisians and now i'm learning to pronounce their names better :-) We finished work rather early yesterday unlike my first day when we finished at half past midnight.hehehe.. hmmm...related to my work
*I'm learning to clear a lotta heavy plates:-)
*practising my beverage services a lot
*changing the cover after every course:-)
*helping the chef de rang take B.O.Ts(Beverage Order Tickets) - The KOTs are rather confusing!
* Best of all M. Jean Claude makes sure that now we know the menu too. :-) He's really happy with our work.. fast, quick and neat:-)
* Working together with the chef de rang and i'm learning to help out a lot more..i can understand K.O.Ts better. Here the K.o.Ts are divided into subdivisions. It has different chits on the same page:
#Aperitifs/Water (perrier, vittel, san pellegrino)
#Main course (cuz the starters / hors d'oeuvres and dessert are buffet)
#other beverages / wines - so far i've seen champagne being served and also a rose sparkling wine i'm yet to find out what it is. But another popular wine ordered by the bottle is "Gallicieau Rose Vin"
#Dessert - it is just marked on the KOT.

Hey, i broke a quarter plate yesterday..ehhehee.. but my chef de rang was so cool bout it :-)
Hmm..my team mates yesterday were Omerah and Asad who are part of my group...other than them there was an intern from Russia named Gregory and the rest were the tunisians..ehhehe..
Waleed(a.k.a. Jappa), Huseyama, Mounir(my chef de rang), Majjid and one more tunisian who's name i haven't figured out yet..hehehe..they have really weird names :-)

As i was saying these TUnisians NEVER sleep!!!! One of them, Rami had his birthday last night so they were having a party..and it went on all the way till dawn and all the guys who i work with in service were also there.. Sleem,Mounir, Waleed, Maroune, Huseyama,....etc. and then the resident indian guy here..Kaishey...Boy they drink a lot and smoke a lot...but they don't give a hoot about what the other person does at the party..hehehe:-)..
SInce there is internet in all the rooms they hook up their laptops to it and then listen or watch videos from yahoo music..very cool stuff :-)

I also met some of the people from the Ivory coast! they cool too but not as much as the Tunisians...:-) I been sleeping at 2 and 3 in the morning most days cuz i can listen to the music if i sit out on the parapet or go hang out with them. Everybody here is pretty impressed thati speak so much french.. but sometimes i get stuck during service with words so i have to talk to the chef de rang in english!
Anywayz...thats' the update for today.. today is friday..so i guess another Tunisian party underway i guess..will just have to wait and see till after work :-)...

Take care everybody..
love
arielle

My first day at work!!!!!


I tell you...LE PROVENCAL is the best restaurant to work at.......as if i have worked in plenty of others..only the basic and advanced training restaurant in christ college... IT IS AWESOME!!!!!! i love it..and the manager i'm under is simply the best! The restaurant is run by the students themselves except for the manager and the chef..they are part ofthe permanent staff :-)

Yesterday i worked with mostly Tunisian guys..there aren't any girls who have taken up service..the ambiance among the staff and the restaurant was quite informalwhich made the work easier...we're only working abou 6 hr shift unlike the break shifts we were supposed to work...:-)

The manager's name is Jean-Claude for our evening shift.. we'll be working two weeks in service..but one week at a time. He was even teasing and playing around with the other specialization students..the tunisian guys during the service :-) but every thing is very well organized. THey're all quite impressed that i can speak french and try to speak as much french to me as possible. the service jargon is getting embedded in my head ..yipee!!! Chef Mathieu is the head chef for now..since i think the exec chef has gone on holiday..cuz college is off for the summer now..

they have both an a la carte and buffet happening at the same time.. and are given different combinatiions. =)
oooh best part was the tunisian guys working at the bar - Waleed and Slim ...broke so many plates and glasses yesterday..ehehheehe.e.there was glass and ceramic everywhere in the back area :-)..hehee

I was working under chef de rang Wilfred ...along with Majid and i dunno the other guys name.. i hope to be able to take pictures at the end of the week. The afternoon service is done inside the hotel and the evening service out on the terrace..:-)

I started drizzling yesterday too...but thank fully they've put up canopies with lighting...
and they have a small pond lkinda thing..which is rather elegantly built... hmm...that's all i can tell you for now..oh yeah, waleed taught me how to make coffee with the coffee machine=)

Gotta go now..and get some sleep and wash my clothes.. ...missing you all
:-D
Bye...Arielle

Hey girl ...good to see you doing well ...love ya Dad

Salut tous mes amis!!!! (Hello all my friends:-))

My flight was rather good except it got delayed at bangalore over 2 hrs..then the journey was smooth!. Travelled to Nimes by the TGV (Train Grande Vitesse), there wasn't much of a scenery..everything is pretty dry and square..except for patches of green squares in between. I also visited my friends in Paris - Stephane and Cindy Tombre and their kids Marinne and Nelson. ooo...Cindy had made lovely peach pie:-) and the most awesome black coffee i've ever tasted! On arrival at the station, one of the seniors here Jitin along with Madame Cres picked me up and brought me to Vatel..I have my own room.. actually all twelve of us have our own rooms. yes, there are twelve of us from all over the country.. me, asad from ramaiah, akshay n ankit from IHM Gurdaspur, Gargi and chithira from IHM Trivandrum, Omerah from oriental school of hotel mgmt, Wayanad, ashirvad et gaurave from someother ihm..god knows where! .. hmm.. surabhee and parimal from hmct, pune..kainaz also from bombya. id unno which institute! yikes!! lots to learn bout my group mates.

WE went to city centre yesterday with Jitin and Kaisha and got our Bus Passes made.. THen me, Parimal, Surabhee and Kainaz had a nice adventure. we thought we could walk to the supermarket but it's really far but we din't know that so we started walking!!! we kept asking lots a ppl for directions but then finally went all the way around back to CIty centre.hehehhe..lol..but we saw something interesting.. there is a replica of the Roman Collosseum here at Nimes. THey have bull fights and stuff there but not right now! and plus there's some major construction work happening round it..
Then we saw the courthouse..its soo pretty ;-)... Le Palais de la Justice...

then finally we went to the smaller supermarket in city centre..and had these awesome sandwiches at a snack bar:-D
and then came back to college..we were soo tired.. some of the others went to city centre again in the evening :-) but not me....
D'accord! Alors,
I start work today! At the restaurant Le Provencal. evening shift..hehehe..
alrighty then i better go now.. my partners in crime are waiting for me...


Lovey'all .. Miss you
Arielle