# A book about going to culinary school in France.



## plongeur (Aug 1, 2005)

Back in 2006 I quit my job and went to culinary school in France. I'm English, and had been living in France for 8 years at the time. I always wanted to be a cook, but my mother - herself a Head Chef in a school canteen in a huge comprehensive school - said it would be a waste of my good Public School education. So, I waited. After 10 years as a gutterpress scumbag tabloid journalist I became a technology journalist for The Times (of London). Then I got divorced, sold our old farmhouse in the South of France and became a dishwasher in a gastronomic restaurant in Avignon, Provence. My restaurant chef recognised a glimmer of talent and persuaded me to do my CAP cuisine, the high school course you do when you're 16 in France and want to become a chef - except instead of doing it full time over two years, I did it for one day a week in just one year. While working full time in the restaurant. With some sponsorship from the nice people here at Cheftalk I wrote a blog of my experiences at the l'Ecole Hôtelière d'Avignon (EHA) and, now, I've turned it into an e-book. As a thankyou to Cheftalk for their help back then I've made the story available online - you can read the whole thing for free at https://eatsleepcookschool.wordpress.com or, if you prefer, buy it for your Kindle, iPad, Android tablet or other e-book reader - you'll find appropriate links at https://eatsleepcookschool.wordpress.com/2014/08/23/book-availability/ to Amazon in various countries or Smashwords, where you can download it for platforms other than the Kindle. I update the blog when I have a chance between my life as a teacher myself now at a Hotel/Culinary Business Management school in Nimes, still in the South of France. I work at Vatel, http://www.vatel.fr named after the first great Maitre d'Hotel François Vatel - it's one of 40 Vatel schools around the world. I teach English and Professional Culinary Culture - the history of gastronomy and how to behave in a professional catering environment. I'd be happy to answer any questions about my time at culinary school and hope you enjoy reading my book. Thanks again Cheftalk!


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

The famous Plongeur!


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