Orientation/Plaza Athenee

YAH! Finally! I've been waiting for this day FOREVER! However....today was a little longer than I imagined/wanted it to be! I started my day bright and early with a jog at 6:30 am. Not going to be doing that anymore, because i need to eat before i jog or I get nauseous...so from now on I will be jogging after work! Anyway, then I got all dolled up (hoping i was going to see the love of my life...chef michalak) because i wasn't allowed to wear jeans to orientation day (i should have at least worn flats-STUPID penny!!!) Well...the first thing we did was meet in a room with all of the other people that were newbies! This girl walks in right after me and starts speaking to me in french. I understood her, but i pardoned myself and told her I didn't speak much french. She asked me if i spoke English. I said yes and was thrilled. Then I asked her where she was staging because today wasn't just for culinary people...it was for everyone who works within the hotel...and boy did i get lucky! She was staging in pastries like me! However...only for two weeks! But at least two weeks with someone who can speak English is better than nothing right?!?! Anyway, she also lives off the same metro line as me and we just chatted up a storm all day. There was another person who spoke English as well. But everyone else spoke french. So besides that, the day was planned out really well, but they didn't tell me where I was going, they just told me to leave my stuff...so VERY sad but true, i didn't bring my camera with me when i left the room so i took no pictures. I'm very depressed! Anyway...I got my uniform/locker first thing in the morning! How exciting. They do the laundry for us also. EASY!!!! They also served us breakfast! So nice!! Then we toured half of the hotel (the rest we did later in the day). Then we had presentations up to wazoo! Then we had lunch, more touring of the hotel, more presentations, and then finished! So the day went from 9 am to 6 pm. LONG DAY! All I know is I start tomorrow at 7:30 am...nothing more. No schedule, no ending time...nothing! I got a fun little goodie bag at the end of the day which was cool! And I have some fun Plaza Athenee facts that you may want to know!

-580 employees at Plaza Athenee (of that 25 in Pastry- 20 patisserie/5 boulangerie
-280 of those employees are JUST service (meaning working in and around restaurants)
-a basic room goes from 565-4,600 euros
-The Eiffel tower suite (entire view you can see the Eiffel tower) is 6,600 euros (a night!)
-The royal suit, 450 m2, is 18,000 euros a night! (the princess of Fatar rents out 5 floors of this hotel yearly for one month-imagine how costly that is!!!)
-Alain Ducasse Plaza Athenee (the big restaurant) is a 3 Michelin starred restaurant which has wines from 25 euros to 14,000 euros per bottle.
-Plaisir menu-220 euros, collection menu-320 euros and the average person spends 386 euros when they eat dinner there.
-They do 5 dinners a week and 2 lunches.
-P.A. is part of the Dorchester Group which also owns a hotel in Beverly Hills, Milan, Le Meurice in Paris, London, and they are about to open up a hotel in NY.

I learned a lot more...but since the entire day was in french...it kinda filtered through...in one ear, out the other :)

I am VERY excited to start my stage tomorrow. I will bring my camera into the kitchen...but I don't wanna start taking pictures too soon! But i promise I will take as many as I can! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this blog more than I enjoyed my long day :) Now, I am going to bed because I know I have a LONG day ahead of me. Check back tomorrow for some more fun! toodles