Our thought of the day

The French Gastronomy Festival: a beautiful and great occasion honouring the French food service industry. We had a meeting before service, during the staff meal, as usual. We explained the menu and the idea behind the French Gastronomy Festival, recognised by and recorded in UNESCO’s list of the intangible heritage of humanity  under the heading “The Gastronomic meal of the French with its rituals and presentation”.

 

After that, I surprised everyone by announcing to my colleagues that 36 years ago to the day, and almost to the hour, I had started my career. After a short speech, I finished by wishing them as much pleasure in their careers as I have had during these 36 years. They gave me a standing ovation and I left the room quickly, because the emotion was getting the better of me. 36 years of joy, pleasure and also of sacrifices. A career full of encounters, friendships, smiles and laughter. Also a career of surprises, treachery, and sometimes pain. Life, in other words. A structure which is built brick by brick and is still ongoing. I am thinking about all these encounters, all these friendships with customers and suppliers, and about my parents, of course. Wherever they are they can be proud.

 

It is 11:45 AM, the restaurant is still calm and I take refuge in the sitting room. It seems that birds hide before they die, and “warriors hide too, to cry”.

 

So there you have it, a day like any other, begun at 9AM and finished at 3 o’clock in the morning, eighteen hours of happiness, eighteen hours of pleasure. I return home, my work is done and there is still much more to come.