George Orwell’s time in Paris in the late 1920’s sticks long in the memory of anyone who read Down and Out in Paris and London. The squalor and destitution felt by those working in the restaurants of the time, including Orwell, leads you to believe that it’s a thing of the past, consigned to history. In Edward Chisholm’s book, A Waiter in Paris, he revisits this world, in part to see whether it still exists, but also as a form of personal growth through adversity.

Surprisingly Orwell’s descriptions of the Parisian restaurants business remains the same. Low wages, insecure jobs and male testosterone that would make Marco Pierre-White wince. In some ways it’s the same old blood and thunder you would expect from a kitchen. It runs in a similar to vein to Pierre-White’s autobiography, White Heat, with Edward Chisholm showing a grit and determination parallel to the Michelin starred chef. However, what Marco didn’t have to contend with was French snobbery. An Englishman being part of the world of Parisian gastronomy is a tough gig.

Living as an Englishman in Paris

The remarkable aspect of the book is how a young English graduate with no hospitality experience or ability to speak French, is able to be accepted in the highly competitive Parisian restaurant world. It is no easy task. He breaks up with his then French girlfriend and is unable to bring himself to go back to England without a taste of true Parisian life.

Chisholm finds himself facing an uncertain future in the capital with no job and no place to live. The author spends countless days pounding the cities streets, practically begging for a job, with bills stacking up and seemingly no hope in sight. One night he is saved. A restauranteur with a liking for the English, offers him a job as a runner. It is a high energy, low skilled role but he accepts it wholeheartedly. He is soon working 16 hour days but the challenge is too much to give up.

He could barely speak French at the start. Despite this he manages to make his way, slowly, into the world of French gastronomy. You see areas of Paris in a light you wouldn’t see in a guidebook. Chisholm shines a light on those residents living on the breadline, revealing the squalor and destitution of the City. Insecure housing, bedbugs and damp are a seemingly everyday problem. It is a world he is forced to witness and live in. He sleeps in hotels with convicted criminals as a last resort, his waiters salary barely enough to survive on. The glitz and the glamour of French waiters is not all what it seems.

A chance to immerse yourself in the City of Light

If you’re somebody looking to break away from the 9 to 5, A Waiter in Paris, shows you that even in a tough environment like Paris you can achieve your dreams. As always with travelling the highlights tend to be the relationships you form along the way. In this book it is no different. You can see all Paris has to offer, from warehouse raves to a French romance. He also shows the downsides, the violence, the poor cost of living and the squalor.

It offers a tantalising glimpse into French society. The authors descriptions of the city will leave you wanting to experience it yourself. It can be treated as a secret guidebook for where to eat and how to survive on the bare minimum. He tells the reader the cheapest places to eat, far away from the crowds of tourists. It also a book of self-discovery. If you are searching for a new lifestyle and a new environment, A Waiter in Paris, is the book for you. It is a cheat sheet to immersing yourself in a new culture and country.