she was a teacher and then a hospitality industry consultant.

Changing careers originally took not so much courage as chutzpah.

"I wanted to be a chef but I didn't start cooking until I was 25,'' she admitted. "I didn't go through the normal channels of study.'' As a result, she didn't have the usual qualification papers to show prospective employers.

"It was very difficult in France because they would say: `Where is this paper or that? You don't have these papers' and they wouldn't give me a chance. I had to get out.'' So Miss Bouron took her skills to other places, like Britain and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where the philosophy was different.

"In England when you ask them to give you a chance, they say: `Okay, I'll give you a week and see what you can do'. Because of that, I have always liked working with English-speaking people,'' she explained.

And it seems the philosophy paid off.

"In England I worked in a French restaurant and spent the whole summer there.

I ended up being in charge. Nobody had ever given me a chance before, it was exciting.'' In Reunion, Miss Bouron was again given the requisite chance to prove her mettle, and wound up being in charge while the head chef of a restaurant went to Paris!.

Any suggestion that she must have been particularly talented to get such good breaks so early in her career is quickly dismissed.

"It is just daring. Either people give you a chance or they don't. When you find the ones who do, it is very exciting because you try your best to live up to their expectations. You want them to be proud of having given you a chance,'' she explained.

Back in her native France, Miss Bouron found new respect, and wound up working for the famous French chef Michel Guerard, who put her in charge of one of his restaurants.

"I went as sous chef but ended up being head chef,'' she noted. "But after a season I realised I had no management skills at all so I decided to go to Paris and do a hospitality industry management course which included six months in an establishment.'' In Miss Bouron's case, this was with a consultancy firm, where she wound up doing everything from teaching to designing kitchens and conducting hygiene tests in commercial kitchens.

She found it fascinating, and learned a lot, but it was time to move on. "I found I wanted to cook again,'' she said.

With her usual optimism and sense of adventure, Miss Bouchon sent off a resume to an agency in London indicating she wanted to work on a cruise.

To her astonishment she got a call from Mr. Wilhelm Sack, general manager of Horizons, offering her a job in a place she'd never heard of.

Reaching for her atlas, she was astounded to find Bermuda was nothing more than a tiny dot in the middle of the ocean.

"I called Mr. Sack back immediately and said: `You must be joking. I'm not working on a rock!'''.

And in a reversal of her usual style, it was he who persuaded her to give Bermuda a chance.

She did, and as the head chef at Horizons today, she loves every moment o f her busy, but rewarding job.

The table d'hote menu is changed daily and includes three starters, two soups (three in summer) and five main courses.

Since she believes in using only the best and freshest of ingredients, building a good rapport with local farmers, fishermen, and wholesalers is important.

Neither tyrannical nor temperamental, Miss Bouron also believes in running a happy kitchen and allowing her chefs to be creative.

"I don't want a miserable atmosphere in my kitchen. I want to work with happy people.

"I think it is important to make the life of your chefs as comfortable as possible so they can develop their sense of creativity,'' she asserted.

"If you spend your whole time thinking about how much you hate your sous chef you can't concentrate on your work. My sous chef, Simon Clewlow, is a wonderful guy. We get on very well together.'' Asked if, as a female head chef, she had any problems with men taking orders from her she answered firmly: "Never! That is why I have a wonderful team.'' And what advice would she give to another female considering entering her profession? "First I would try to test how much they liked cooking, and how much they really wanted to be a chef,'' she answered.

"I would put forward all the bad points first: `Are you sure you want to work in the evening? Are you sure you want to spend eight hours a day in an environment which is not air-conditioned? Do you realise that you never make as much money in a kitchen as you would in many other jobs?'' And what should a female chef do if she found she was not accepted in a kitchen? "Go somewhere else,'' came the emphatic response. "There are so many good places. If people don't accept you for what you are they are not worth working for anyway.'' HORIZONS HEAD CHEF Christine Bouron believes in running a happy kitchen and giving her chefs freedom to be creative. She insists on using the best and freshest ingredients, and changes menus daily to take advantage of whatever is available.