The O O F Rebellion & Chef Boi Arrdee

A painting of Boi Arrdee in 1810.

Boi Arrdee, born September 20, 1750, was a baker in the French village of Gùyôn (Pronounced Goy-OWN). His bread, croissants, and other baked deserts were known all throughout France. Their quality was unmatched, and people saw him more as a quality chef than a simple baker. This earned the him the nickname: "Le chef des desserts", or "The dessert chef", often called Chef in passing. However, in the late 1770s leading into the 1780s the people of France were oppressed by their King and forced into poverty. Overtime, nobody could afford Chef Boi Arrdee's food anymore. They simply meandered by his food stands, hungry. He would give away some of his stock to the poor, but it wasn't enough, and after sales were low enough, Chef was forced into poverty himself. His house was foreclosed upon, his horses taken, and his crops burned. Eventually, he too was out on the street.

In the fall of 1788, Chef had had enough. He spent his days organizing camps of homeless people into one coalition. By the summer of 1788, he had founded "O O F", or the "Organization of Oppressed Frenchmen". In the fall of 1789, Chef had decided it was time for O O F to strike. He lead his coalition of homeless people in the O O F Rebellion, as he and hundreds of homeless individuals stormed the Bastille. They butchered the soldiers inside and overwhelmed them with numbers. They stole their weapons and used them to conquer the Bastille. They held out there for several months while French soldiers attempted to take it back. However, they failed. The O O F Rebellion kicked off what would become known as The French Revolution. Ever since O O F took the Bastille, there was chaos in the streets as individuals rebelled against the government, causing Frances military forces to be divided all around the country, and none were strong enough to take the Bastille from O O F. They regularly trained inside the Bastille, honing their skills to fight the divided militias of France that attempted to take back the Bastille. They regularly gained members as well, as more oppressed individuals entered the Bastille seeking refuge from the war. They even got a small bakery operating inside of the Bastille. Chef took it over and, while they may not have had good food in the Bastille, their desserts were legendary. As the revolution really got underway, Boi Arrdee was made an Officer in the rebellions army, earning the title "Captain Chef".

Eventually the rebellion would be successful, with Napoleon becoming the new King of France. To reward Boi Arrdee for his service to the revolution, he offered him a position as Chief Baker of the Crown. This would earn him a room in the palace, personal soldiers to defend him, and a very high salary. Boi Arrdee turned it down however, stating that he would prefer to continue to look after the common man, all he asked was that he be allowed to use the palace's kitchen, and 4 chefs to help him. Napoleon happily granted him this wish. Boi Arrdee moved into his old house, and opened his food stand in the market place again. However, he also used the palace's kitchen and the chefs on his staff to produce bread to give to the poor who are struggling to recover after the war. He helped hundreds avoid starvation, and helped to stimulate the economy after the war with his food stands, that he opened all over France (becoming France's first food chain).

Boi Arrdee passed away on August 1st, 1830. He had been sat on his roof, tanning while eating a loaf of his bread. He stood and walked to the edge of his roof to take a look at the once war torn village he helped to flourish. He took a bite of his bread, and had a heart attack. 80 years of eating nothing but his own deserts and bread clogged his arteries. He fell of his house and hit the ground with an "oof", his last word. Boi Arrdee, more commonly referred to as Chef posthumously, is regarded as a French war hero. His village of Gùyôn has since been renamed to "Ville du pain", or "Bread Town" in honor of him.