The Party

The timeline of the party was drinks at 7:45 and dinner at 8:30. At a little after 7 we finish up our glasses of wine and begin our trek to the restaurant. We had a general idea of where it was. Over by Les Halles somewhere. What we didn't realise was exactly how far it was. It was really far. Both of us are reticent to take a cab in Paris - their metering system is vague, they are hard to flag down - so we had opted to walk. We walked and walked and walked. Both of us are wearing dark wool suits and it is far hotter in Paris than the weather channel had informed us. By the time we make it there we are both sweating up a storm. Bear in mind that the restaurant is also deep in the Marais. We had to walk through a neighborhood best described as being "like Times Square in the eighties." Porn shops, ladies of the evening, the whole shebang. But we walk in and are immediately handed a glass of champagne. It went uphill from there.



The building housing the restaurant was built sometime in the 12th century. It was redecorated and turned into a restaurant around 1910. It is an art deco wonder. Three floors. The first floor is the main restaurant, the second is for private parties numbering over ten and the third floor has three private rooms: one for ten, one for about eight and one for two. We were on the second floor.
The party was wonderful. W & J had put out place cards so that people wouldn't sit near someone they knew. I sat across from a wonderful woman whose husband used to be the head of development for the MFA. To my right was a woman who sold properties in the Hamptons for Sothebys and to my left was a charming British woman who used to teach French at a private boys school in the UK. Needless to say she came in handy.


Food was astounding: there were seven courses. We had blue footed chicken (a breed specific to France), there was a foie gras course, a cheese course (made me very happy) and so much else I don't remember. Oh and lots and lots of wine. After dinner they made people switch seats so that they had to chat with someone new. I ended up chatting with a woman who is the curator for a private collector of Latin American art based in Phoenix. She was fabulous. We made plans to hang out later in the week. Most people were heading back to the UK on Sunday while we were staying until Wed. It was the perfect opportunity to hang out with someone new.


People began leaving after cake (which was around 1). We hung around with W & J and their friend K who is American but lives in London. She is a painter who teaches at a university art school in the city. We headed out in search of cabs. Couldn't find one to save our lives. We ended up at another bar.

more later.