A day that begins with the dead, always ends in sex. Such is the continuity of life and the balance that goes with all things. We paid our respects to the genius of Oscar Wilde, the beauty of Edith Piaf, the mastery of Frederic Chopin and the madness of Jim Morrison at Pere Lachaise cemetery; enormous, and in spite of the throngs of people visiting it, incredibly calming. That was, of course, until I nearly wanted to throttle someone to death for disrespecting the dead. It was at Oscar Wilde’s grave and a Frenchman, quite eager on taking photos, was clambering all over the grave next to Oscar’s to get the perfect photo, whilst his wife laughed at him as he desecrated this grave. Infuriating! Nevertheless, the inscription on Wilde’s grave is one that I have always remembered and cherished as the words of one of the most prolific and gifted writers: “and alien tears will fill for him, pity’s long broken urn. And his mourners will be outcast men, for outcasts always mourn.”
Le Moulin de la Galettes, Paris
Les Tablettes, Paris
It’s very rare that from the minute you enter a restaurant, your gut instinct goes to level 1 alert and one’s chef-dar starts beeping and not in a good way, and then from that moment on, as if on cue, the cascading effect of a monumental failure slowly starts to flow. Such was the case at Les Tablettes in Paris. It’s not as though one could blame a lack of custom in August, for the restaurant was full to the brim, for the poor service or the amateur food. Nope, it was just one of those nights that one wishes could be erased from one’s memory. So, to keep things brief and to the point, bullet points always help.
L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joel Robuchon, Paris
Titan, legend, godfather, celebrity…just a few titles that adorn the legacy of Joel Robuchon, a chef who really needs no introduction and who’s empire extends from Las Vegas to Tokyo with a total collection of 28 Michelin stars (4 restaurants having 3) . Needless to say, the man knows what he’s doing and has done so for a very long time! In this years 50 Best Restaurants guide, his restaurant in Saint-Germain, Paris, notched up to 12, and during the month of August, is one of the very few Michelin restaurants open for business. At first, the cheek-by-jowl seating arrangement at the counter seems a bit odd for a restaurant of this nature, but as the meal progresses, one realises that it’s actually quite a lot of fun, and the most remarkable thing is the unpretentious, gregarious and laid back service that goes with the evening.
