The Chanel show is a surreal serenade, set in a minimalist French garden. The models are tall, narrow porcelain figures. Their tulle skirts, pompadour bows, trailing ball gowns and white feather wig hats, and the black and white garden in which they promenade, recall the formalist traditions and poetry of eighteenth century France. As spectacle, it is unparalleled. Departing from 'un jardine a la Française' we meet Karl Lagerfield, one of the most enduring and mythic figures of the ephemeral fashion world. He is, as in his photographs, dazzling in the binary opposition of black and white. Then back into the boulevard Berthier, in the outskirts of Paris, where the paparazzi tumble out after gorging themselves on canapés and celebrity.
As for the restaurants, not being a foodie, it's difficult for me to launch into an adjectival dictionary overdrive of gastronomic joys. Superficial food and wine snobbery apart, the food aesthetic is alive at every level. Mirage Freres, the luxury tea store established sometime in 1660, has the most astounding range of teas and blends, with high-end first flush Darjeeling leaf retailing at ,1,200 a kilo. Tea-time in Paris can be a serious affair, with macaroons and madeleins, tarts and pastry, all subject to the French paradox of how/why no one here puts on weight after eating so well. One of the memorable meals we indulged in was at Le Grand Vèfour, an elaborate belle époque restaurant and epicentre for gastronomy, gossip and political intrigue since 1784. Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine dined here, as did Victor Hugo, and then, down the centuries, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Andre Malraux.
Dinner at Le Grand Vèfour was followed by lunch at Hotel Costes, reputedly the trendiest and most talked about hotel in Paris. Jacques Garcia designed the baroque interiors, the extravagant bar and charming courtyard cafe, with the rumoured motto of 'all things in excess'. It has been described as a 'den of opulence', and, quite contrarily, 'classic style reinvented.' Another memorable truffle-laced meal, doused by quantities of Sauverne dessert wine.
