Toast of Paris

Another weekend, another set of international adventures with an exciting cast of characters. First it was off to Brussels to pick Joe up from the airport where he had just come back from a business trip to Cincinnati, where his teddy bear was stolen right out of his room. It appears that there was a “misunderstanding” with one of the housekeepers. Golden Rule #1, never mess with someone’s teddy. No sooner did Joe arrive with his teddy in tow when I dragged him kicking and screaming to Paris. It must have been quite a come down after a week in Cincinnati, but he’s a seasoned traveler and put on his happy face… Of course, he knew there was champagne and sushi waiting for us at Chewby’s house. Chewby is the sweetest dog in the history of dogs, and we were there to visit him and decided that as long as we were in Paris, we would attend the party for Laura and Seb, his owners.

As always, Laura outdid herself, covering her table with sushi, sashimi and blinis, all to be washed down with tequila. Laura and Seb are moving to Mexico City and so decided to throw a tequila drenched Mexican fiesta - Ok, not really sure how the food choices fit into the theme, but with Laura working in advertising and Seb being a toy designer, anything is possible in their crazy universe. Not really being one for doing La Cucaracha – not in those shoes, anyway – I stuck with the mini bottles of bliss, er I mean bubbles. Two friends of Laura’s decided to make a winter cocktail they had come across in Germany. Pear juice, Vodka, Cinnamon and Champagne. I know it may sound horrible, but in reality, it was even worse. We took one sip and rededicated our lives to plain old bubbles.

It seems that skull and crossbone jewelry are the rage in the city of lights and love and nobody pulls it off better than Caroline. I never thought I would say this, but I had some serious skull envy. There it was, hanging from a fantastic silver chain, the most sparkling skull I had ever seen. It was like a shrunken head dipped in Swarovski and I knew I had to have it. I begged. I pleaded. I complimented her cleavage but she was hard and cold and said no. She spent the rest of the party torturing me by dangling it in front of me, flaunting her jewels in the most obscene manner. It was revolting actually, but I would have done the same had the Manolo been on the other foot. I would hate her if she wasn’t so darned fabulous and irresistable!

After standing us up for afternoon cocktails, Raavi finally arrived in a hurricane of glamour, gloss and cleavage, drawn by the gravitational pull of the champagne. Joe stayed in orbit around the sushi, scooping up any stray piece when he thought nobody was looking.

The real star of the evening was Laura, the toast of all of Paris. I absolutely love and adore her and am going to miss her immensely when she leaves. We met via work and became very good friends. I can’t imagine not spending the day without her on MSN while at work. Of course, I am sure she will enjoy the break from me always complaining about this or that. I wish we would have had more time to really do more things together, but the world is a small place and I have a very good feeling our paths will cross very soon… And, thanks to Laura, I now have a place in Mexico City that I intend to use as much as possible.

Joe and I left the party early and went to Concorde where we popped into the Buddha Bar so Joe could be and we could get rebubbled. The Buddha Bar isn’t what it used to be and after one drink and no models or celebrities, we left. In the middle of Place de la Concorde is the Obelisk of Luxor given by the viceroy of Egypt, Mohamed Ali, to Louis Phillipe. The obelisk, which stands 22.83 meters high and weighs 230 tons, marked the entrance to the Amon temple at Luxor, and was installed in it’s current location in 1836. Walking past, Joe decided to show off the fact that he speaks fluent hieroglyphic. Needless to say I impressed, stunned even as he talk about this and that Pharaoh. I have enough trouble telling Centre Pompidou from Montparnasse. I couldn’t distinguish one hieroglyphic from another so I simply said “let my people go” and with out-held arms, I turned toward the Seine which refused to part at my command. That was enough failure for me, so we headed to the Marais for one last drink before calling it a night. Tragedy seems to come in groups and my favorite terrace for bubbles and people watching – where I was having champagne with friends at the very moment when Princess Diana was killed – was closed. Not being one that needs to be bit over the head with the brick of reality, I realized it was time to cash in the chips and call it a night…

Sunday was dedicated to espresso, brunch and shopping. There we were, minding our won business at the Ted Baker near Place Des Vosges when suddenly I hear a cry of “OH MY GOD!” and turned to find myself face to face with Raavi. Joe was completely taken with both her and Laura and they with him. In fact, I wonder if they like Joe better than me. Hmmm, something to think about. All I heard the whole day yesterday from Joe was Laura this, Raavi that and this morning when I signed into MSN at work, the first messages were about Joe. No “hello” or “good morning”, it was all about Joe…