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On and off luxury’s lap

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What I really love about Paris is that you can be a millionaire in the morning and just an ordinary guy in the evening. My favorite place in the City of Lights is Place Vendôme. This is where the iconic Ritz Hotel straddles in the midst of famous jewelry shops from Elizabeth Taylor’s preferred Van Clef & Arpels, to Bulgari – the brand that Imelda Marcos made famous with her doorknob sized precious stones, to Boucheron with their pavé diamonds, Giacometti and it’s delicate filigreed gold and silver fantasies not to ignore the signature Parisian Cartier! 

Nonoy Campos had to get his Goyard bags from nearby rue St. Honoré while I had to change the strap of my Cartier watch. So, we oohh’d and we ahhh’d as we passed by the vitrines of these famous shops but what caught my attention was the giant red FLYING DRAGON sculpture by Alexander Calder that was right besides the Chanel and Gucci jewelry boutiques. I must say that this red colored dragon is a naughty wink to the Chinese tourists that have made Paris indeed the center of luxury in the whole wide world. However, I noticed that the luggage toting mainland China shoppers are no longer as many as in pre-Covid days. The reason is that all these brands have put up branches all over China that one no longer needs to go to Paris to buy such expensive trinkets. 

Grilled bass and veggies; middle, Mauvais Garçon Lyon sausage in brioche; right, entrecôte with fries*
Nonoy Campos, ELG, Pål Larsen and Beth Jackson (l-r)*
Bike delivery in rue St. Honoré; middle, ELG in front of the Alexander Calder sculpture; right, Nonoy Campos at the Red Dragon’s tail*
A gala event at the Opera Garnier; middle, Nonoy Campos shows off a €7+K Cartier Santos watch at the Cartier showroom; right, Christmas trees tastefully surround Place Vendôme*

Later that day, we met sultry Beth Jackson née Nicola from Seattle and she treated us to dinner in another neighborhood cantine of mine called Les Mauvais Garçons (The Bad Boys) located in one of Paris’ shortest street with the same name. Beth and her silent stunner of a hubby Judd own second homes in California and Palm Springs. I love this cozy unpretentious resto because it’s not far from home, reasonably prized and the hospitality home-y. The anonymity of the clientele also excites me and the food is just sooo French. We capped the evening off with drinks at our “classroom” Les Marronniers where the café scene is so typiquement Parisien that it could be a scene from “Emily in Paris”. We were surrounded by beautiful people which I think matters most. Oh yes, the fifth wave of the pandemic has definitely arrived in France and we’re making the most of the liberty we still have in enjoying the big metropolitan capital of Paris. I’m still crossing my fingers that it won’t be that bad because President Macron assured France of “no lockdowns”. 

MY PRAYER. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them…For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17, 20, NIV*

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