Atlantica - 01.03.2001, Side 26

24 A T L A N T I C A
To me, no city in Europe beats Paris.
Its beauty, charm and history cannot fail
to bewitch its visitor. Renowned for
everything from architecture, art muse-
ums and the Moulin Rouge to its cafés,
haute couture and haute cuisine, Paris
has recently taken a more modern turn.
To start with, they placed a futuristic
glass pyramid in the courtyard of the
Louvre. Now, those classic brasseries
are being replaced by modern designer
restaurants, and the cafés tend more
towards the stark and edgy than walls
stained yellow by decades of Gitanes.
So how can one cram both the classic
charm of the city and the newest,
hottest places-to-be into one weekend?
FASHIONABLE FEEDS
What better place to start than Hôtel
Costes, a Mecca of style to Parisians-in-
the-know, and a good combination of
the classic and trendy. The Napoleonic
interior, all red velvet and gold mirrors,
is offset by Gucci-clad starlets, busy
seeing and being seen. The music
pumping from the speakers is far from
Napoleonic, but a seductive mix of jazzy
dance music which resulted in its own
CD.
A snooty, beautiful waitress takes our
orders and doesn’t understand the pho-
tographer’s joking request for camel’s
milk. “I don’t speak English,” she retorts
and walks off. The place is crowded with
people. The hotel is not only a stunning
place to sleep, but also a popular
bar and restaurant with the fashion
and media crowd. Though tempted by
the plates of beautiful- if somewhat
minimalistic-looking food drifting past
to the diners, a different culinary experi-
ence awaits us. Our next destination is
the recently opened Georges, on the
roof of the Centre Pompidou art muse-
um. It’s perfect for tight schedules, and
our plan also allows us the option of vis-
iting this famous building by night,
away from the crowds – long rides up
the tube-like escalators, glides past the
exhibition rooms. I could have sworn
there were no guards at the Picasso dis-
play. We enter Georges, the eccentric
interior looking rather like an alien
space ship. Complete with aluminium
pods, red and green lighting and
translucent tables lit from below, the
setting is pretty spectacular. The floor-
to-ceiling windows offer a magnificent
view of Paris by night, and the hip
soundtrack and slick, good-looking wait-
ers complete the picture. I admire the
COOL CHIC
Night lights at the Place de la Concorde.
Chez Georges.
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