Atlantica - 01.03.2001, Side 29

A T L A N T I C A 27
of apple sorbet. Followed by a few
glasses of cognac, the dinner has now
lasted several hours. Useful to know,
Chez Denise is open all night, and I have
fond memories of turning up there at
five in the morning, starving after a
night out, to feast on their heavy, tradi-
tional cooking.
At three o’clock in the morning I know
its time to leave when everyone starts
making their napkins into turbans, plac-
ing them on their heads and laughing
hysterically. Richard climbs on to his
scooter and cries out “I’m going to the
Queen!” He is referring to a two-storey,
mostly gay, nightclub on the Champs-
Élysées, the “in” place to dance for
people of all sexual preferences. Like all
clubs in Paris, it doesn’t close until well
into late morning. After God knows how
many bottles of Brouilly we take the sen-
sible option and head off to our hotel.
A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST
We get up relatively late, and seeing the
beautiful sunny day outside we decide
to lunch on the Îsle St Louis. Side by
side on the Seine, the islands of Îsle St
Louis and Îsle de la Cité are at the very
heart of Paris. The Îsle de la Cité is the
city’s historical core, settled by the
Parisii tribe around 250 BC, and centre
of political and religious Paris under the
Romans and in the Middle Ages. Once
across the bridge we sit down and enjoy
a typical Parisian lunch out on the
terrace of the Brasserie de L’Îsle St
Louis. From the crowded tables we
enjoy watching a fire-eater doing a
rather unusual take on Sunday Lunch.
Feeling revived, we go for a walk
through the charming 17th century
streets and cross the Pont-St Louis. We
pass the newly cleaned Notre Dame de
Paris cathedral, the gothic masterpiece
whose building was begun in 1163 and
finally completed in 1345. The queues of
tourists waiting to go in are unappealing
COOL CHIC
One of the many restaurants in village-like Montmartre.
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