The sun is shining as I walk the streets savouring my final precious hours. Yes, it’s time to leave my beautiful Paris and tomorrow I fly home. It’s been a busy few days with two dreamy nights in lovely accommodation: firstly at L’Hôtel Banke, housed in a former bank headquarters (with the original diamond vaults in the basement), and secondly at another splendid Paris Perfect apartment, so close to the Eiffel Tower that you can almost reach out and touch it.
I also enjoyed the creative Primevère lunch menu at David Toutain in his new restaurant in the 7th arrondissement; a spontaneous trip to the Normandy Coast with my Concierge Extraordinaire; a three-hour session with a personal shopper and a leisurely cycle around the monuments of Paris with Fat Tire Bike Tours.
Those stories will now have to wait until I get home, but before I leave, I thought I’d quickly bring you something a little different -where to drink absinthe in Paris.
The anise-flavoured drink was originally produced as a medicinal tonic in 1792 and became popular in the smoked-filled cafés of Paris during the Belle Epoque, particularly with the bohemian Montmartre set. Known as the green fairy, it had the capacity to cause hallucinations, even drive you mad, and was banned by the French government in 1915. Various theories abound as to why it was banned, one school of thought being that dodgy, rotten wormwood (artemisia absinthuim) in inferior absinthe caused the side-effects.
In the late 1980s genuine, quality absinthe (which contains the compound thujone) made a comeback and there is no doubt there is something delicious and daring about sampling a formerly forbidden drink. So…where to go to pay homage to absinthe? La Feé Verte (The Green Fairy) of course at 108 rue de la Roquette in eastern Paris. Here in this vintage corner café you can sample from the absinthe menu until late into the night. The process itself is full of ritual and ceremony; it’s art, poetry and performance in a glass.
This is how it goes. A large fountain of chilled water with four spouts is placed on the table before you. Each spout drips water onto a cube of sugar, which is placed atop a fancy slotted spoon that is balanced on top of a glass. This process is called louching and remains the preferred way to drink absinthe. The drink is sweetened and transformed into billowing, milky clouds, and the essential oils in the herbs are unlocked. It’s common to drink one part absinthe to three parts water.
Here are a couple of choices on the menu to get you dreaming (hopefully not hallucinating):
Soixante Cinq 65: Floral and springtime notes, herbaceous in the mouth with lime blossom and fruity angelica.
Absinthe Pernod 68: Inspired by the original recipe, a unique flavour to revive Paris of the Belle Epoque.
Goodnight Paris.
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