Paris Sketchbook #1: Christmas Creatures of Bar 228
Eavesdrawing the patrons and staff at The Plaza Hotel of Paris
👆 Play this while reading. It was recorded on location.
December 23, 2023
Rue de Rivoli, Paris
Thawing out for the afternoon, we’ve decided to order the cheapest thing on the menu and take in the show of the lobby bar in Le Meurice, a hotel bordering the Tuileries.
If there’s a New York equivalent, it would be the Plaza Hotel, A hive of opulence. A place to be seen. The kind of iconic establishment the clenched class comes to grudgingly tolerate their relatives over expensive champagne and high tea. Rich fodder for eavesdrawing:
(👇 Click to view video )
A daughter tries to explain to her mother —through a tower of finger sandwiches— why her new boyfriend won’t be coming from Normandy to join the family for Christmas lunch.
Mother is incensed.
To our right, the concierge rolls his eyes and mutters about a wailing infant as a shrill teenage girl asks “what the point of high tea even is?” Her boyfriend apologizes to the frazzled waitress for toppling the scone tower.
Signing the bill, the aggrieved mother forgets her room number —daughter says “Just make one up.” with the confidence of someone who’s definitely done it before.
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