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Hey I know the business has been performing strongly but a Monaco bureau for The Moodie Report? And in the famed Hôtel de Paris?
Well, yes actually (can you make me out through the third window from the left? I’m the very sad person on the keyboard), though unfortunately for only one day. I’m here in Principality of Monaco to attend the Martell Cordon Bleu 100th birthday celebrations.
The Hôtel de Paris is where Cordon Bleu was launched a century ago. It is a splendid throwback to how true luxury hotels used to be with its sculptures, marble colonnades and crystal chandeliers.
Built in 1864 (roughly the same year as me), it was built “with the intention of offering the very best that existed at the time”. To this day it still lives up to that lofty ambition and is regularly rated one of the best hotels in the world.
It’s the perfect setting then for tonight’s sumptuous gala dinner. Guests, including a very strong contingent of travel retailers from Asia, have flown in from all around the world to attend what promises to be a glittering occasion.
There’s royalty (H.S.H. Prince Albert, H.S.H. Princess Charlène and H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover) as well as celebrities aplenty – actress Juliette Binoche, dancer and choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot, actress Li Bingbing, pianist Zhao Yin Yin, actress Chen Shu and Chinese supermodel Whang Haizhen.
And of course there’s the star turn, Martell Cordon Bleu. The dinner, themed ‘Eternal Discovery since 1912’ will feature a tribute to Cordon Bleu and to the Borderies growing region, hallmark of Martell Cordon Bleu including the unique opportunity to taste Borderies selected by Martell Cellar Master, Benoit Fil from 1982, 1988 and 2000.
It promises to be some evening. I had better go prepare. I’ve got Royalty to meet and Li Bingbing’s and Juliette Binoche’s autographs to catch. Oh yes, and a Bureau to run.