In Dublin, they have a great institution called the 12 Pubs of Christmas. The idea is that a group of friends visits 12 pubs along a carefully designated route and everyone has at least one drink in each pub. The sessions start at lunchtime and by the time they finish, it's around
midnight. It's all in complete disregard of the official advice on how much you should drink, but so what, as long as you don't try driving home afterwards.
All of which reminds me of the most spectacular drinking session we've
ever had. I was on a press trip to the Champagne district in France, together with my wife and a fellow writer from Glasgow. The night we arrived, we were taken to a superb restaurant just outside Épernay. The restaurant had its own accommodation, which turned out to be a very sensible idea! We were invited to have dinner, order what we liked and enjoy ourselves.
The drink tally was astonishing, nine bottles of Champagne between the three of us followed by a double cognac chaser apiece. We finished up about midnight, too drunk to be drunk, staggered into
our rooms next door yet we were in the fields around Épernay inspecting the grapes the morning after at 9am and remarkably sober! We were actually so sober that the famous windmill near the town wasn't doing anything utterly bizarre, like going round and round and up and down.
Épernay and its big brother, Reims, have plenty to offer tourists who want to examine this wine
region in detail. The region is only a short distance from Paris and easy to get to by train or road. But if you're stuck in Paris, still the world's number one tourist spot, according to a very recent survey, there are plenty of places in which to while away the time over a drink or two.
Very often, we've been to restaurants along the boulevard St Germain, where most of
the lunchtime clientele is made up of civil servants, all knocking back their wine with the best of them, until 3pm or even 3.30pm in the afternoon. Then it's back to the office - there are lots of government ministries in this district - for a little very light work before going home for the day.
Two of the best-known bars along this boulevard are the Deux Magots and the Café Flore, but these can be quite busy and hectic. Some of the lesser known bars along here have just as much atmosphere and I must admit my favourite bar in the district is such because it has such fantastic oeufs durs (hard
boiled eggs)!
Perhaps the best-known bar in Paris is Harry's Bar in the rue Daunou in the 2nd (sank roo daunoo). It's been going for just over a century now and has long been celebrated as the home of American expats in Paris, the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart. It was at the piano here where George Gershwin composed An American in Paris. It's still got loads of atmosphere, a great place for a straight drink or a cocktail.
Another bar that's equally venerated, but in more down-to-earth style, is the Mélac bistro, in a street in the 11th with an unfortunate name, the rue Léon Frot. This street is between the Bastille and the place de la République and it's run by a man called Jacques Mélac, who looks like an old-fashioned
troubadour with his enormous moustache. He grows vines in the cellar, enough to produce about 35 bottles of wine a year. Come September and he has a fantastic harvest festival to celebrate the new vintage. All great fun!
The Ritz Hotel is another celebrated place for drinking; it has some superb bars, but the whole place is closed for renovations for two more years. It was in the Ritz that Lady Di had her last fateful meal at the end of August, 1997, before being killed in a traffic accident in a nearby road tunnel. The Ritz was founded in 1898 and Sophia Loren described it as the most romantic hotel in the world. Hopefully, when it eventually reopens, it will be even more memorable and its bars even more extravagant.
There's also a vineyard in Montmartre, running to all over 1,546 square metres. Out of its grapes are squeezed 1,700 bottles of wine a year; the Clos Montmartre vintage sells for about €45 a bottle. The annual grape harvest is the excuse for a fantastic festival that runs for five days at the end of September or the beginning of October. There's so much carousing and merrymaking that it draws half a million tourists to Montmartre in the early autumn.
Slightly more formally, you could go to the Paris wine museum, which is in the square Charles Dickens in the posh 16th. The old limestone quarries here were used by the Friars of the Passy
monastery in the 16th and 17th century to store their ample supplies of wine. Today, the old wine vaults have been turned into three vaulted cellars for the museum's restaurant. You can also do guided and unguided tours of the museum and a glass or more of wine is included in the admission price, depending what price level you go for. The museum even offers an assorted plate of cheese for a mere €7.
Sometimes, going for a drink in Paris can produce results far beyond a feeling of relaxation and comfort. One of the most intriguing places in Paris, for a meal or for a drink, is Le Train Bleu restaurant in the Gare de Lyon. It was founded in 1901, complete with amazing murals on the ceilings and walls. The red banquette style seating isn't the most comfortable, but the atmosphere is such that you forget about things like that. Around 40 years ago, the authorities wanted to do what
authorities everywhere love doing, demolish this much loved building. Parisians are great at creating an almighty hullabaloo when something or someone threatens the landscape of their beloved city. When word got out about the planned demolition of the Train Bleu, the railway company, SNCF, had to back off in a hurry and the subject was never mentioned again!
The restaurant has been properly idolised over the years and has made various film appearances, including Mr Bean's Holiday, released in 2007. It has especially memories for us, as once when we were there some years ago, we struck up a casual conversation with the couple at the next table. The
gentleman turned out to be a distinguished member of the medical profession and artist in Paris and his wife was a renowned scientist in her own right. We began an immediate friendship with this couple and eventually they told their life history. They were Polish and had fled from Poland to
Paris just before World War II and managed to survive through the war. He eventually gave all his papers to an American university where they make a unique archive about life in Paris over the years. It was a remarkable and enduring friendship for us, that all began over a drink in the Train Bleu, and
we still cherish the drawings he gave us.
There's just so much to see in Paris and one of the best ways of getting started is by going for a drink
in the right places, although Paris still has to get in on the 12 Pubs of
Christmas theme that's so popular in Dublin
right now.