Category Archives: Fooding & Bars

Douvres, Angleterre: les White Cliffs et St Margaret’s Bay

A peine sortie du Ferry à Dover,  je roule vers St Margaret’s Bay, une petite baie paisible, nichée dans les White Cliffs (falaises blanches), uniquement accessible en voiture. Ciel menaçant comme dans une toile de maître anglais. Ca et là des gens pique-niquent sur les galets, d’autres se promènent près des falaises. Une sensation de calme décuplée, le temps semble s’être arrêté.

Photo ci-dessus : tout au bout de la baie, un bloc de quatre maisons blanches tranchent sur les galets. L’une d’entres elles a appartenue à Ian Fleming (oui James Bond’s daddy!).

Photos ci-dessus et ci-dessous : pause déjeuner au Coastguard, dont la terrasse offre une belle vue sur la baie. Surtout ne pas se fier au temps qui oscille entre soleil et nuages, en se badigeonnant d’une protection solaire. T: 01304 851019, www.thecoastguard.co.uk

Après ce vivifiant bain d’embruns, je saute dans mon char (big up à nos cousins canadiens) pour Walmer Castle, le château où vécu le Duc de Wellington (les fameuses bottes!), avec ses sublimissimes jardins. See you there dans mon prochain post…

 Informations pratiques : Visit Kent, www.visitkent.co.uk 

Autres articles :

Traversée en Ferry de Dunkerque à Douvres

DESTINATIONS

 

Park Hyatt Tokyo: Meeting with Philippe Roux-Dessarps

The lift stops at the 52nd  floor,

I’m heading for the New York Bar. Yes, the smart bar of Sofia Coppola’s « Lost of Translation » (pictures 1 & 2)!

Jazzy atmosphere, fascinating hypnotic view from the sky of an endlessly Tokyo, the feeling is unreal. In the penumbra enhanced with indirect lights, a smiling waitress leads me.

I have a meeting with Philippe Roux-Dessarps, the General Manager of the Park Haytt Tokyo that occupies the top 14 floors of the Shinjuku Park Tower (last picture), designed by the famous Kenzo Tange, father of modern Japanese architecture. 

  Everyday I ask my team : how did you surprise a client today? 

We have varied customers (50% are leisure customers), lots of regular customers looking for a particular atmosphere and enjoying the intimacy of the hotel.

– Can you explain why we feel like in a cocoon in the Park Hyatt Tokyo?

– The staff humility. And we have few rooms : with 178 rooms, the hotel is intimate by Asian standards. And we don’t have a business atmosphere. The timeless design too : the Park Hyatt Tokyo has been an established hotel for 16 years. John Morford designed the interiors to feel like in a small elegant, personal, residence.

–  What is your next goal?

– Staying open to the next generations too. Staying modern without becoming gadget!

Here are the pictures of my favorite spaces.

At the 40th floor, I really enjoy the delicious Japanese cooking and the fantastic view of Fuji San, in Kozue restaurant (picture 3). I had a big crush on the superb earthenware plates and dishes created by craftsmen throughout Japan.

Peaceful atmosphere in the Library: a choice of 2000 books about arts, history, cultures and dictionaries (picture 4). Where the light is magic in late afternoon, when the sun falls down behind Fuji San (pictures above & below).  

Great details: reproductions of Fellini’s draws

in the cozy corridors leading to the rooms, spa and swimming pool (picture above & below).

At the 47th floor, the 65 feet (20 meters) swimming pool 

At least a hotel swimming pool where we can swim… looking down on Tokyo, with a sunrise or sunset light : exhilarating! 

In the Spa I could stay hours and hours, between whirlpools, wet and dry saunas, cold plunge pools and 360 degree body showers… treatment rooms and relaxation rooms, with in the background the panoramic view (picture below).

Every single detail is tidily thought: from the excellent Australian products ASEOP, to the ladies razors in the showers, to stay perfect in the country of the perfection.

Informations 

www.park.hyatt.com 

Many thanks to Philippe Roux-Dessarps.  

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City guide Tokyo : DESTINATIONS & HOTEL REVIEWS 

Brussels, Belgium: A walk in Rue Dansaert, Sainte-Catherine, the Grand Place and Mont des Arts

Here I am in the hotspot of Rue Antoine Dansaert, for an opening at the optician, Hoet. Presentation of the furs accessories of Walter Lecompte. Hoet: Rue A. Dansaert, 97. Ci dessous, vitrine de Noël de Christophe Coppens: Rue Léon Lepage 2. Soon a post about the area of Antoine Dansaert.

Near the Dansaert street: the ice rink, in the area of Sainte Catherine, the historical heart of Brussels. Only open during the season greetings, the ice rink is next to the Xmas market. Smells of hot wine.

What about belgian toasts at Fin de Siècle: Rue des Chartreux 9? It’s funny to notice some small cosy places last for a decade, without a wrinkle!

Usually the Falstaff, (metro: Bourse) is the kind of places too much touristic for me, near the Fuse (a club). I’ve never stopped in this famous brasserie from 1903, till a friend recently brought me there for a drink. And I was really surprised by the original Art Nouveau and Art déco decoration.

If you can’t figure out what is the Italian-Flamand Baroque style (a discovery for me too!), go to the Grand Place to look at the 34 buildings from the 17th century! Even I’m not a big fan of lights shows, the one for the season greetings was really great (pictures above).

Moving to Place Royale, the Mont des Arts under snow: on the left (in red and yellow), the tea house (picture below) of the event CHINA@BOZAR  with the famous Ai Weiwei (as the curator of the Chinese art contemporary exhibition), till January 24, 2010.

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Brussels, Belgium: La Monnaie / De Munt   

Brussels, Belgium: avenue Louise, place Stéphanie, Toison d’or 

City guides Brussels & Beijing: Destinations