TCKs Needed for PhD Student

DINNER IN VERSAILLES

by Allen Dale Olson
The Esplanade in front of the opulent Palace of Versailles is very large. Acres large. But
after dark, when a privileged fleet of buses assemble on it to discharge some 300 cooks and hotel directors (and a few invited guests, I among them) to march through a gauntlet of torch-bearing 17 th century re-enactors handing out flutes of champagne, it doesn’t seem so large. Normally it would be Sheer Lunacy to think that such would happen in the 20 th century – but it did – in 1984 in observance of the 30th anniversary of Relais et Chateaux, the most prestigious alliance of hotels and restaurants on the globe.

As we approached the famous Hall of Mirrors, a dozen herald trumpeters announced our
arrival, and the doors flung open to that seemingly endless hall of seventeen candle-holding windows, each embellished by 21 facing mirrors casting 357 flickering images toward the muralled ceilings and around the sculptures and paintings on the walls. Renaissance-era woodwind and string ensembles played us on our way to the Grand Apartment, our champagne flutes continuously re-filled as we progressed.

Not all of the palace’s 2,143 fireplaces were lit, but enough of them were lit as we passed
through the State Apartments, the royal bedrooms, and waiting rooms that we got more than an inkling about life in the 1680s. Fortunately, we did not have to ascend any of the 67 stair cases.

The group Relais et Chateau was formed by eight hoteliers in 1954 under the name La
Route de Bonheur, the name applied to the main route from Paris to Nice. The eight proprietors were committed to showing the value of top quality amenities, outstanding fine dining, and experiences of place, history, environment, and culture. Each place was privately owned, different from one another with an individual personality.

Today Relais et Chateaux has 530 member establishments in 64 countries, 13 of which
are in the United States. (The nearest one to Story is the Everest Restaurant in Chicago.)
The seven salons in the Grand Apartment are interconnected, opening on one another and were furnished with round tables seating eight persons each. (My partners included the Norwegian Ambassador to France and the director of Hotel Annen Etage in Oslo; the director of the Guarda Val Hotel in the Swiss Alps; the director of Hotel Erbprinz in the Black Forest; a food writer for the French daily l’Express, the director of the Alpina Inn in the Bavarian Alps; and a wine producer from Alsace.) Of course, there was more champagne as we arrived at table.

No sooner were we seated than the herald trumpets signaled us to our feet, and Louis XIV moved from table to table to greet us, rather pleased that our group was much smaller than the 20,000 or so who once lived in his palace and took their daily meals from his larder. Marie Antoinette was also on hand, and before the dessert came around, we had also met Louis XV and Louis XVI.

Throughout the evening, troubadours plied us with bawdy songs and commentary about
the news from far-away Provence, Austria, and other foreign places. The Mayor of Paris, the President of the French Senate, and the officers of the organization all had congratulatory remarks to make to us as the white Burgundy, red Bordeaux, and Port washed down the foie gras, the filets de turbot mousseline, the boeuf wellington, the Roquefort, and the tartes des fruits et glaces. And the printed menu explained how our pledges to the event would go to the aid of Doctors without Borders and several other humanitarian organizations.On the way back to the buses for the return to Paris, I couldn’t help but remember the words of W.C. Fields: “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; believe me, rich is better.” It is Sheer Lunacy to think I should ever have a meal like that again.
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Vintage Story is an e-newsletter authored by Ole Olson and published by the Story Inn, and is available free of charge to all who appreciate good wine. Vintage Story is published at each full moon. The author and the Story Inn specifically authorize the republication, reprinting and circulation of any issue Vintage Story so long as due credit is given to the author and to the Story Inn (which holds the copyright).

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