So we found ourselves in yet another Paris bar drinking house red. Unusual I know. And to be honest we thought it was tres ordinaire – until I found myself talking to some locals.

La Perle has been a famous fashionista hangout for years – like one hundred years – and is total facehunter territory. Like SPQR. But not.  There was a rumour that to ensure the bar went off every night , they laced the beer with absinthe. It’s never been proven of course.

It’s latest claim to infamy is that ‘that booth over there’ was where John Galliano’s anti-semitic ourburst took place. In New Zealand, we would put a plaque up. In France, we just order another vin rouge and smile.

After dark it's a different story altogether