Many people hate them. Find them too anonymous, too cold, too much transit. I love them; hotel bars. I can sit there for hours, observing people, who are meeting, coming, kissing, and leaving. I always imagine who they are, the other guests. The one over...

Paris is filled with lavish hotels - former palaces that have been converted into dens of discreet luxury. These are places that recall an earlier empire, or, depending on your cultural preferences, the last episode of Sex and the City. These are not places we can afford....