A final adventure in Paris before my departure for Florence, Italy, was to re-unite once again with my old pal, Prince Louis Albert de Broglie and his charming and most accomplished artist girlfriend, at the former’s Paris pad that also houses the office of his immensely chic gardening tool & wear brand, ‘Le Prince Jardinier’ (The Prince Gardener) located on the magical Place Furstenberg, which was not only home to artist Eugene Delacroix, his apartment now the Delacroix museum, but also subject of his famous lithograph, in addition to acting as model for many other artists.
Clockwise from top left: Entrance to Maison Deyrolle on rue du Bac, Paris 75007, Images of the interior of Maison Deyrolle
Prince Louis Albert de Broglie, known as a militant ecologist, started his working life as a banker, and then went on to getting involved with the protection and conservation of biodiversity following his purchase of Chateau de La Bourdaisiere, located in the Loire Valley, to which I have had the good fortune of multiple visits; he then developed the aforementioned gardening tool, wear and accessory brand, and finally went on to acquire Maison Deyrolle – a taxidermy shop founded in 1831, where there is a museum of fossils, insect specimens, stuffed fossils etc – thereby buttressing his commitment to nature and biodiversity.
Top Row: Images of Place Furstenberg
Middle Row: Ground Floor Entrance to Prince Louis Alberts Home, The ‘Prince Jardinier’ Show room, Prince Louis Albert over dinner
Bottom Row: Dining Table overlooking the back garden of Prince Louis Alberts Paris home, Prince Louis Albert’s partner
At the Chateau, he set up an experimental laboratory of sorts, beginning with the planting of a selection of tomatoes, which eventually led to the development of a national conservatory of tomatoes, and there is even a tomato bar on the property … please note that the Chateau is a hotel, where you can go and stay and have the ‘full monty’ experience yourself … needless to say, the region of the Loire Valley, known as the ‘Garden of France’, is a must visit in itself.
But perhaps most interesting of all is how the years Prince Louis Albert spent in India shaped him … as he said, over a casual dinner of smoked fish, a selection of cheese from Barthelemy and bottle of Pouilly fume wine at his historic Paris pad, most of all, it gave him both the courage to change course and solace in a newfound sense of destiny, both of which have since served him very well in his life … it is perhaps those very same sentiments that have cemented my own attachment to India, and on that note, let me now take you with me down memory lane to my weekend in Florence, where Italian friends from Rome, Milan and Sicily, in addition to local Florentine ones, all gathered to both celebrate and commiserate with me, in light of my imminent arrival at midlife …
Top Row: Views from Bar of Degli Orafi Hotel
Bottom Row from Left: Antipasti Platter, Smoked Negroni
… and it all began at a most precious little rooftop bar that specializes in the Negroni cocktail, located at the unassuming four-star Degli Orafi Hotel, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio bridge and Dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral on one side and Arno river on the other, on a perfect evening canopied by a crystal clear & sparkling blue sky ….
… from smoked to barrel aged to classic and so much more, we (me and my group of 6 others) made our way meticulously through the negroni menu, with pistachio nuts, cheese, ham, salami & olives as wonderfully inappropriate escorts …
… a few hours later, having delayed our dinner booking twice, we finally rose and made our way by foot to ‘Il santo Bevitore restaurant’, first along the banks of the Arno River and then through the bustling town with peals of laughter to be heard all around, for summertime in the city of Florence is the fount of unmitigated joy and unapologetic abandon.
Above: Images taken during the walk from the Degli Orafi Hotel to Il Santo Bevitore restaurant
Il Santo Bevitore restaurant is centrally located, the crowd of diners (I believe there is always a crowd there) a smart casual mix of both locals and foreigners, in a dim, candle lit setting, bookshelf lined walls containing wine bottles and multiple different dining spaces bringing an unexpected intimacy to the atmosphere, quite in spite of the volume of both people and noise.
Above: Images of Il Santo Bevitore Restaurant
Since Tuscan specialties abound on the menu, we went suitably local with a pappa al pomodoro soup, wild boar ravioli in a consommé style broth crowned with a parmesan foam, and warm custard-like chicken liver terrine with a vin santo reduction, the last two managing to silence each one of us upon first taste … indeed, there were many other dishes tasted, but the aforementioned are the ones I suggest you order abundantly, and do finish your meal, as we did, with biscotti and shots of vin santo, even if it means a monumental hangover the next day, for the sheer magic of the city of Florence will fix that too.
Top Row from Left: Pappa al pomodoro soup, Chicken liver terrine
Bottom Row from Left: Wild Boar Ravioli, Biscotti & Vin Santo
A monumental hangover we did have, not that it lasted beyond a late morning coffee at the gorgeous Caffe Gilli, the oldest Café in Florence, where we all re-united prior to wandering off to see an incredible show of artist Anselm Kiefer’s work at the majestic Palazzo Strozzi, just a stone’s throw away.
Above: Images of Caffe Gilli
Above: Images of Anselm Kiefer Show at Palazzo Strozzi
And then of course there was a late and boisterous lunch, each one of us having been muted long enough by the sheer majesty of Kiefer’s work, at a monastery turned ‘hip & designer’ hotel in Florence, called ‘the 25 hours’ that is just three years old, and funnily enough, was a bit like a childlike, fun foray into Disneyland for a couple of hours … we sat in the colorful, vine covered courtyard of the restaurant there, and over several Sardinian Vermentino ‘hairs of the litter’, never mind the dog, feasted on a number of very good dishes, the standouts being a sensational crispy pork cheek carbonara and an unusually well cooked and perfectly tender grilled squid.
Top Row from Left: Entrance to 25 hours hotel, Interior of restaurant, Courtyard of restaurant
Middle Row: Images of My gang of friends
Bottom Row from Left: Grilled Squid, Crispy Pork Cheek Carbonara
After lunch was the second ‘piece de resistance’ of that day, which for me and two of the others belonging to my gang of friends, was a first time, and that was a visit to the Santa Maria Novella Perfumery, originally a pharmacy (today the oldest in the world) that dates back to 1221, the sheer beauty of the building and interiors, a sight for sore eyes … do read up all about it online, and if like me you have never been in spite of countless trips to Florence, then you must make up for it.
Above: Images of Santa Maria Novella Perfumery
Finally, of course was the absolute highlight of the weekend, a special request I had made of my Florence based friends, having experienced it in 2022, and that was a drive into the picture postcard perfect Tuscan countryside for drinks at the ‘Bottega Peruzzi’ in the Medieval Village of Artimino, followed by dinner at its somewhat more ‘chi-chi’ neighbor, the Biagio Pignatta restaurant located within the magnificent grounds of the Medici Villa, ‘La Ferdinanda’, where two of my friends were married a little under a decade ago …
Above: Images of the Tuscan Countryside, The Medieval Village, The trattoria Bar in the village and drinks in the courtyard of the trattoria bar
… and thus it was on the exemplary tones, tenor and tastes of a spectacular local Tuscan red wine, inimitable saffron risotto with shaved white truffle, melt in the mouth braised pork cheeks on a perfectly creamed polenta, indescribable hunk of Bistecca alla Fiorentina, and spectacularly delicious semi-freddo birthday cake, that my principal summer holiday of 2024 came to a poetic close …
Top Row: Exterior Images of Biagio Pignatta Restaurant
Middle Row from left: Truffle saffron risotto, Braised Pork Cheeks, Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Bottom Row: Me giving my pals a lecture before blowing out my candle
…as Mark twain wrote of Florence,
“This is the fairest picture on our planet, the most enchanting to look upon, the most satisfying to the eye and the spirit. To see the sun sink down, drowned on his pink and purple and golden floods, and overwhelm Florence with tides of color that make all the sharp lines dim and faint and turn the solid city to a city of dreams, is a sight to stir the coldest nature, and make a sympathetic one drunk with ecstasy.”