One day I'll sleep there...

The last time I was in Paris, I was supposed to run the half marathon the next day with my friend Madieke. The plan was to meet each other at the start the next morning (we were both staying in different hotels with our mothers). But among the more than forty thousand people running, we couldn't find each other. Not at the start and not at the finish. In the pouring rain, we called each other crying (after 20 kilometers, some emotions do come out), to meet somewhere under the Eiffel Tower. That was impossible too. So many people. Madieke had to catch her train, I stayed another night. The joy of finishing and the disappointment of missing Madieke, I drowned in style with my mother with a cocktail at the bar of The Mandarin Oriental, a brand new and super deluxe hotel on Rue Saint-Honoré. It was also fashion week, so we were literally sat front row.. Georgio Armani was there with a glass of wine in the lobby, Sylvie Meis and Danie Bles had just walked out the door. We drank a gin and tonic with a slice of cucumber. Hendricks Gin. My favorite.

In the end, it was that one ACCESSORY that did it. A yoga mat from Hermès.

‘How much would a room cost here, mom? It would be nice to maybe sleep here with friends.’ I walked, bent over from muscle pain, to the reception to ask. ‘Mille euros madame,’ said a sweet French girl in a fitted Hugo Boss suit. Hallelujah! I had to see such a room. Would you really see that thousand euros worth it? I saw a beautiful sleeping area, with clouds of pillows, real flowers on the ebony desk, a separate walk-in closet, and a bathroom you would never want to leave. But in the end, it was that one accessory that did it. I looked at a huge bed, or actually next to the king-size bed, and there it was. The yoga mat. A yoga mat from Hermès. That was exactly what made the room priceless. And I was sold.