Secrets of Paris

Olivier refills the glasses...

The latest soirée for the lonely hearts of Paris is Wine Dating, organized by the team at O-Château. It's basically a wine tasting for singles in an impressive setting, the top (56th) floor of the Tour Montparnasse. I've been in Paris since 1995 and had never bothered visiting this tourist attraction, despite the very correct observation that "at least when you're in it you won't have to look at it." It was pretty cool to see Paris from such heights without the wind (we stayed inside because it's freezing in Paris right now, but there's also an outdoor viewing platform).

The Wine Dating room at the Tour de Montparnasse.

Not a bad view!

People began arriving for the Wine Dating, some with friends, some on their own, all ages, many nationalities (I was at a table with three French people, a British expat and a Mexican airline pilot). We were assigned tables so that the male-female ratio was correct, and welcomed with flutes of pink Champagne.

I was at the Claude François table.

There were three wines tasted, a white and two reds. The O-Château tastings are usually in English, but the wine dating was in French. Only a few people spoke no French at all, but there were quite a few bilingual Parisians to help out. And really, it's a wine tasting...who needs to understand the sommelier's lesson as long as the wine keeps flowing? (just kidding Olivier!)

"I've found that wine helps a lot when it comes to meeting girls," said the Olivier, O-Château's founder, when explaining how he came up with the idea. Aside from the actual drinking, each table also formed a team in the wine quiz afterwards (my table won the honor of being dead last...we may have had too many refills and not enough water...the blood is thinner at that altitude).

Check out the sparlking Eiffel Tower in the back! Très romantique, non?

At the end of the tasting, there was a buffet of cheese and coldcuts, and most of the people were still standing around chatting amicably when I had to take my leave a half hour later. The Wine Dating takes place the first Monday of each month, the fee is €35/person, sign up directly online.