So says Earnest and so says I

(Colin P. holds down the fort at the Hemingway)

Paris is home to many things, great music, fantastic art, superior fashion; it is not, however home to the classic cocktail. Trying to find a decent martini in this city is like searching for meaning in a Will Ferrell movie - a confusing, impossible, and ultimately fruitless endeavor. One of the sole exceptions is my local joint at Place Vendôme: the Hemingway Bar, located in the Ritz hotel, which represents all that is great about old school Paris. Dark wood paneling, leather club chairs, cucumber water and warm nuts....life could be worse.

Pretentious? Yes. Amazing? You bet!

Earnest Hemingway certainly thought so. He was a loyal patron to the bar that was eventually renamed in his honor. Rumour has it that Hemingway was so eager to announce the end of the German occupation that he fired a shotgun into the ceiling of the Ritz bar to celebrate - but not before ordering a cocktail first. Such a character.

Grab some close friends, and spend an evening talking politics in a place without thumping techno music. Reservations are not allowed but neither are jeans or T-shirts. Keep it clean and classy, this place has a semi-formal dress code.

Drink of choice: Classic dry martini. I prefer mine with vodka, chilled to exactly -18.3 degrees celcius, 3 olives please. (One of the few places in Paris they'll have the common decency not to drown you in Vermouth).

Notable resident: Colin P, is largely reported to be the best bartender in the world. I'll back that.