I prefer to stay with local people or in guest houses, where the human aspect is paramount and you are always made to feel very welcome.
"I travelled a lot as a child. My father took me and my brother everywhere. He would show us museums, all the museums in the world, and he also had his own special interest in supermarkets. He loved supermarkets. All sizes, in all languages. And very bad restaurants too. The more infamous they were, the more he liked them. We never travelled in luxury with him. Everything was local colour, the hotels, everything. But what marked me even more was a trip to the United StatesThis time I went with my mother to an analysts' conference. I attended lots of therapies and workshops. I met some very unusual, warm-hearted people with extremely different relationships to the world. They work on themselves, on well-being in the deepest sense of the word. It was very rewarding, even striking.
There's no doubt that I've kept things from those years; a way of travelling, of discovering other places. Now, even when I travel for work, maybe thirty times a year, I always take the time to go to museumsI'm also interested in the architecture of cities, the beauty of cities. I'm also interested in the architecture of towns and cities, and the beauty of towns and cities. And I tend to go for old cities, even though I'm particularly taken by Tokyo. So, without getting too backward-looking, it's more a case of RomeSeville or Havana.
Even if everything is more or less in ruins, Havana is still very beautiful. In any case a particular passion for Latin America. I like the warmth of people, their way of looking at life; their music too. But, in any case, it's people that interest me, I love people.
So when I'm abroad, I prefer to stay with local people or in guest houses, where the focus is on the human aspect and where you're always made very welcome. There's nothing better for discovering a country than staying in private homes. That doesn't stop me from appreciating small hotels that are at the customer's service and from finding certain palaces sublime. Of course, I hate chain hotels, which are very aptly named, and where you're little more than a number.
When it comes to restaurants, my tastes are not very different. Every time I'm welcomed somewhere, I'm asked: "Where would you like to dine? I don't ask for much, but mainly no trendy placesIt's the same as in Paris, where everything is the same, where you're badly spoken to, badly eaten, noisy and badly behaved. So, most of the time, I eat local food. On my last trip to Seville, I was taken to a French restaurant. I nearly cried. What's more, it wasn't even good... Oh, how I would have preferred a simple tapas bar! I'll say it again, people must not be forgotten. This human touch can also be found in the great restaurants, which have a real art of living. In these wonderful establishments, it's the same people who have always been in charge; there's a special, almost family spirit. And that's a good thing.
News Staging of Puccini's La Tosca as part of the Opéra en Plein Air festival.
Château de Vincennes (27, 28, 29 June), Carcassonne (2 July), Saint-Germain-en-Laye (5 and 6 July), Hôtel national des Invalides (4 to 8 September).
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