Tea with Mme Chanel

Mme Montenary8217;s lunch in the Chanel office at 18, Place Vendome, to meet the galaxy of directors who run the multimillion dollar couturier, is in the large salon above the store. Redesigned by Lagerfeld, who can deconstruct founder Gabrielle 8216;Coco8217; Chanel without nostalgia, it has his unmistakable modernist twist.

Over a lunch of fennel salad, risotto and dessert, Francoise Montenary explains the essence of Chanel8212;to live Coco8217;s dream. 8216;8216;She constantly innovated because she was modern, and we transmit that modernity,8217;8217; she says.

Time for the Coco Chanel tour with Marie-Louise8212;beginning from her store below, then across the square to the Ritz where she lived on and off, out through the revolving back door the same one that Diana and Dodi swung through on their last exit on to Rue Cambon, which houses her atelier.

The air inside is tremulous8212;Lagerfeld8217;s show is the next morning. Coco8217;s spirit and style are kept alive by the ceaseless whirr of innovation and creation by the company8217;s team of designers, stylists, marketing managers, strategists, myth bearers and myth makers. Models sashay down the famous mirrored staircase, not to exhibit as in the old days when Coco watched them from above, but for a photo shoot.

Marie-Louise ushers us into Coco8217;s stylish apartment, tregrave;s trendy even today, then upstairs to her studio, where Karl is locked in with the girls for a last fitting. Another flight up, and the sun streams in through the windows to light up the workshop, where women hand stitch some of the most expensive garments in the world.

Cocktails in the hotel bar, then dinner at La Maison Blanche8212;above Theatres des Champs-Elyseeacute;s. It8217;s a classic building, famous for hosting the best modern dances in the 1920s. The restaurant is on the top floor, has great views of the river Seine and the Eiffel Tower. It is located on Avenue Montaigne, which has taken over from Rue St Honore as the heart of luxury shopping in Paris. Had crab, paired with a delicious white wine.

DAY 2:
Swept in for the preview show at Atelier Bertheir, a former warehouse that stocked opera decor. The ramp is designed to look like a formal French garden, with giant white camellias Coco8217;s signature flower; the house design for everything from watches to jewellery sprouting from box trees.

No excesses here, except in the beauty of the collection. There8217;s sparkle and tweed, silk and tulle, porcelain flowers on the wrist, and quaint buckled shoes. The verdict: Lagerfeld masterfully reinvents Coco, yet again.

The front rows are packed with Saudi princesses, Arab royalty, Texan oil wives, a sprinkling of French haute politicos like Mme Chirac, disco queen Kylie Minogue, and the beauty frat pack. Met Karl backstage to congratulate him. Francoise Montenary is overwhelmed, Marie-Louise, thrilled.

Lunch is at Apicius, a grand chateau, formerly of the Rothschild foundation. With its rolling dining rooms and awesome windows looking out to the sunny gardens, it8217;s a great lunch spot. Menu: Artichoke salad with black truffle, Lobster Aumonier, steamed sea bass, roasted pineapple with vanilla sorbet8212;all accompanied by Deutz champagne. C8217;est la vie.

Next up, an appointment with The Nose, Jacques Polge, in Chanel8217;s Neuilly office. Polge built the Chanel fragrance empire after Coco8217;s first offering of

No 58212;still the largest selling perfume in the world. Polge8217;s job is to sniff, and make heady mixes of different scents. Not as easy as it sounds. Consider this: If there were once eight constituents of jasmine, today there are over 200.

Chanel8217;s vast private gardens no other perfume house owns one in Grasse, in the south of France, keeps Polge very busy, despite the fact that he launches a new perfume only every five to six years. 8216;8216;It shows the keen research we do before launching anything,8217;8217; says Polge.

Cannot resist the perfume lab below, with hundreds of little bottles of essences and oils from all over the world sandalwood and jasmine come from India. After a giddy tour of sensual fragrances and floral oils, I float back to the hotel.
Ended up at a French bistro for dinner, ate rabbit with a good Bordeaux.

DAY 3:
A meeting with Chanel8217;s make-up creators Dominique Moncourtois and Heidi Morawetz. Moncourtis, inventor of the unique Chanel Colour Studio, is a master illusionist who, along with Morawetz, has created Chanel8217;s range of cosmetics, which optically hides wrinkles and radiates an intense glow. 8216;8216;We are now developing a specific texture and colour for Indian skin,8217;8217; confides Moncourtis, 8216;8216;which will cater to the vast NRI market, South Asia and China.8217;8217;

The next project for the pair that firmly believes in 8216;8216;innovation, innovation, innovation8217;8217;, is a substance devised in an aerospace lab, which will be the base for a foundation that adjusts itself to body temperature and glows accordingly.

It is the creamy consistency of Moncourtois8217; favourite yoghurt, which also inspired the smooth texture of his last ultra-moist foundation.

Had a much-needed, personalised Chanel facial at their skincare studio in Gallerie Lafayette, a boosting facial makeover with the Precision range of moisture-boosting serum, radiance cream, and other face-saving potions. Felt and looked human again.

Lunch at Hotel Costes, created by the legendary Jacques Garcia. Met Collette Thill, chief training manager for Chanel cosmetics and make-up girls the world over. More champagne, escargot and Oriental duck.

Late afternoon, back to Place Vendome to see the jewellery: Coco8217;s 8216;Bijoux de Diamants8217;, designed in 1932, when diamond merchants begged her to create something after the Great Depression of 1929. Pearls, crystals and diamonds cascade down in casual minimalism, an enduring symbol of Coco8217;s collaboration with modernism.

A chat with the company8217;s handsome artistic director, Jacques Helleu, who literally grew up inside Chanel his father worked here too. He reveals the meticulous craft employed to evolve the Chanel aesthetic in the popular imagination. He8217;s just launched the No 5 film with Nicole Kidman8212;a Moulin Rouge meets Roman Holiday meets Notting Hill, diva-meets-poor-artist romance clip. 8216;8216;For India,8221; says Helleu, 8216;8216;the mood will be artistic and sensual.8217;8217; I8217;m thrilled when he says Indian women are the best looking in the world.

Dinner is at the exclusive Le Grand Vefour, in the gardens of the Palais Royal. The restaurant is a tribute to 18th century decorative art8212;Hugo, Sartre and Malraux were regulars. The waiters, who looked like old family retainers, served foie gras and grilled monk fish with almond cream.
Sat on Maria Callas8217; favourite chair, and felt like an operatic queen.
Midnight: Stepped out into the cold champagne-sharp January air, and let the feeling flow.