First it was making cocktails for First class and Business on the way to St. Paulo. That was already fun with 80% Serendipity cocktails being ordered which largely facilitated the service.

The Fasano Hotel was lovely but the banquet area was a good half an hour away in a taxi. But when you get there, Wow! You are sourrounded by a sort of tropical garden and the Room/Hall is immense. You could fit in several hundred people no problem.

The cocktails were presented on a table looking like a garden with branches and cocktails appearing between the leaves. I'm so bored with doing those military squares or triangles of glasses that you see at every banquet event and have changed my presentation since the French Embassy in Tokyo a couple of years ago.

After this event we sped off to Rio de Janiero and the Copacobana Hotel, owned by the Belmond group. The next day up in the hills I was a part of an incredible cocktail event in perhaps the most beautiful house I have ever seen. If you like Art Deco, well this place was the tops. So funny after saying I hated military squares for glasses, here that's exactly what I did on an original 1920's cocktail bar surrounded by Lallique tables, lights, Rodin statues, Chiparus statues Chryséléphantine technique and Gallé vases that I only have seen in Art book pictures. I dealt out quite a few cocktails over the next few hours, totally inspired. I think that I could live in that house forever.

Just before coming back to Paris, I was able to spend a couple of hours on the Copacobana beach...Le reve quoi! As they say, especially with a rather large Caipirinha Cocktail in my hand.

Loved Brazil and thank you Julia for the Photos.