Cafe De Paris - Leicester Square 2003
The Café De Paris, in London’s Piccadilly is one of the most famous and durable venues in the world. With a glittering history, spanning nine decades, the Café has consistently played host to a wide variety of powerful and absorbing performers attracting A-list celebrities and London’s infamously transitory ‘in-crowd’ on a previously unheralded basis of regularity.
The hippest awards ceremonies - from MTV to GQ to The Brits - have all chosen Café as their venue of preference in the last few years.
In its golden era Frank Sinatra rubbed shoulders with Tony Hancock, Eartha Kitt with Spike Milligan, Grace Kelly with Noel Coward. Anyone who was anyone was seen at the Café. So, why would Jim and Charlotte accept anything less? And to lend a touch of old time sophistication and class, there was of course... Myself and Andy (wonder if Sinatra ever found himself staggering about the place at 3am trying to remember who he knew??)
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And so the night gradually drew to a close. Folks disappeared suddenly, one by one reaching their alcohol limits and fleeing before it came thundering back up. I myself did several laps of the club desperately trying to recognise people through the haze of Vodka Redbull, and even more desperately trying to communicate... does Helen really work for MI5??? There were accounts of vomitting in taxis, toilets and hospitals to name a few. If anyone has anything to contribute, or any photos just e-mail them to me (gilmoursimon@hotmail.com) and I'll paste them on here.
(PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JAMES WALMSLEY)