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Too Much of a Good Thing is–Wonderful By Sandra Scott |
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In our room we dried off and relaxed before heading to the Le Gouverneur Bar to listen to the Filipino band play American favorites from the 50s and 60s. Our room had a wonderful selection of magazines that promoted the best of Vietnam. The advertisement in one magazine caught my attention.
A few days later, we checked into the newest hotel in Hanoi, the InterContinental. Several of the buildings are built in Vietnamese-style in the waters of Hanoi’s largest lake, West Lake. For us it was a wonderful juxtaposition–staying at the newest hotel and having lunch at the “Grand Dame” of Hanoi. The Metropole is a white French colonial-style hotel that was built in 1901. The white-gloved doormen have welcomed ambassadors, writers, heads of state, and entrepreneurs. It is where Graham Green got his inspiration for The Quiet American. In the elegant lobby, we paused a moment wondering just where to find the Chocolate Buffet. The nose knows, “It’s this way!” John said as he guided me toward the scent of chocolate. “Oh, my!” was
all I could say when I saw the buffet. There was hotel-made hot
chocolate, a chef to make crepes, a fountain surrounded by fresh
fruit for dipping, chocolate ice cream, and a variety of
John, on the other hand, tried just about everything. “Did you try the orangettes in chocolate? Delicious.” John is usually very sensible and controlled when confronted with a buffet but not this time! When the waiter informed us that it was last call for the buffet, John filled his plate one last time.
For more information check www.sofitel.com, www.intercontinental.com/hanoi and www.la-residence-hue.com |
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Nguyen
emperors. The old part of our hotel, La Residence, dates from the
1920s when it was a private residence. New wings were added when it
opened as a hotel in 2005. From the hotel, we could see the Flag
Tower of the Citadel on the other side of the Perfume River. We
spent the better part of one day exploring the Imperial Enclosures
in the Citadel, much of which is still in ruins from the bombings
during the French and American Wars John dressed up in royal regalia
and sat on the throne. Walking back to La Residence it started to
drizzle but the heavy rain held off until we reached out hotel.
“Hey, John, look
at this! The Sofitel Metropol in Hanoi has a chocolate buffet!” I
could see the gleam of anticipation in his eyes at the very thought
of a chocolate buffet. He is the chocolaholic in the family so he
quickly agreed that when we returned to Hanoi we should have “lunch”
at the Metropol’s chocolate buffet.
other
chocolate that staggered the imagination. Making decisions at a
buffet is always difficult but at a chocolate buffet it is
overwhelming. Did I want mousse, macaroons, brownies, cannellonis,
or chocolate bread pudding? I scoped it all out before picking my
favorites–truffles, bonbons, eclairs, chocolate bombe, and white
chocolate mousse.