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Looking
southwest from 72nd between Fifth and Madison. Friday
(above) and Sunday (below). Photos: JH.
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Paris
dateline/Geneology. It seems everyone in Paris was
celebrating the birthday of Zozo de Ravenel, the
Marquise de Ravenel to us’n.
The Count and Countess Jean Charles de Ravenel (Zozo’s
son and daughter-in-law Jackie) gave a big glorious
party for Zozo with about 100 guests. The party was held at the
de Ravenels’ luxurious
apartment, said by some to be the most beautiful in Paris, on the
Rue de Lille, next to the Musee d’Orsay. The apartment is
in a fabulous French house owned by Count Jean-Louis de
Maigret, who was one of the guests at the
party.
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Jackie
de Ravenel, Carmen Saint, and Betty Catroux
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Zozo, who was married to the late Marquis
Wlady de Ravenel, was
the daughter of Prince Jean-Louis Faucigny-Lucinge, a
descendant of several great families of France. Jean-Louis who
was a great Proustian
social figure of Paris in his time was a close friend of many including
the late Queen Mother of England. His daughter
Zozo numbers among her great friends Nancy Reagan whom
she met through Betsy
Bloomingdale. Zozo was often a guest of the
Reagans in the White House. There were times when Zozo, her father
and Jerry Zipkin, the New York
social gadfly were all staying with Jackie and Jean-Charles at
their house in Lyford Cay and the phone would ring and they would
never know who would be calling – the White House or Buckingham
Palace.
Zozo and her
husband lived in Paris, at a house outside Paris, and also in a
beautiful big house on the sea in Cap d’Ail,
just a hop, skip and a jump from Monte Carlo and the Grimaldis.
Everyone at Zozo’s party was talking about the coming “Wedding
of the Year” – that of Athina Onassis Roussel
and Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto who will marry on December
3 in Sao Paolo just six weeks before the Greek shipping heiress
turns 21. It is
said that there will be 750 guests, a small Catholic ceremony followed
by a glittering reception. Rumor has it that Jennifer Lopez (in
other words, J-Lo) has been asked to perform at the reception for
an incredible fee (incredible to you and me but not to little Athina).
Also among the chatter at the party was the sale of Alberto
Pinto’s
fabulous house in Tangier for millions of dollars to the Emir of
Qatar.
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Zozo
de Ravenel and Dodie Rosekranz
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Among
the guests at Zozo’s party were
her daughter Airelle and her ex-husband,
their son Kim and his girlfriend Constance
Clement, M. et Mme. Jean-Pierre Marcie-Riviere, Prince and Princess
Poniatowski, Countess Jean Louis de Ganay, Bettina Graziani, Charlotte
Aillaud, Countess Pia de Brantes, Jim Mitchell, Carmen Saint and
Carmen’s daughter Betty and her husband
the great French interior designer Francois Catroux (the
Catroux were on their way to the black tie dinner for Yves
Saint Laurent – she was
his muse – and the opening of “Smoking Forever,” an
exhibition of Yves’ “le smoking.” Jimmy
Douglas was there with his tiny digital taking
his wonderful photographs of everyone and even making a movie of
the party. Baron
Guy de Rothschild, Count Phillippe de Nicolay (the late Marie-Helene
de Rothschild’s son), Liz Fondaras who
was staying in her apartment in Paris (see NYSD
6/17/04), Dodie
Rosekranz from San Francisco who
now lives in Paris and in Venice; Florence van der Kemp,
Doris Brynner in her usual “le smoking,” Daisy
de Cabrol, looking more beautiful than ever, Laure
de Beauvau Craon, Gaelle
d’Oncieux who had not left her house in two years
but came out for her good friend’s birthday; Dr.
Olivier Sompairac who is everyone’s doctor in Paris, Micheline
and Jean Pierre Simeon (Micheline was married to the
late Roger Crevetto, the financial
advisor and close friend of Prince Rainier); Pierre
Celeyron and
lots of others who came out to celebrate Zozo’s 80th and
to see Jackie and Jean-Charles before they left for Portugal to
see Jackie’s daughter. Jackie and Jean Charles’ daughter Rebecca now
lives in New York where she works for Oscar de la Renta.
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Edgar
Batista
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Paris was full full full – the
Eiffel Tower is lighted for ten minutes each hour after 10 pm and
sparkles with thousands of
white lights. This lighting was designed for the Y2K but there
were so many requests for it to be lighted the year round that
the French government has now made a happening of it each night.
The fashion people were arriving for the couture collections. There
was the Nuit Blanc, the White Night where Parisians are supposed
to shop and stay up all night.
People everywhere
and not one taxi to be found. The big tribute to Yves St. Laurent, “Smoking Forever,” was
at the Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves St. Laurent, 5 Avenue Marceau,
which
will run through April 23, 2006. The beautiful and charismatic Catherine
Deneuve was at the opening dinner and was seated between
Yves and the Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. When
Yves arrived, everyone stood up and raised their glasses of vodka
as the waiters passed the caviar molded out of ice from Prunier – Pierre
Berge’s restaurant. Some of the other guests were Loulou
de la Falaise who has just shown her first couture collection.
She wore a YSL tux made in the YSL house in 2002 before he retired.
Also Monique and Jack Lang, the former minister of culture; June
Newton, widow of Helmut Newton; Betty and Francois
Catroux (Betty
was wearing a 1966 YS tux and said she did not remember her first
YSL tux, “but I have always worn the tux with nothing under
it;” Corinne Ricard of the spirits dynasty, Francois-Henri
Pinault, the CEO of PPR, and lots of others.
More of where they are: The magnificent Aimee
de Heeren is in her
magnificent apartment on the Rue de Varenne. Aimee will spend Christmas
in Granada with her daughter Cristina. Jimmy Douglas and
Rod Coop gave a dinner for Mary McFadden, Jim
Mitchell, and Edgar Batista at their Rue de Bac apartment. Charles
Sevigny’s Saturday
lunches are famous at his amazing apartment on the Quai d’Orsay
over looking the Eiffel Tower. Charles also owned York Castle in
Tangier with the late Yves Vidal. Joan Schnitzer and Irvin
Levy (Mr. and Mrs.) were at the Ritz and gave dinners
at Tong Yen (Paris’ favorite
place to dine on Sunday nights) and Chez Ami Louis. Jim
Mitchell
gave a dinner at Chez Allard for Carmen Saint, Charles Sevigny,
Tom Gunther, Jimmy Douglas, Prince Benedict
Solms who owns “Phonebook
of the World” on the internet and Rod Coop. Karl
Lagerfeld is often at the Café Flore which is full
every night. Ahh,
Paree ...
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| Left,
top to bottom: The Invalides; St. Marie Madeleine
church; Arch de Triomphe. Above, top to bottom: Baron
Guy de Rothschild and Charlotte Aillaud; Jean Charles
de Ravenel and Bettina Graziani. |
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Francois
Catroux, Charlotte Aillaud, and Carmen Saint
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Carmen
Saint
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Simon
LeBell and Jimmy Douglas
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Laure
de Beauvau Craon and Doris Brynner
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Betty
Catroux and Alexis Gregory
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Artists
Eduoard and Arm
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Left
to right: Bettina Graziani and Dr. Ribholz; Ambassador
Archibaldo Lanus and Natalie
Champin in the
de Ravenel apartment.
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Zozo
de Ravenel and Liz Fondaras
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Daisy
de Cabrol and friend
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Kim
Ribholz and Constance Clement
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Liz
Fondaras and Jackie de Ravenel
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Airelle
de Ravenel and Pilar de Brantes
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Gaelle
d'Oncieux and Dr. Olivier Somparirc
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L.
to r.: Constance Clement, Kim
Ribholz, Airelle de Ravenel, and Zozo de Ravenel; Carmen
Saint and Jim Mitchell; Tom Gunther, Charles Sevigny,
and Ben Solms.
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Micheline
and Jean Pierre Simeon with Carmen
Saint
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Jimmy
Davidson and Mary McFadden
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Charles
Sevigny and Jimmy Douglas
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