This is a blast from the past and I thought I would share this with you.  Before 9/11 (and websites) we used to come out with bi-annually newsletters.  I wrote about my experience visiting the Baccarat factory in France.  This was written in 2000.  Here are some excerpts:

Travel Diary:  Baccarat, France


                                                    

Baccarat, France is an actual city located in Eastern France, a good five hours by train from Paris.  The first-class cabins of the French trains are exactly that - very first class.  The seats are comfortable unlike other European trains.  I was traveling with the French sales manager and there was enough room where he sat behind me.  Fifteen minutes after leaving the station in Paris, I fell asleep waking up moments before arriving into the city of Nancy - where we had to change trains.  I swiped two Snickers bars at the station and stuffed them into my bag.
 
Arriving into Baccarat was something out of a movie.  The city has a population of roughly 2000 people of which 500 work at the Baccarat crystal factory.  We arrived at 10:30pm and there wasn't a soul to be seen.  The smell of pine overcame me, reminding me of childhood memories with my grandparents in Greece. 

The one-block walk to the gates of the Baccarat estate took a couple of minutes.  The moment the gates opened, I walked into a dream.  The estate was built in the 1500s  and contains the Baccarat château, a Baccarat museum, and the actual factory....HUGE.  The provincial château itself was at least a half-block long.  The factory was on the other side of the estate and was about three times the size of the château.

The Tattinger family - the owners of Tattinger Champagne, along with some of the most famous hotels in France, such as the Crillion in Paris - purchased the crystal company and renovated the château a couple of years ago.

A map of the house was posted at the entrance (yes, a map).  I saw "M. Zaharoff" and an arrow pointing to my room, which was on the other side of the house.  Going up a spiral staircase and into a long, narrow hallway, I walked past one crystal chandelier after another.  The walls had paintings with crystal lighting shining on their faces.  I was in awe, walking on the thick carpet and hearing the wood creak beneath my feet "This is simply surreal," I thought to myself.

Finding my room, I grabbed the handle to the door.  My hand felt cold, but not a metal cold, a glass cold.  Looking down at what I was holding I notices a crystal the size of a baseball...

                                                                                    

Opening the door, I immediately revisited my childhood.  "Candyland" is all that came to mind.  Everything was crystal.  Yellow fabric, with large red roses, padded the walls. There were two wall chandeliers, and a very large one hanging on the ceiling.  The table next to my bed contained a lamp, a clock, and about 10 vases in different sizes and shapes, all in crystal.  I thought to myself, how will I sleep?

I'm embarrassed to say, that I did think of swiping something as a little keepsake - you know, a cute little lamp from the Baccarat château (laughing).  Which I didn't, of course.

I unpacked and put on my jammies only to find myself starving.  Remembering the Snickers bar, I polished them off in five minutes and then went in search for the kitchen.  Across the long hall, down the staircase, and a couple of rooms later, voila!  Next thing you know, I'm grabbing cookies, cakes, two bottles of Evian, a yogurt and a spoon and headed back to my room.

In the bathroom, I noticed the glass shelf had the Baccarat stamp etched on the bottom and I would find out the next morning the handles of the sink and shower also were of Baccarat crystal.

Getting into bed was as opulent as the room itself.  I looked up and saw the large chandelier.  It was spotless, as were those throughout the house.  "Who cleans these?" I wondered as I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I met the sales manager for breakfast.  I grabbed a knife and held for the first time a Christofle sterling knife with a Baccarat crystal handle, "I blurted out, where am I?"


                                                           

A tour of the factory reminded me of something out of Willy Wonka...everything was being made by hand....effortlessly.  I am told that of the 20 world-renown artisans who exist, 10 create for Baccarat.  Before my eyes, crystal stemware was being made with just a metal rod and molten glass - a flute was being created by seven different people...ONE flute.  Vasses were being etched by freehand, as a man looked at a design next to him for reference.  But what really stood in my mind was a group of workers on break pouring their Cokes into beautiful red Baccarat crystal goblets and drinking out of them.  You know the kind of goblets people buy for $500 a piece and showcase yet never use.

And then of course the finale!  A gentleman polishing my bottles.  The excitement was overwhelming, even though the world saw calm confidence on the outside.  We need to maintain exposure, n'est pas?

The final masterpiece is below.  It was a limited edition run sold through Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom stores.  150 crystal bottles, designed by me, containing .5 ml of Zaharoff parfum - completely sold out in 20 days ($950).