“In Paris, anything could happen,” says Fred Sirieix, laughing, and it is soon clear that he is no longer talking about diving, his Olympic-medal winning daughter Andrea or indeed his work for the BBC, but an ongoing party among fans. “There is the city of love..
. this is sexy Paris!” he exclaims. “People will meet, they will kiss, they will make love, people will have affairs, nobody will know about it! You are in France.
It’s going to be fun, man. And we are going to eat super well.” To be clear, Sirieix is also not referring to the much maligned athletes’ restaurant in the Olympic Village but the gastronomic competition on every corner of the city which, in his expert opinion, is akin to an Olympic event in its own right.
The star of First Dates and Million Pound Menu also has some advice for British fans who have another five days to visit the French capital before the Games end. “Paris is an amusement park — it’s a pleasure of the senses,” says Sirieix, who has been providing dispatches as part of the BBC’s Olympic coverage between watching his 19-year-old daughter compete. “You just have to walk down the street, be a bit savvy, you can clock a good restaurant from the outside, see the menu, you can maybe see the food on the plates, very quickly you can put two and two together and see if it’s a good place.
Rather than follow guides, go randomly in the street. More often than not you will have a good meal and meet interesting people. I do th.