Dubai...

What could be better than escaping to Dubai for the week-end to avoid the cold and the snow?

Dubai is only 6-hours away from Paris by plane and this time around has the most amazing weather.

So it was not hard for me to decide to visit this incredible city on the Persian Gulf, which is also one of the Emirates belonging to the United Arab Emirates. It is, though, the most cosmopolitan, modern and luxurious one. For the past 20 years, its growth has been impressive and it had become a true metropolis in the middle of the sea and desert, with skyscrapers, malls and 5-star hotels. But the economic meltdown has also affected Dubai and many of those new projects were left undone... enough to see half-made towers, unused cranes and abandonment. 

I've been to Dubai several times and I've seen the changes in urbanization: in 2001, when I went for the first time, big projects were just beginning. Then, in 2008, it was construction at its peak... just before the damn crisis...

Yet, Dubai is still a box of surprises and I loved the new One & Only The Palm Hotel, in the fantastic Jumeirah, one of the three palms... the other two are Jebel Ali and Deira. The palms are a group of streets that link to a main one, which is the trunk, and are completely built over the sea. They are not fully finished, but Jumeraih, with the gigantic The Atlantis Hotel (it has aquariums for walls) is the one with the more significant progresses.

In Dubai everything is excessive. I went to visit the new Burj Khalifa Tower, with its 160 floors, and the Hotel Armani in the first 40. It is said that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi financially helped so the tower could be finished... Anyway, it's still marvelous. I dined at "Il Ristorante," and was impressed by the elegance of the china, of the tablecloths (Italian, of course) and the exquisite cuisine. Still, in Dubai, you can eat properly everywhere.

In the malls, most women wear a foulard over their heads and many the burqa. I try to blend in and respect local traditions, so I use a djellaba, which I love and find very classy.

Pity the stay was so short: only four days and so much to see...

It was snowing when I landed in Paris...