Everything worth knowing about Alexandre De Wilde, Céleste Moreau, Jules Mercier, Théo Bellini & Margot Van den Berg. Including what they would rather you didn’t.
I have always been interested in what people choose to show, and what slips out anyway.
La Gazette is where the two meet.
Consider it a society paper for beautiful people with questionable timing: Mediterranean summers, Alpine weekends, expensive dinners, missed trains and alibis that rarely survive breakfast.
At the centre of it all are five familiar names. They travel in the same circles, attend the same parties and repeatedly insist that they barely know one another.
They are not always truthful. I am.
ALEXANDRE DE WILDE
The Belgian heir who is almost always on his way somewhere else.
Well-dressed and permanently in transit, Alexandre is most often spotted somewhere between Antwerp, the South of France and a discreet hotel in the Swiss Alps.
He values privacy. Photographers do not.
Alexandre is charming, composed and only visibly nervous when someone asks where he spent the previous night.
Official status: unavailable.
Current whereabouts: disputed.
CÉLESTE MOREAU
The gallery owner who never confirms anything.
Céleste never arrives early, yet somehow never has to hurry.
She is elegant, observant and remarkably calm around other people’s scandals. While Alexandre gets photographed, questioned and occasionally left behind, Céleste simply lights another cigarette and lets everyone else contradict themselves.
Whether she creates trouble or merely happens to be nearby when it begins remains open to interpretation.
She has never offered one.
Current status: in a steady relationship, according to Céleste.
JULES MERCIER
The chef whose principles mostly apply to other people.
Renowned Spanish chef Jules Mercier dislikes brunch, sweet cocktails and tourists.
His restaurants run on discipline. His private life does not.
Jules speaks passionately about taste, restraint and standards, usually moments before leaving through the back entrance with someone who arrived through the front.
Last seen: not at his restaurant.
THÉO BELLINI
The architect with more secrets than buildings.
Théo designs houses for people who value privacy, then becomes the reason they need it.
He is precise, persuasive and exceptionally talented. His name has been connected to several remarkable villas and at least two of their owners.
MARGOT VAN DEN BERG
The heiress who always has another room.
Margot belongs to one of Belgium’s most discreet hotel families.
She knows every concierge worth knowing, never waits for a table and can make an unfortunate photograph disappear before breakfast.
Margot is equally comfortable in a board meeting, beside a hotel pool or leaving a gala with a someone who should still be in the kitchen.
She does not cause scenes. She simply ensures someone else is seen leaving them.
FIVE PEOPLE. SEVERAL VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH.
Their paths will cross in Antwerp, the Alps, the Côte d’Azur, Marbella, Monaco, Cap-Ferrat and anywhere else a reservation is difficult to obtain.
La Gazette will report what happened. Or, at the very least, what everyone is denying.
V.S.C.