An Arabian night out

There are times when one needs to step out of the normal routine and experience something completely new. Thanks to a friend’s invitation, we did exactly that last night and experienced Jet Set. And no, contrary to what you might think, its not the latest poison of choice. It is an Iranien restaurant located in the heart of the 8th arrondissement. There are two floors to Jet Set, the first being a normal, nice looking restaurant where the air is redolent with the many hookah pipes being passed around by the guests but it is in the basement floor where the real action lies.
The basement level is a huge room filled with tables, some long, some circular, all designed to house big groups out for a nice time. The tables curve around a dance floor, before which a live band plays. Guests are treated to plates of fresh fruit which I have to say is a refreshing change from the normal chips or nuts served at other places. The fun begins the minute the live band begins to play music. They play a wonderful variety of Arabic music from Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon with much gusto and it wasn’t too long before the guests were on their feet and dancing to the beat. Last night, the band was joined by a lovely singer (whose name I unfortunately didn’t get) who managed to get everyone going, including us. Off we went to the dance floor to shake our hips and do our version of belly dancing. It was enormous fun with the hypnotic music and everyone shimmying and shaking to the best of their abilities.
What makes Jet Set different from all the other Parisian cool places is its habitués. One step inside and you can see that it is particularly for people with ties to Arabic countries. In fact it’s safe to say that nearly everyone there was Arabian or of Arabic descent. Everyone seems to know each other and the singer was even on first name basis with several guests. Despite that however, there is no sense of being left out, thanks to the convivial atmosphere and the general good mood. As such, it was as much fun dancing as it was gazing at all the beautifully dressed people. The women were all dressed to the nines with kohl rimmed eyes and sensuous hips while the men were swarthy and beak nosed, and I am sure that I saw several who looked quite the part of an oil sheik. Within the space of a night we were transported to a different world altogether where it is possible to dream of dancing around camp fires under the desert sky.