Party - Lebanese Way :-)

Back to Beirut’s glossy neighbourhoods…

Despite 17 years of fratricide war (1975-92), a back and forth military occupation by both Syria and Israel and a country currently made into a puzzle by the different political parties, Lebanese people are still famous for their unshakable will to enjoy life and Beirut hosts one of the most vibrant and original nightlife in the Arab world.

Gemayzeh street.

Previously named Rue Gouraud (after the French general), it has become the new “place to be” in Beirut, with its lovely mid-50ies stone buildings, colourful shops and stylish pubs. Dozens of cars are queuing up to get into the narrow street, merrily honking every now an then and droping off hundreds of revelers dressed up in an impressive show of fancy fashion designers, reminding me of some “hot” spots of Casablanca.
Brazilian clubs, French bistros, Jazz bars, Tapas taverns, Arguilé cafés and many other nightlife little wonders are lining up along the street, featuring some very funny/weird(?) names such as “Le Perroquet bourré” (the drunk parrot”),“Gauche-caviar” (the Caviar-Left, in reference to very liberal/capitalist left-wing political movements) or “Barbu” (the Bearded) etc. Gemayzeh definitely deserves its “Little Soho by the Sea” nickname, lending itself perfectly to the Spanish party-way "Marcha": one drink here, one other there, until the sunrise.

After a nice diner and "Drinks-round 1" at Le Petit Café, we happily decided to start off the Marcha at a Jazz bar.
Stone walls, wooden benches, leather couches (for a few lucky ones), red ambience - very East Village-style - and a dangerously HOT singer (right, chicas?) that made us immediately renounce to the “Marcha”...
Official excuse: overtiredness of course ;-)

Watching Beirutis’ party-way confirms the famous French adage “Tell me how you party, I’ll tell you who you are”. Lebanese people do everything with EXCESS. They drive like crazy, dress excessively posh, party hard, laugh loud, drink heavy, dance till they drop and have a huge thirst for fun, totally understandable in a country torn by political unrest for decades.
In Morocco, since Casablanca’s suicide-attempts in May 2003, the merest rumour of a terrorist attack or a simple security alert in a club would keep everybody at home for weeks and weeks. In Lebanon, instability has become part of people’s daily life and not only no one cares anymore, but the feeling that one might loose everything at any time has given them an unmeasured passion for life...which they just decided to live day-to-day, enjoying every single moment of it.
I was even told that it’s been quite common in the past to have them hit the clubs in one part of the city while bombs were hitting another…

Sacré Lebanon!