A Little Story: Dinner at MIPIM with a Russian Oligarch

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I led a team designing new towns on the edge of Moscow for a Russian oligarch. He asked us to present at MIPIM, Europe’s annual property fair in Cannes and the evening before took us to a French sea food restaurant. He thought he ordered a dozen oysters as his starter. A while later the staff brought out 12 dozen oysters for him and more oysters for others, totally almost 200. Only around eight people liked oysters. We gamely ate them up and went on to the main course.  The next morning I thanked our client for the meal. He replied quietly, in a strong Russian accent, a pause between each word, “I hate French waiters”.