Michelle's corner

Stunned.

Speechless.

If I had written, as fiction, what Wright has described here as fact, then I would be roundly laughed at.

However, I believe every word that is documented in this book.

And you have to remember that these prices are decades ago...

Since returning to the land of limitless Coca-Cola, Christina stopped at nothing to assure a constant supply - not just her favourite beverage, but the right sort. A first-time dinner guest at the Avenue Foch, far down the table from Christina, watched as her hostess sipped her Diet Coke and remarked to the man next to her how strange it was for Christina to drink Coke when the rest of them were treated to an exquisite and rare Meursault.
"Christina's Coke probably cost a lot more than this wine," remarked the man to her right, a regular guest.
"How is that?"
"You still can't get Diet Coke here in Europe, so Christina sends her jet to America once a month for about ten cases direct from the factory."
"But that must cost the earth."
"With fuel and pilots' salaries, about $30,000 I believe. Or $3,000 per case."
"But surely her plane will carry more than ten cases? Why doesn't she get a year's supply and save all those trips?"
"Christina believes she can tell the difference if the Coke is more than a month in the can. Before Diet Coke, when she drank Coke with sugar, she told me that with just one sip she could tell which bottling plant in Europe her drink came from. She's a true connoisseur."
Deep in thought, the woman took a sip of her less costly local product, the 1976 Meursault.