“空中餐廳”亮相法國巴黎

For five days in Paris, those with a few extra hundred euros in their pockets can enjoy the best of French cuisine while seated 50 metres up in the sky.

From Friday to Tuesday, a French lifestyle and gourmet food magazine is sponsoring lunches and dinners prepared by Paris' most elite chefs. For Euro924 (US$1,350) a person, guests can eat perched above the Tuileries Gardens with a stellar view of the city.

The event is not only about luxury dining - Euro100 (US$146) for every customer goes to France's Federation of Rare Diseases, which funds research into unknown diseases.

"This event shows the human dimension of French chefs, and we are very thankful for their generosity," said the federation's president, Marie-Christine Louppe.

The 12 chefs taking part represent the city's best dining establishments, and will prepare a total of 550 meals for the project.

Meurice Hotel head chef Yannick Alleno said he planned a meal of white salmon, veal with truffles and cake.

"We are promoting French cuisine at an international level," he said.

So how do the diners get to eat in the sky?

A large metal table seating 22 people is secured to a platform and suspended by metal cords from a glass roof that is connected to a crane. The moving crane slowly lifts the table into the air. The guests are strapped into large, cushioned black chairs not unlike those of a roller coaster. Two chandeliers and large lights hang from the roof.

"I have worked in this park for 28 years, and I have never seen anything like this," said Lansana Goudiaby, 52, who works for a cleaning company that is helping out at the event. "It's wonderful ... it's important that we have progress like this."

口袋裏有點閒錢的人注意了，你們有五天機會在巴黎距地面50米的高空享用最美味的法國大餐。

此次空中用餐活動由法國一家生活和美食雜誌組織發起，從上週五持續至本週二。活動所提供的午餐和晚餐均由巴黎的頂級廚師們烹製。只要支付924歐元（合1350美元），你就可在杜樂麗花園上空一邊享用美食，一邊欣賞全城美景。

這次活動不僅僅是一次饕餮盛宴，每位顧客所付餐費中的100歐元（合146美元）將捐給法國“罕見疾病聯合會”，該聯合會爲罕見疾病的研究提供資金支持。

聯合會的主席瑪麗-克里斯汀•路佩說：“這次活動展示了巴黎廚師人性化的一面，對於他們的慷慨，我們十分感激。”

參與此次活動的12位廚師來自巴黎最好的餐飲機構，他們將爲此次活動共準備550份食物。

莫里斯酒店的主廚亞尼克•阿雷諾說，他打算烹製一份包括白汁三文魚、塊菌煮小牛肉和蛋糕的餐食。

他說：“我們要把法國美食推向世界。”

那麼用餐者如何在空中進餐呢？

用餐者圍坐在一張能容納22人的大金屬餐桌邊，整個餐桌被固定在一個框架上，並由從玻璃屋頂上垂下的金屬繩索吊起，屋頂則和起重機相連。然後起重機緩緩將餐桌吊起送到空中，客人們則被固定在類似於過山車座椅的黑色大軟墊椅上。屋頂上還懸掛着兩盞枝形吊燈和幾個大型燈具。

在活動現場幫忙的保潔公司員工、52歲的蘭薩納•古迪亞比說：“我已經在杜樂麗花園幹了28年了，但我還從來沒見過這樣的餐會。真的很棒，重要的是我們有了這樣的進步。”

Vocabulary:

elite: selected as the best 傑出的，精英的

stellar: 星的。stella view是指“像看星星一樣的”，因爲從高處往下看，城市的一切都變得很小，星星點點的，就和仰望星空一樣。

truffle: a round fungus which grows underground and is regarded as a delicacy塊菌

roller coaster:過山車