Carthage

Carthage

Dear Ones,

I bet you've heard of Carthage but you don't know exactly where it is. Ha! I found it! Carthage is an incredibly chic suburb of Tunis, made more enviable with the recent opening of a not at all Starck boutique hotel, Villa Didon, and Alain Ducasse's Spoon Carthage. Where Ducasse goes, I follow.

A mere 1H20 flight from Marseille or Nice, Tunis is more sophisticated than Marrakech. There's a handful of suburbs- Carthage and Sidi Bou Said the most famous- with ancient ruins, white washed villas and built in sea views. Djerba may be all high-rise hotels and package tours, but the Punic Bay is very jetset and exclusive. Hannibal left town with his army and elephants, herds have not yet returned.

Ducasse meets Didon: Elissa Didon was Queen of Carthage, hence the name Didon and the new Villa Didon. Clearly the arrival of Spoon Carthage in the hotel provides local ladies who lunch with much to discuss. It also offers visitors to Tunis a day trip far more elegant than ruins or souks and provides trendy visitors the latest "in" spot to keep hidden from magazine pages. (Sorry, guys.) All that glitters is white stucco and a long weekend away.

The hotel is built overlooking the Bay of Carthage, nestled into a hillside so that all rooms -- public and private -- have views of palm trees and turquoise water. The all suite hotel is gray marble, colored plexiglass and open space with clear shower stalls and open Jacuzzi tubs, large terraces and hand woven Tunisian bedspreads. Entry to the hotel is marked with floor tiles displaying an etched mural of the history of Carthage while Phoenician design accents contrast the purple, red and gray lobby.

Spoon Carthage is all white, gray and black and defines good taste from all aspects. There's a special mix and match lunch menu and a dinner carte that offers everything from the famed local red mullet to rose flavored ice cream.

Sidi Bou Said: A few kilometers away, just past the naked Roman columns, lies the blue and white village of Sidi Bou Said, where the hotel Dar Said has 24 rooms decked out in Tunisian home style, half covered with wall tiles and beds tucked under hand painted coronas. The restaurant Dar Zarrouk, across the street, offers dining in the courtyard or the main hall. An afternoon stroll is made even better by a babolina, a fried donut dipped in granulated sugar and munched while still hot.

Modern Shoppers Alert: Avoid the tourist souks for the fancy residential/ commercial area Du Lac where all the big name designers have shops. Across the highway you find Carrefour -- a great place to buy halvah, spices and lemon confit in the modern version of what must be a hyper-souk. Other areas boast local artisans. Amarante has Phoenician style sewn up. They even have a boutique in Paris -- where prices are twice those in Tunisia, of course. Although La Marsa is one of the tony communities, this shop is in a warehouse where you pound on the door and trek up a flight of stairs. There you find book marks, aromatherapy, jewelry and tote bags all trimmed with Phoenician symbols and packaged in pastel paper boxes tied with ribbons. Check out El Hanout, with two small shops in Carthage, selling resort chic and home style with a slightly ethnic touch- nothing too costume-y, or too low cost. Or special order the handwoven bedspread right off your bed at Villa Didon.

Jasmin Kisses,
SuzyKG

Spoon Carthage

Hotel Villa Didon

Carthage

216-71-733-433

Amarante show-room

Z.I.Sidi Daoud, La Marsa

216-71-778-189

Amarante Paris

24 blvd. Raspail, 7e Paris

Dar Said (hotel)

Rue Toumi, Sidi Bou Said

216-71-729-666

Dar Zarrouck (restaurant)

Rue Hedi Zarrouk, Sidi Bou Said

Tel 216-71.740-591

Le Violin Bleu

Place Sidi Hassine

Phone- 216-71-744-883

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