AIRPORT

Taipei doesn’t set out to impress.

Compared to the futuristic airports of Hong Kong or Seoul, Taipei’s seems almost modest. Small, functional, and unpretentious. The materials are simple, the architecture understated. Nothing here seems designed to dazzle the traveler.

And yet, it takes only a few minutes to realize that luxury lies elsewhere.

An employee spontaneously comes over to help us fill out the entry forms on his phone, with disarming patience and kindness. Our first encounter with Taiwan. Our first smile.

The contrast is amusing when we then discover the Cathay Pacific lounge: spacious, elegant, perfectly serene. The service is impeccable. The Dry Martini, prepared right before our eyes by a passionate bartender, is probably one of the best I’ve ever tasted while traveling.

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TRANSFERT

We’d barely stepped out of the terminal when a taxi was already waiting for us. An employee carefully checked our hotel address before giving it to the driver. Everything seemed simple. Natural.

Yet we had booked a private transfer. I had completely forgotten about it in the whirlwind of flights and connections.

The ride to the city center takes nearly an hour. Strangely, there’s no traffic. I’ll hardly ever see any during my entire stay.

The road winds through spectacular vegetation. A dense, humid, almost untamed tropical landscape. The trees are hidden beneath moss, and the hills seem to breathe in the rain. Here, humidity is part of the landscape.

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IMPRESSIONS

Then Taipei comes into view.

The city doesn’t reveal itself. It leaves itself to the imagination.

At first glance, it’s impossible to understand it. Is it wealthy? Working-class? Modern? Old? Everything seems to blend together. Aging buildings stand side by side with glass skyscrapers. Nothing is ostentatious.

Taipei certainly never tries to charm at first glance.

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NEIGHBORHOODS

Little by little, the neighborhoods change.

The avenues widen, the buildings become more elegant, the shops more refined. You then realize that Taiwan is a prosperous country. A discreet, almost silent prosperity.

I’m told that here, when shopping at Hermès or another major luxury brand, many customers ask for a plain bag to carry their purchase out of the store.

As if true elegance consisted precisely in not flaunting it.

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