Absinthe

I've come to the Paris Red Light District to kiss the Green Fairy full on the mouth, to sample the city's absinthe houses, where the notorious and powerful liquor is still cloaked in mystery. Absinthe's supposed hallucinogenic properties once caused people to equate it with a sinister Tinker Bell, and it is this legacy that permeates Parisians' view of the drink. Many I spoke with still think it's illegal.

I hear the waiter saying them, the first words of the story that brought me to this milk bar. "What's it going to be then, eh?" My answer: Bring me No. 66, the Diavolo -- "devil" in Italian. Five minutes later, he's back with a chocolate milkshake, whipped cream on top, absinthe on the bottom. Its menu number is almost right. Add another "6" and it matches the concoction's demonic effect. No, I didn't see green fairies -- the alleged absinthe experience. That would take absinthe with a strong dose of thujone, a chemical found in the wormwood plant.