Across the globe, spies love to gather in inconspicuous dens to meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online soaks up the atmosphere in the 1919, a secret bar near the Elysée palace where Macron's advisers seek refuge from the political turmoil, cigar in hand.
In this time of political upheaval, with Macron's camp weaker than ever and his pretenders poised, dagger in hand like actors of a Roman tragedy, ready to deal the final blow, the French president's last remaining loyalists are indulging in a bout of nostalgia. One of their favourite haunts in which they can hark back to the glory days of Emmanuel Macron's rise to power in 2017 is the 1919, a secret bar which has the feel of a prohibition-era speakeasy.
At first sight, nothing suggests the presence
