I’m 31. I was born in Berlin. I arrived in Marseille when I was 19, and I’ve lived in France ever since. At the same time, I’ve travelled a lot, particularly mainly for my work and, before that, during my PhD. All that, just to say that now we’re here, Alex and I, in our apartment. We’ve been here two years now. We spent six years living downstairs in a studio, and this is the first time we’ve had a space of our own, a real one, somewhere that really feels like home.

We’ve been together for eleven years now.

It’s been almost two years since I got my doctorate in sociology. Then, I started working for a think tank based in Washington. My favourite subjects are migration and development. I won’t go on about them, but I’m passionate about them. I travel a lot as a result. I’ve visited Ethiopia, Ghana, Tunisia and Morocco this year. Alex and I were in Ethiopia together, actually. These journeys are so inspiring each time; they’re so far outside everything we know, outside our reality.

I’m an American who’s lived in Paris for ten years and in France for twelve. I opened Le Serpent à Plume (Plume without the ‘s’), a restaurant and cocktail bar at 24 Place des Vosges, five years ago. Apart from that, I love art in all its forms, going right back to pre-Columbian and African art. If I’m honest, though, I’m mostly a fan of Drouot! In my opinion, that’s where you develop your eye and, above all, a real knowledge of art… not in the great auction houses, but at the Drouot auction house, where you can still make real finds and do business.

I met Ravenna during the first week of our new college year at Sciences Po on the steps of the Place des Cardeurs in Aix-en-Provence. She was with another chap at the time. It happens (laughs).

I was young!

I seduced her with a series of surprise adventures: cycling to Marseille, taking a train illegally, and disguised as ticket inspectors!

Oh, yes, the train; that was one of our first weekends together. We went to Paris.

We’ve always been very close. It’s adventure that binds us together, and that persists against all odds in our daily lives. We’re incorrigibly curious.

We love discovering places, people and groups that are very different. Immersing ourselves in different worlds and seeing what it’s like to live in them.

We had the studio downstairs, in the same building, and we lived there for six years. It was a really tiny studio, the size of this kitchen. There was a family living here, and we became close friends. One day, they moved to Spain. That was our opportunity.

Yes. They come and go, they snooze on the bed, they have a bath, they read, and they party with us. We’re all very close. Like a tribe. We’ve known each other since we arrived in Paris. We’ve seen each other grow, we’ve supported each other in everything we’ve done, and we’ve seen each other struggle and succeed. Things move fast in Paris. It’s also good to be surrounded by people who really understand you and who can put up with you as you really are.

We don’t have our families here. It’s the family we’ve chosen for ourselves, in a way. Everyone brings their own energy. We’re very vulnerable together.

No, it’s not easy. As a matter of fact, for New Year’s Eve, we’re thinking of cutting everything off. That’s what we usually do: no phone, no network for a week. I have to admit it’s a bit of a schizophrenic lifestyle. There’s you, the character, and you, the real you. With all the expectations people have.

But you and the Serpent are very closely intertwined, Alex.

A little too much, but that was the way at the beginning, of course. And I don’t regret it. I think somewhere along the line, my persona and the way I’ve created the place reflect one facet of my personality. Are there any others? Certainly there are. But there’s a truly artistic approach here. Soul, theatre and direction. And cultivating the mystery in the Serpent, as in life, is precisely what the game is all about.

The fight continues; it’s the fight to carry a notion of celebration and conviviality with me wherever I go, but especially at the Serpent. I campaign for energy, elegance and decadence combined.

We’re both doubles. Sometimes, I feel like I have two completely different lives because I work a lot with refugees, asylum seekers and political refugees too. I often come across extremely challenging situations. It’s something that really is important to me. And alongside, I have this life with Alexander. Two worlds that coexist oddly together but are equally close to my heart.

There’s a desk in the living room that was made for a Batman film. It was in the Joker’s office. It was made by a cabinetmaker, but it’s set design, it’s decor, and I love it. There are hidden drawers in the wings. We found it at Tefaf Maastricht, the big antiques fair. The painting behind it is by Eduardo Arroyo, a member of the Spanish New Realism movement. It shows Winston Churchill painting. And of course, you can’t miss the Safari sofa, the centrepiece. It’s from the 1970s Italian design collective Archizoom. You can move the modules around and place them as you wish. Our living room’s not rigid: it’s like us.

We love its free shapes. And this undefined wooden object, featuring large balls, is a slightly psychedelic sculpture by Pol Bury. It moves!

In our bedroom, there’s work by an artist that Ravenna really likes, Ferdinand Desnos. The portrait of a man is by Antonio de La Gandara, as is the large portrait of a woman that dominates the living room from the top of the stairs. And here, next to it, I like this little watercolour by Sonia Delaunay that was given to me for my birthday; it represents an ‘A’ for anarchist, or it could stand for Alex, I don’t know.

Maybe it’s the same word (laughs).

The champagne flutes from your collaboration with Waww La Table. We really like the idea of using opal glass to play with the effects of transparency and opacity. And the colours are festive, too!