REMEMBERING THE EXCELSIOR

I am about to ascend the hotel steps when the boom of a nearby explosion sets my heartbeat racing. For a moment I panic, then feel like a fool when I check the time – exactly 12pm – and realise it is just the Noonday Gun, which is fired at midday every day.

In August 2011, 51-year-old Francois Aubert, who now lives in Geneva and works as a consultant, trainer and business coach, stayed at The Excelsior, which stands on the site of the original warehouse of trading house Jardine Matheson, next