Where Mark Sanford Wooed Maria Belen Shapur

Don't hate the governor, hate the game! Maria Belen Shapur, the foxy 43-year-old Buenos Aires brunette who enchanted and brought down South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford when he wasn't drivin' the coastline, lives in a posh enclave of BA's vast Palermo neighborhood, nicknamed (by me) Palermo MILF, right in front of the city's zoo and lovely Botanical Gardens. In the 70s and 80s, the neighborhood earned its nickname of Villa Freud for the unusually high concentration of shrinks in the area. In recent years, it's grown even more upscale and attracted a disproportionate share of so-called MILFs. Shapur, by all accounts, has all the trappings of a typical exponent of the neighborhood: she attended posh St. Catherine's Moorlands School in the preppy Belgrano neighborhood, then graduated from the stodgy Universidad Católica Argentina with a degree in (wait for it) International Relations! A marathon-running polyglot divorcee (and mother of two adolescents) who worked for multinational corporation Bunge & Born (or does she?), she speaks not only Mandarin, but several other languages, including fluent English (the better to email philandering American politicians). She would have been right at home in any number of Palermo MILF's elegant cafes. But there's one in particular, around the corner from her expensive apartment on Republica de la India St. where she and Gov. Sanford surely went for a romantic tea.

That would be Voulez Bar. Enjoy the BlackBook Buenos Aires guide’s uncannily accurate description of the cafe and its clientele/governor-bait:

Downscale for the upscale set. Afternoon tea on open, breezy corner ochava where the yoga-toned fortysomething ladies with four important last names gather to gossip with their light blue-blooded ilk and their young socialite daughters, but in a relaxed neighborhood setting. Desserts are all fashionably en ingles like brownies, lemon pie, cheesecake, and best washed down with schmancy Tealosophy brand teas, much to the delight of the Blaquier cousin sitting at the sidewalk table. Open for health conscious dinner as well, but the scene hits its peak in the afternoon while clenched jaw husbands with sweaters casually draped around shoulders drop by to say “hola gordi” to their Argie-Stepford wives.