by Editor | May 1, 2015 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
As soon as we entered we focused our attention on the restaurant’s partial decorative transformation since our last visit. Armed with a glass each of well chilled rose champagne we set out to discover the reincarnation of Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee. A server brought us complimentary carrot, celery and apple juice with an ice cube, setting the tone for the rest of the healthful meal. Hors d’œuvre bites followed on the heels of a staff person who explained the menu’s cereal, vegetable (produce were brought from the garden of the Chateau de Versailles through an exclusive partnership) and seafood options. While it was possible to order some meat products they were not listed on the regular menu because they were discouraged.
by Editor | Dec 1, 2013 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
For years I have liked the elegant dining room of Restaurant le Meurice in the eponymous hotel facing one of the city’s best known tourist streets. In 2013, famed chef Alain Ducasse was invited to oversee the food service at the hotel and restaurant. On our most recent trip to Paris, we had lunch there and were left with the impression that the restaurant has much promise.
Since our last visit we noticed subtle changes. For example, access to the restaurant was via the entrance foyer of the hotel rather than from the lobby lounge where it had been before. A new embroidered panel graced a section near the restaurant door, and Baccarat crystal art was in evidence in the dining room.
by Editor | Oct 1, 2013 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
In a city that is home to 50 Five Star hotels, many of them so firmly entrenched in their luxury status that they have long become legends, the relatively new Le Burgundy (opened in 2010) stood out for its privileged location first of all, on a relatively quiet street just a few steps away from Place Vendome, Rue Royale and Rue Saint-Honore, in the enclave of prestigious Right Bank addresses that are the pulse of Paris fashion. Then there was its already established reputation for personalized service, the kind only an intimate boutique hotel can provide. This was confirmed the instant I reached the property, by the doorman’s attentive welcome and the instantaneous check in process. I barely had time for a passing glance at the glassed in winter garden that is the heart of the public spaces or the art gallery like reception area with its bright mural sculpture behind a long white leather and marble reception desk before I was graciously escorted to my suite.
by Editor | Apr 1, 2013 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
In the early 1850s, France’s newly minted Emperor Napoleon III commissioned Baron Charles-Eugene Haussmann to undertake an ambitious urban modernization program throughout Paris. Entire popular neighborhoods of medieval alleyways were razed to make way for the broad boulevards and airy streets lined with harmonious residential and public buildings that we know today. In the center of the Right Bank, the ninth arrondissement flourished as a center of artistic and intellectual life. Most of the Romantic elite, Edgar Degas, Eugene Delacroix, George Bizet, Hector Berlioz, Frederic Chopin and George Sand among them, made their home there at some point. To this day, this tony neighborhood off the familiar tourist circuits has retained virtually intact its harmonious 19th century architecture, tranquil courtyards and Belle Epoque charm. But it was notably lacking luxury hotel accommodations; until the recent opening of the exquisite boutique Hotel de Nell.
by Editor | Dec 1, 2012 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
On our most recent trip to Paris we made time to revisit the Louvre in part to discover the new wing. We’ve been there many times over the years and were bracing ourselves for the overcrowded museum of past visits. In an attempt at a more leisurely and less crowded experience we arrived late in the day on a weekday when they were open into the evening. The later hour made a surprising difference.
by Editor | Dec 1, 2012 | Europe, France, Paris, Simon and Baker Travel Review
This new looking boutique property named for Juliette Récamier, a historic figure known “for her beauty and the way she used to welcome people in her salon,” had plenty of features to win us over. We loved the location on a quiet street in the city’s coveted Latin Quarter.
Added to that were the nostalgic yet contemporary décor, friendly and helpful English speaking staff, organic foods, yummy breakfast and snacks, cozy common areas, and wonderful small basement level spa with sauna and swimming pool (extraordinary in Paris).
