Edouard Desrousseaux De Vandière is a true creative – and one almost doesn’t want to explain how, because the surprises should be kept for the diner. But do expect that he might arrive to fire up a torch to heat your slate table (directly on the table!), where he literally paints oil directly on the heated table, then proceeds to put down banana leaves and build the most squealingly lovely to-see-and-eat appetizers. Right. Before. Your. Eyes. There’s molecular magic going on in the kitchen with Vietnamese chef Thu-La, who does Asian-French fusion to haute gastronomic perfection.

There’s a reason why we call this a romantic restaurant.

There’s a reason why the French call this a smart address.

And speaking of addresses, this is in the 1st arrondissement—same as the Hotel Britannique:

Mystery Cuisines
37 bis rue de Montpensier
Paris, 75001
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday for dinner.

Top 5 Paris Must-Do’s Near The Hotel Britannique:

1. Hotel Britannique is exactly 10 minutes from Notre Dame Cathedral and Point Zero (also known as Kilometre Zero – all highways are measured from this point; all of Paris is measured from this point… this is the very inner point of the « snail-shape » of Paris).
   (Click here to find events,  services, hours for Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris)
2. Hotel Britannique is exactly 5 minutes from Hotel de Ville, which is Paris’ City Hall.
   (Click here to find events and hours at Hôtel de Ville)
3. Hotel Britannique is less than seven blocks (less than a ten minute walk) from the Louvre – actually closer if you take another entrance besides the touristy I.M. Pei Louvre Pyramid.
   (Click here to find events, special exhibits, hours, cost, etc., for the Louvre Museum.)
4.  Hotel Britannique is 3 blocks (less than six minutes) from Pont Neuf – where lovers are seen kissing along the Seine!
5. Hotel Britannique is 3 blocks (less than six minutes) from the major department store, B.H.V., which has a hardware store in the basement (to drop off the husbands who are addicted to Home Depot), and French lingerie, clothing and household goods on the top floors.  In fact, if you love to shop, this is really the perfect hotel-close-to-department-store situation for you.

And an added plus…. the Hotel Britannique is six blocks from the Igor Stravinsky Fountain next to the Centre Pompidou, which houses the Modern Museum of Art in Paris.

Romantic hotel in Paris: choose the Hotel Britannique

If you are dreaming of a romantic hotel in Paris for Valentine’s Day ? then prepare to fall for the charms of our Special Romantic Package. Thanks to this original offer, you will find a bottle of champagne, roses and chocolates awaiting you in your suite. From the moment you arrive at the Hotel Britannique, the staff will do all they can to make your stay magical!

For Valentine’s Day, your wedding anniversary, or your honeymoon, we will be delighted to create with you the perfect romantic break. Share your ideas with us and we’ll take care of the rest!

During your stay at the Hotel Britannique take time to discover the capital’s nearby emblematic bridges: they are the perfect places for a romantic stroll and some souvenir photos. On the Pont des Arts, over the years lovers have left thousands of padlocks of all shapes and colours as a declaration of their eternal love!

On the Pont de l’Archevêché, you can have your photo taken with the Notre-Dame as a backdrop. Finally, cross the Leopold Sedar Senghor footbridge covered in Brazilian exotic wood and leading directly to the Tuileries Garden, the perfect place for a picturesque walk, hand in hand of course.

Hotel Britannique: why choose the Junior Suite?

Like all the rooms at the Hotel Britannique, our Junior Suite will appeal to you for its charming decor, its luxury bed, the numerous stylish little touches as well as its designer-style bathroom. In this room, as spacious at it is intimate, available from €304 a night, you will appreciate the harmony of the tones and the subtle lighting which enhances the various shades of beige, yellow and red, bestowing on the room a warm and relaxing atmosphere.

A perfect mix of comfort, elegance and generous dimensions, the Junior Suite also boasts the full range of facilities for your enjoyment: Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, flat-screen television, courtesy tray, Annick Goutal welcome products, soft towels and dressing gowns.

Romantic hotel: personalised welcome and service

Couples staying at our hotel firstly fall in love with its charming decor, the cachet of the superb Haussmann building dating back to 1860 and the cosy atmosphere of the rooms, like the elegant Junior Suite, ideal for your romantic breaks. Couples also fall for our special romantic package, which includes a personalised welcome, champagne, roses and chocolates!

Finally, those in search of a romantic hotel will also appreciate our surroundings, right at the heart of historical Paris, a stone’s throw from the Seine and its bridges, gardens and most romantic places in this City of Love. The website ousebalader.com will give you a few ideas of places perfect for strolling hand in hand!

Paris Burlesque Festival, lights for All Souls Day in Mexico

For its 4th edition, the Paris Burlesque Festival returns to the Bellevoise room with its inspiration from the Mexican celebration of All Souls Day. The event organizers are emphasizing the universe of Life and Death, of zombies and sorcery.
Internationally renowned artists will come to bring this event to life. Already on the program: training courses and workshops, an exposition along the lines of the event’s theme, a conference on the Burlesque and feminism, a stage open for young talents, and the election of Miss Paris Burlesque Festival 2012. A Burlesque Bazar will close the festivities on Sunday.

Paris Burlesque Festival, an event combining humor and glamor

Each year, the Paris Burlesque Festival is the occasion for all lovers of the world of Burlesque to find and express themselves through not only words, but also gestures. For the debutants or the curious, it will simply be a matter of discovering this universe where humor, glamor and poetry are all rolled into one.

Paris Burlesque Festival 2012 – Official Website

Marriage at the Carrousel: a grandiose event

The show, Marriage at the Carrousel, will certainly arouse the wonder of couples, artists, and amateurs of fashion. This event is organized each year at the heart of a splendid exposition location that is rich in history: The Carrousel at the Louvre.

This edition will see, among other things, the participation of talented wedding gown designers like Kees Van Beers and Marie Laporte. The daily showings will give you the opportunity to see their most beautiful creations.

Marriage at the Carrousel: all about marriage

Marriage at the Carrousel, for its 2012 edition, will organize exhibitors in its 4 rooms: Lenotre, Soufflot, Delorme, and Gabriel. Visitors will be able to admire wedding gown designs, and wedding jewelry as well as decorative accessories for the reception. The show is veritably an ensemble of services connected to marriage which will be represented by photographers, confectioners, and wedding planners, as well as tourism and religious entities.

Marriage at the Carrousel – Official WebSite – Site Officiel

Win 1500€ off on your futur wedding dress with MarieClaire.fr

Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, a listed Unesco world heritage

Steeped in the history of Europe throughout the ages, the Notre-Dame cathedral attracts visitors from around the world, including believers and those who are simply curious.

Construction of the cathedral commenced in 1163 and lasted for nearly 2 centuries. Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone of this major religious monument, in the presence of King Louis VII.

The cathedral has been a listed Unesco world heritage site since 1991 and was considered to be one of the largest cathedrals in the West when it was completed in 1345. Many historical religious events would later take place at Notre-Dame of Paris, such as the 1572 marriage of Margaret of Valois and Henry of Navarre

Did you know? The kilomètre zéro of French roads is located on the square facing the entrance!

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris :

• 6 parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean Paul II – Paris 4^ème
• Every day, 8:00 – 18:45 (Saturday and Sunday : 19:15)
• Metro : Line 4, Cité ou Saint Michel Stations – Lines 1 and 11, Hôtel de Ville Station – Line 10, Maubert-Mutualité or Cluny La Sorbonne Stations – Lines 7, 11 and 14, Châtelet Stations
• RER: Lines B and C, Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame Station
• Notre-Dame de Paris: further information

Hotel Britannique Paris, Charming Hotel Paris, 3 star Hotel Paris

The Hotel Britannique is born, right in the heart of the 1st area of Paris. The Hotel is situated some 100 meters from the oldest square of  the right bank, 20 Avenue Victoria.

During the middle of the 19th Century, under the reign of Napoléon the III, the Baron Haussmann was hired to modernize Paris streets. Haussmann began his campaign ‘Paris embellished, Paris enlarged, Paris sanitised’ by clearing away any confusing city path, making way for domineering and uniformed straight roads. X marked the spot at Les Halles, just 400 meters from the hotel which he believed to be the ‘belly of Paris’ and endeavored to design the rest of his new city around it.

In 1854, the Avenue Victoria had seen its early days under the title of ‘Boulevard de l’Hôtel de Ville’. This would be replaced one year later by ‘Avenue Victoria’, in honor of the British Queen’s visit to the town Hall of Paris on the 23rd August, 1855. Queen Victoria had been the distinguished guest of Napoléon III at the 1855 Paris Universal Exhibition. This moment marked the beginning of the cordial agreement between the two Empires.

It is at Number 20 of this avenue of scarcely finished buildings that the Perret-Baxter family chose to establish the Hotel Britannique.

« Presented to Monsieur et Madame Perret, Hotel Britannique Paris, by a few Scarborough friends, for their kind attention during a visit to Paris ».

1870

The fall of the Second Empire – Napoléon III is denounced and the Prussians occupied Paris

1871

The Paris Commune, an attempt of proletarian revolution. Massacre of the Communards by the Versaillais. Paris burning in may.

Rivoli Street situated some 100 meters from the Hotel Britannique

1879

The construction of the first telephone network begins

1886

The celebration of the centennial of the Declaration of Independence in the United States of America.

« Liberty enlightening the world », better known as the Statue of Liberty, was offered to the States by France in 1886, as a sign of friendship to celebrate the declaration of American independence. The inauguration of the statue was celebrated on October 28th 1886 in the presence of the president of the United States, Grover Cleveland.  The idea came from the French legal expert and professor, Edward of Laboulaye in 1865, under Napoléon III:  « I will fight for liberty, I will call for the free people. I will try to glorify the republic over this country, and I will continue until that day arrives in my country ». The gift of the Statue of Liberty to a Republic, located on the other side of the Atlantic, played an important role in the fight for the maintenance of the IIIrd Republic.

The Statue of Liberty would go on to become a national symbol for the United States, representing the liberty and emancipation of man with regards to oppression.

1887

The building of the Eiffel Tower commences

1889

The celebration of the centennial of the 1789 French Revolution. Inauguration of the Eiffel Tower.

The french citizens living in USA reciprocates the offer of friendship by donating a representation of the Statue of Liberty. The statue was also given to the French at this moment in history in order to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. One can read on the plaque « 5th JULY 1776 - 14th JULY 1789″.  It was inaugurated by the President Carnot on July the 4th 1892, 6 years after the donation of the « New York » Statue of Liberty. In 1937, during the Universal Exhibition, Bartholdi’s wish was finally granted and the positioning of the French statue was changed in order to face towards New York.

1894

The Sorbonne holds the « Congress for the restoration of the Olympic Games »

1898

A census is taken counting some 94 255 bicycles and 89 automobiles in Paris

1900

The Universal Exhibition and the Olympic Games at Paris. The first metro line appears (Vincennes – Porte Maillot). This is also the beginning of the period of progress named ‘La Belle Epoque’

1910

The great flood of Paris. Somewhat slightly elevated, the area surrounding the Hotel Britannique is left surprisingly untouched despite its close proximity to the Seine

1914

The beginning of the First World War and the end of the ‘Belle Epoque’. The Hotel Britannique opens its doors to the American-English Quakers, providing mutual aid for those in need

A part of the Hotel Britannique, dedicated to the Quakers

1920

The Christian Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, establishes its first official french headquarters in Paris at the Hotel Brtitannique. The lasting documentation of this period tells us that the Perret-Baxters had great sympathy for the friend’s plight which was reciprocated with a commemorative plaque, still standing in the hotel lobby today.

« This Hotel, during the great war of 1914 – 1918, housed the Quaker mission of the Friends Society and gave aid to the population and reconstructed regions touched by the war. During the years 1914 – 1920 more than a million volunteers, English and American and both women and men, took part in this cause and passed through the hotel. The red and black star, the sign of the mission, was first seen in 1870-1871 by the members of a similar mission sent to France by the Quakers in order to help the victims of this war ».

The movement founded by the descendants of the Anglican Church during the 17th Century is documented in Voltaire’s ‘Philosophical Letters’, published in 1734 :

‘I believed that the doctrine and the history of such extra-ordinary people were worthy of curiosity. To find out about them, I visited one the most eminent Quakers in England (Andrew Pitt, a linen draper from Hampstead) who had been in commerce for thirty years, but had decided to limit his wealth and wants, and had retired to the countryside close to London. I went to seek him out in his retreat which was a small house, well-built and clean and without ornaments.
The Quaker was a fresh-faced old man who had never been ill, because he had never known passions or intemperance. I have never seen in my life a nobler or more engaging countenance than his. He was dressed, like all those of his religion, in a plain coat without pleats in the sides or buttons on either the pockets or the sleeves. He was wearing a large hat, with turned down brim, like our clergy. He received me with his hat on his head, and came towards me without the slightest inclination of his body, but there was more politeness in the open, humane expression on his face than in the custom of drawing one leg behind the other, and carrying the head-covering in one’s hand.’

“Our apparel is also somewhat different from that of others that it may be a perpetual warning to us not to imitate them. Others wear the badges and marks of their several dignities, and we those of Christian humility. We fly from all assemblies of pleasure, from diversions of every kind, and from places where gaming is practised; and, indeed, our case would be very deplorable, should we fill with such levities as those I have mentioned the heart which ought to be the habitation of God ».

« We never swear an oath, not even in a court of law. We think that the name of God ought not to be prostituted in the miserable squabbles of men. When we are obliged to appear before a magistrate on someone else’s account (for law suits are unknown amongst Friends) we affirm the truth by a « yes » or a « no ». The judges believe us on our simple word, whilst so many other Christians perjure themselves upon the Gospels »……

« And when, after a victory is gained, the whole city of London is illuminated; when the sky is in a blaze with fireworks, and a noise is heard in the air, of thanksgivings, of bells, of organs, and of the cannon, we groan in silence, and are deeply affected with sadness of spirit and brokenness of heart, for the sad havoc which is the occasion of those public rejoicings. »

Opposing the war, the Religious Society of Friends offered their generous services to the hospitals during the World War I, believing that God is charitable and man must be also.

1918

The end of the war. After the end of the conflict, a generation dreaming of a new world proclaims ‘never again’

1920

The beginning of the ‘Années Folles’. The utopian ideals of the 19th Century gave way to individualism and extravagance. It’s during this period that Paris saw the emergence of  art movements such as Surrealism, Dada and Art Deco. It is also at this time that the American writer Henry Miller would call the crossroads of Vavin-Raspail-Montparnasse « the navel of the world »

1924

The Olympic Games

1927

Charles Lindbergh receives a hero’s welcome after traversing the North Atlantic

1928

The Inauguration of the tennis stadium Rolland-Garros

1931

The first television show

1937

Universal Exhibition

1940

3rd of June, the Nazis bombard Paris: 250 deaths

1943

3rd of September, Allied bombardment: 400 deaths

1944

21st of April, Allied bombardment: 600 deaths. 19th of August, the liberation of Paris

Luckily Hotel Britannique’s treasure escapes the Nazi’s robbery!

During the four years of Nazi occupation, the owner of the Hotel Britannique – a descendent of the family Perret-Baxter, founders of the Hotel, had taken care to bury his valuable treasure in the ground of the hotel’s vaulted cellars. And what a treasure ! Dozens of bottles of vintage Sauternes wines aged from the beginning of the century and bottles of Bourgogne, dating from the 20s. To celebrate the liberation of Paris (and the bottle’s liberation from the ground) certain were opened and, undoubtedly, greatly appreciated. However a great number were preserved even into the 80s. The current owner of the hotel remembers to have had the great honour to taste, in 1983, a bottle of Vosnes-Romanée aged 60 years. That is an experience that one never forgets.

1947

The first fashion show (Christian Dior)

1968

The revolution of spirits tumbles Paris.

1977

8th December, the opening of the metro/train station RER Chatelet-Les Halles, the most important metro stop in the world. It is also the closest station to the Hotel.

1978

The Hotel Britannique changes hands from the Perret-Baxter family. The British born Miss Louise Claude Baxter, born the 17th May 1926, passes the Hotel over to the family Danjou. Of French nationality the Danjous originate not from Great Britain, but Brittany.

1980

The hotel closes for six months for important renovation works. A lift is installed, the bathrooms are added, each floor is rearranged and the decoration is renewed.

1985

The Hotel Britannique receives its 3rd star

2000

The hotel enters the very selective club of quality hotels selected by the Hotels with Charm Guide

2010

The Hotel Britannique is placed the 37th greatest hotel out of the 1841 hotels in Paris by Tripadvisor. A great 150th birthday present, Champagne!

Romantic Paris Hotel

Hotel Britannique Paris Romantic Paris Hotel, 3 star Hotel Paris

If you come to Paris, visiting the Eiffel Tower is a must! This beautiful iron lady is the most visited monument of our great capital, and you will experience a special moment.

Designed for the Universal Exhibition of 1889, it was built in two years by Gustave Eiffel who managed then a real architectural and technical performance as never before engineers had tackled such constraints of height and elevator loads. The Eiffel Tower was the highest building in the world until 1929, when the Chrysler Building in New York topped it at 319 metres.

Throughout his rise, you will have a direct view of the impressive architecture of the tower.

If you have enough energy, instead of using the elevators, you can climb the metallic stairs that lead to the first and second levels, respectively 345 steps and 359 more… Only the elevators can reach the top.

You can visit the tower regardless of the weather, however, we advise you to do it on a clear and unobstructed day. You will have amazing views over Paris and its surroundings. The Arc de Triomphe, the Invalides, the Pantheon, Montmartre … you will definitely not be disappointed. On sunny days, you will also see the surroundings of Paris over 60 km.

So that this moment becomes even more festive and unforgettable at the top of the tower , you could taste a glass of champagne at the Champagne counter open every afternoon from noon.

At each level, you can discover the history of the Eiffel Tower. Various exhibitions will present its construction. At the top you can view the restored office of Gustave Eiffel.

Another way to enjoy the Eiffel Tower is to see it illuminated every night until 1am. It twinkle of thousands of lights during the first 5 minutes of each hour, while its lighthouse shines on Paris.

The Eiffel Tower, did you know…

At the beginning the Eiffel Tower was meant to last 20 years. Eiffel knew that the Tower’s service to science alone could extend its life span. Therefore he spelled out the uses he had in mind: meteorological and astronomical observation, a strategic observation post, a communications base for signalling, etc. In fact from 1889 onward, the Eiffel Tower was used as a laboratory for scientific measurements and experiments. Much scientific equipment was installed. From experience to experience, Eiffel succeeded in saving the tower by promoting the first radio transmissions and telecommunications. The Eiffel Tower is still a transmitter for television and radio programs.

La Tour Eiffel – Practical Information

The Eiffel Tower can be visited every day of the year:

• From 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. from 29 August to 16 June,
• From 9 a.m. to midnight from 17 June to 28 August.

You can buy your tickets directly at the foot of the tower, but you can also save time by buying them online.

Access:

• Metro: Line 6, Station Bir-Hakeim or Line 9, Station Trocadéro
• RER : Line C, Station Champs de Mars-Tour Eiffel

Further information: Tour Eiffel

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