Croissants and Chocolat Chaud at Le Meurice, original watercolor, 9" x 11"
The old style china at Le Meurice pre-Starck days. Everyone needs at least one grand breakfast when visiting another town.
Chocolat Chaud at Le Meurice, original watercolor, 9" x 11"
I visited a year ago and was curious to see the interior changes made by French designer, Philippe Starck, best known for his New Design style.
Some changes were subtle - the dining room is lighter, brighter, but still just as grand as ever.
Even a new menu cover.
The hot chocolate is still 12 euros.
The roses are now deep red instead of pink.
The croissant is the same. Thanks M. Starck :)
The pots of chocolat chaud are HUGE! Too much for one person.
The pour in a soup bowl-sized cup...YUM
My dining companion wanted the works. An omelette and the "continental petit dejeuner". I stayed true to THE EURO DIET with just the chocolat chaud. C'est la vie.
Getting ready for the lunch guests.
After breakfast we walked through the new "Le Dali" dining area. I love the quirky Empire touches Starck added like this rocking chair - did Josephine ever sit in a silver rocking chair?
More unusual details, like these metal faux wood tables in reception.
Reception awaits you at the Le Meurice for your grand breakfast. And thank you Danielle Centoni for featuring PB on The Oregonian FoodDay!
BONJOUR FALL Petite Deje'!
Good morning, Carol-
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence! I am at work on a novel re. Charles Dickens and was looking yesterday for your Hotel Meurice post from last year (found it, by the way) and here is this one today. Did you know Le Meurice was Dickens’s favorite hotel? He stayed there for weeks at a time from the mid 1850s through the 1860s. Somewhere in his travel writings he gives a lovely description of the view from his suite overlooking the Jardin des Tuileries. I will look for it and sent it.
Yours faithfully,
Chas
I receive your 'Paris Breakfasts' in my email each day and quite enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThank you !
Le Meurice C'est mon Favorite!
ReplyDeleteIf only I could have pet't dej' there ever day!
Obrigada! seu blog e gostei muito do que vi.Postagens inteligentes com belíssimas fotos.
ReplyDeleteAdoro
KINHA
Thanks for sharing your breakfast with us! Love the china and of course...The Le Meurice interiors. Philip Starck is definitely one designer to admire.
ReplyDeleteRocking chairs are uniquely American and were originally shunned by Europeans.
ReplyDeleteLove today's post: your paintings as well as the hotel interiors. That little packet of sugar looks so real............
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, Carol! That old Meurice china and the painting you did is my favorite - gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteyou really have the silver teapot down. Looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteSighhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
ReplyDeletebeautiful memories.
enjoy.
I went shopping there and I think this is for you...
ReplyDeleteMacaron USB Key 1GB
Price: €70
Well, Dickens first saw Paris in 1844 (when he was 32) and immediately fell in love with everything about it. He signed letters written to friends and family back in England: “Charles Dickens, Français naturalisé, et Citoyen de Paris” His son, Henry Dickens, wrote: “He [Chas.Dickens] had a very strong love of his country, though he himself used to say, laughingly, that his sympathies were so much with the French that he ought to have been born a Frenchman.” Dickens made more than twenty trips to Paris, sometimes staying for three or four months at a time; the French loved him and packed his public readings, even though most did not understand a word he said. He also liked to get away by himself and “go native” in Boulogne-Sur-Mer and Condette.
ReplyDeleteHe stopped in Paris in 1844 on his way to Italy and here is what he wrote about his view from Le Meurice:
“At Paris, I took an upper apartment for a few days in one of the hotels [Le Meurice] of the Rue de Rivoli: my front windows looking into the garden of the Tuileries (where the principal difference between the nursemaids and the flowers seemed to be that the former were locomotive and the latter were not)…”
He would sometimes have to stay in other hotels whilst in Paris, but the vast majority of his correspondence covering a twenty-five year period comes from Le Meurice.
I highly recommend this book if you are interested in learning more:
http://www.amazon.com/Dickens-France-John-Edmondson/dp/1566566886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252421408&sr=1-1
What a great post!! Glad I found your lovely blog! Chrissy
ReplyDeleteBeautiful paintings, Carol, and that is one heck of a dining area!
ReplyDeleteYou have wonderful paintings and I adore your blog!! xx.
ReplyDeleteThat is REAL packet of sugar sitting on top of the painting Harriet! :)
ReplyDeleteCoincidence....i had a little croissant there on Monday morning! xv
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