Universally adored for its unparalleled magnificence, Paris’ elegant lamp-lit boulevards have enticed wandering writers for hundreds of years. Its ‘flâneurs’ (as coined by the author Charles Baudelaire) would grow to be literary legends: Oscar Wilde, TS Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, George Orwell, James Baldwin, and numerous others resided within the Metropolis of Gentle.
These bohemians discovered their voice in a metropolis that sparks a specific sort of bookish magic – one you possibly can nonetheless discover in a few of its most storied lodges. So put down your run-of-the-mill vacationer guidebook and let’s take a Baudelairean stroll by way of historical past, and examine in with a number of the greats…
CHÂTEAU VOLTAIRE
Author: François-Marie Arouet, aka Voltaire
Located within the coronary heart of the first arrondissement, between the Louvre and Opera, Château Voltaire pays homage to one among France’s most distinguished writers – Voltaire. Coincidentally, the Enlightenment determine spent his final days at 27 Quai de Voltaire (now the restaurant Le Voltaire) – a stone’s throw away from the lodge throughout the Seine.
Thierry Gillier’s lodge echoes the title of the constructing’s former residence; the headquarters of his vogue label Zadig & Voltaire. Named after Zadig, his favorite Voltaire novella, Gillier’s enduring love for his nation’s historical past is mirrored by the decor of the lodge, from the Rococo shell motifs, ornate Artwork Deco fittings, to the understated monochrome tiles of Brasserie Emil, designed by Franck Durand.
The lodge is a tasty conflation of grandiose sophistication and luxury, making you wish to sip a zesty quaint at Le Bar La Coquille d’Or, earlier than curling up on velvet chaise longue to learn (Voltaire, naturellement).
MAISON BREGUET
Author: Victor Hugo
Inside a former washer manufacturing facility, this boutique lodge is discovered on an unassuming road within the eleventh arrondissement. With a classy bar and restaurant topped by excessive glass-ceilings, the economic character of the previous web site is left in situ, albeit with the hallmarks of twenty first century design aptitude.
Maison Breguet’s look is smooth and refined but punctuated with Nineteen Seventies retro accents and mid-century trendy furnishings. The situation is the true draw of this lodge, with full of life Bastille only some hundred metres away, in addition to Place des Vosges – the charming historic sq. recognized for its distinctive vaulted arcades in Louis XIII-style.
As soon as the residence of the royal household, the sq. later grew to become the house of Victor Hugo, the creator recognized for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables. Go to the Maison de Victor Hugo to pry into his non-public life, snooping upon his most intimate possessions, from his stand-up writing desk to his secret letter exchanges together with his mistress.
HÔTEL PROVIDENCE PARIS
Author: Gustave Flaubert
A brief stroll away from Canal Saint-Martin, Hôtel Providence is in a renovated Hausmannian townhouse, with rooms designed by Pierre Moussié (additionally recognized for the close by bistro Chez Jeannette). In a bohemian stylish type, every of the 18 rooms have been richly embellished, with classic furnishings and curiosities.
The author Gustave Flaubert as soon as lived on this space, on the opposite facet of République at 42 Boulevard du Temple. Identified for his 1856 masterpiece Madame Bovary which scandalized his contemporaries, Flaubert is taken into account one of the essential literary figures to emerge from France.
A buddy of Victor Hugo and writers like Émile Zola and George Sand, Flaubert was a well-loved but irascible character. A infamous perfectionist, it famously took him weeks to plot the right sentence, explaining why his writing nonetheless electrifies readers right now.
HÔTEL MADAME RÊVE
Writers: Colette and Jean Cocteau
Hôtel Madame Rêve couldn’t be extra centrally situated, nor extra photogenic. The palatial constructing has interiors that look like perpetually bathed in divine gentle, reflecting designer Andrée Putman’s commentary that ‘if life has a color, it’s golden brown.’
Located within the historic 1st arrondissement, the lodge is within the renovated 1888 Louvre Put up Workplace Constructing and across the nook from residence of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, recognized by her pen title ‘Colette’.
Colette moved right here, aged 20, in 1893, and took the Belle Époque literary salons by storm together with her sharp wit and sexually frank Claudine novels, written in collaboration together with her husband Henry Gauthier-Villars (often known as ‘Willy’). Recognisable for her androgynous vogue sense and heavy kohl eye make-up, Colette may very well be seen strolling across the Palais Royal neighbourhood, as she lived at No.9 Rue Beaujolais.
LA RÉSERVE PARIS
Author: Marcel Proust
Within the coronary heart of the elegant eighth arrondissement – not removed from the Champs-Élysées, Grand Palais, and La Concorde – La Réserve is a brief distance away from Marcel Proust’s household dwelling, at 9 Boulevard Malesherbes (subsequent to Madeleine Church).
The luxurious lodge, which opened in 2015, is within the former mansion of Napoleon’s stepbrother, the Duc of Morny. Paying stylistic homage to its historical past, the fashionable renovation is in Jacques Garcia’s signature type – lavish and leaning in direction of voluptuous extravagance.
From the suite balconies friends can look throughout the rooftops of the Grand Palais and spot the Eiffel Tower within the distance. Proust lived within the neighbourhood on the finish of the Nineteenth century, earlier than transferring to Cabourg, Normandy, the place he wrote the ‘longest novel ever written’ In Search of Misplaced Time.
L’HÔTEL
Author: Oscar Wilde
Famend for being the house (and loss of life place) of the Irish author Oscar Wilde, L’Hôtel provides a novel glimpse into the historical past of St-Germain, within the coronary heart of the Latin Quarter. Wilde rented his personal residence right here which might be booked right now and is called the ‘Oscar Wilde Suite’.
A luxurious feast for the eyes, the suite echoes the remainder of the lodge’s inside design, bedecked with wealthy textures, materials, and daring colors. The creator of The Image of Dorian Grey and The Significance of Being Earnest, Wilde relocated to Paris after he had been publicly shamed in Britain for his homosexuality.
Paris grew to become a spot of refuge and liberation for the persecuted playwright, although sadly – as a consequence of spending time in solitary confinement whereas in jail – his well being bought the higher of him. He spent his final days confined in L’Hôtel, earlier than his loss of life in November 1900. ‘My wallpaper and I are combating a duel to the loss of life. One or the opposite of us has to go’ was one among his remaining written sentences.
HOTEL MONTE CRISTO
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Aesthetically impressed by Alexandre Dumas’ story of revenge and retribution, The Depend of Monte Cristo, the eponymously named lodge takes on the design traits of an unique journey story.
Positioned on a quiet road within the fifth arrondissement, the encompassing neighbourhood feels refreshingly tranquil in distinction to the congested touristy areas of Rive Droit. Upon entry, lodge guests are greeted by a glass vitrine of stuffed uncommon birds and cabinets of heavy leather-bound books, in addition to a classic {photograph} of the creator himself – as if he’s overseeing the administration of the lodge himself (with an air of mischief). Because the title suggests, the Rum Bar serves bespoke rum-based cocktails with a twist of tropical flavours (order the banana Previous Normal).
A keep at Hotel Monte Cristo provides a unique dive into literary history, one which feels divorced from the standard Parisian expertise, but nonetheless maintains an air of subtle refinement. A go to to Shakespeare and Firm, the much-loved bookstore opened by Sylvia Plath, is important if wandering across the space.
LA BELLE JULIETTE
Author: Edith Wharton
Within the coronary heart of the sixth arrondissement, La Belle Juliette is called after the 18th-century socialite, Juliette Récamier whose illustrious literary salon attracted the French elite. In homage to Juliette, the 34-room lodge has been designed by Anne Gelbard in a delightfully female type, echoing a number of the color palettes and design types of the Neoclassical period.
Across the nook from Saint Sulpice and Odéon, the lodge can also be within the neighbourhood that attracted the American expatriate, Edith Wharton, who lived on 58 Rue de Varenne – now an annex of the Prime Minister’s residence.
Enraptured by the great thing about her environment, Wharton wrote in 1907: ‘I’m sunk within the typical demoralizing happiness which this ambiance produces in me. The tranquil majesty of the architectural traces, the great blurred winter lights, the lengthy traces of lamps garlanding the avenues and the quays “je l’ai dans mon sang!” (“I’ve it in my blood!”)’.
SAINT JAMES PARIS
Author: Honoré de Balzac
The exceptional château-turned-hotel, Saint James, is discovered within the coronary heart of the leafy sixteenth arrondissement. Designed from high to backside by the Parisian architect, Laura Gonzalez, the lodge has been refurbished to mirror her signature maximalist type: a seamless mix of richly textured materials and prints.
The previous dwelling of the Nineteenth-century president Louis Adolphe Thiers, the Neoclassical constructing is now a 22-room luxurious lodge and spa, together with a Michelin-star Bellefeuille restaurant run by Julien Dumas. An essential literary determine who used to hang-out the realm was Honoré de Balzac, the creator of La Comédie humaine.
With out leaving the sixteenth, you possibly can go to his former dwelling, Maison de Balzac, which has stored intact his unique furnishings and supplies. For the artwork lovers, one other cultural must-see of the neighbourhood is the Frank Gehry designed Louis Vuitton Basis earlier than a night stroll in Bois de Boulogne.
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Lydia Figes is a author, editor and tradition addict who lives between London and Paris. She has written for the likes of The Guardian, Dazed, AnOther, Elle and extra, and is now writing her first guide. When she’s not writing she’s in all probability studying, visiting an artwork gallery, watching a Mubi movie, travelling, laughing at a meme, or ingesting a grimy martini together with her mates.
