A brand-new, eco-friendly and tres chic hotel for romantics in one of Paris’s trendiest neighbourhoods? Wersha Bharadwa checks in and says, oui, s’il vous plaît…
Location
The 6th arrondissement on the city’s Left Bank, Saint-Placide is proper authentic Parisian neighbourhood territory. Cobbled roads near and around the Hôtel des Grands Voyageurs are positively stacked with the kind of lovely historic cafés, easy going bars, antique bookshops, independent boutiques and pretty florists that make for perfect romantic strolls and impulsive honeymoon purchases. Other iconic landmarks are a cinch to get to on foot, by metro or taxi. Make a stop at the Luxembourg Gardens for selfies near the Médicis Fountain as well as cutesy picnics under chestnut trees and inside secret rose gardens ( eight minutes away), then head to the Musée du Luxembourg – just up the road – before popping into Café Angelina outside for a big pot of their legendary, velvety hot chocolate. Standing proud and only slightly smaller than Notre Dame, the famous Saint Sulpice church is 10 minutes by foot too. Getting to the hotel from Gare du Nord station in Paris takes around 25 minutes via metro and you can jump back on the underground at Saint Placide (a one minute walk from the hotel) for even easier access to the River Seine and Eiffel Tower (on foot, it takes around 45 minutes to get there). Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is an hour away by taxi and 50 minutes via Metro.
First impressions
Hôtel des Grands Voyageurs blasts out French city cool from every nook and cranny and then cranks up the volume by 100. Designed by renowned architect Fabrizio Casiraghi and inspired by the glamour of the 1950s, the hotel captures the trendy vibes of an art deco transatlantic cruise liner with that of vintage art collectors’ home in one, stylish, open-plan swoop. After handing over suitcases to the smart and friendly concierge team, once inside, you’ll find yourselves checking in at an informal reception desk adjacent to the hotel’s main speakeasy bar and restaurant and surrounded by plush velvet seating, mahogany wood dining tables and a host of carefully curated and wickedly fun antiques. Funky jazz music is the thing here – along with moreish cocktails and a small but outstandingly good, New England style dinner menu. Standout luxury nautical-themed interiors continue everywhere including dimly lit hallways where thick boating rope flanks corridor walls as you make your way upstairs to your suite. Louisa, Leah and Zoe on front desk as well as GM Laura are a godsend, delivering hand written notes on the best restaurant recommendations in the area and never failing to send up the hotel’s signature Alain Ducasse chocolates on demand. You’ll also be swayed by an ultra modern WhatsApp service where guests receive speedy responses for requests and help with organising travel routes including using the train and metro services.
Other small, and down-to-earth living touches include branded umbrellas handed to guests for those Paris rainy days and on hot days, you can ask to borrow sun hats and cool corduroy green caps to shield you from the elements. Stellar green credentials throughout include the use of renewable energy in the hotel, a fully organic breakfast and staff being paid to take public transport to work
Suite dreams
All 138 super hi-tech bedrooms – equally sleek, dashing and styled to look like
polished cabins – come in soothing creams and beiges, with thick star print carpets, round cruise liner mirrors, consoles made from heavy duty stainless steel and with seemingly limitless amounts of dark mahogany wood for wardrobes and bedside tables.
And just like the most luxurious seafaring accommodation, there’s absolutely nothing cramped about spending quality and lazy one-on-one time holed up here, especially in a coveted junior suite. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors and windows allow sunlight to pour in and flat-screen Smart TVs come loaded with channels and Chromecast so you can pick up on watching your favourite BBC iPlayer and Netflix shows right where you left off back home in the UK.
Vintage turntables with suitable Edith Piaf records already loaded on, set the scene as does a mammoth bed offering respite from busy sight-seeing days and which is stacked with cloud-like pillows and the softest white cotton sheets. Trendy vintage bedside lamps, up-lighting and importantly, built in charging sockets next to both sides means no faffing about before you’re quickly drifting off into your dreams.
Mini-bars are a delight (you won’t find a single plastic bottle in the fridge) with offerings of recycled aluminium bottles of still and sparkling water, soft drinks served in 330ml glass bottles, comte cheese pastries and savoury snacks.
Honeymooners can book flowers and champagne on arrival and are gifted a fabulous take-home pack chock full of useful goodies including branded canvas shopping totes, hats and couples matching leather luggage tags.
Every room comes with a fast-blasting hairdryer, thick robes and padded slippers with recycled cork soles. Functional and fashionable bathrooms with brassy fixtures and excellent lighting along with either monsoon showers or showers over huge tubs tempt you to take your time.
Restaurant
Grab a cosy banquette for tables opposite the reception desk and by the bar or head outside for those tres chic kerbside people watching seats and where staff like the amazing Ines and Louisa are never too far to bring over refreshing cocktails. Inside the restaurant you’ll soak up the cool ambience and visual delights of famed artists, Marc Chagall’s and Gustav Klimt’s dreamy and vivid lithographs as you dine.
Benoit Ayissi’s playful dinner menu is a combination of modern French cuisine with not-so-subtle nods to American classics – think succulent lobster rolls alongside indulgent mac and cheese, and buttery cornbread, all sitting comfortably next to traditional French favourites of steak frites, ouef mullet and cordon bleu.
What’s surprising is how well it all works together, and this is ultimately because nothing feels overtly complex (though the cooking may well be). The pared-back menu keeps the focus on your loved-up conversations rather than on time deciding what to order. Enjoy tucking into delicious starters of tuna tartar served with crispy tacos, guacamole and sesame in no time, then mains of lobster rolls and a Wagyu steak burger accompanied by spicy cheddar and BBQ sauce which are perfectly executed while the home-cooked, fresh potato fries are to die for. Gluttonous but nostalgic, the Snickers nostalgia dessert is concocted from creamy white chocolate and toasted peanuts.
Aside from the array of cheeses and crepes which you’ll no doubt gorge upon, breakfast is a health-conscious buffet affair with Greek yogurts, muesli, chicken sausages, baked beans (a rareity for France) sourdough toast, cold cuts and plenty of options for those with dietary requirements and allergies including fluffy gluten free breads. Eggs are made to your preference and there’s a cook your own boiled eggs station too so you can perfectly time whether you want hard boiled or golden, runny yolks.
What you’ll love
• Aluminium water bottles are provided to guests complimentary when you’re off and out and about sightseeing.
• Recycled materials are used in building works and room interiors wherever possible too.
• Whether you’re there for the food, the views, or just some R&R , it’s the kind of place you’ll find yourselves immediately booking in a return visit while you check out.
How to Book
Visit Hôtel des Grands Voyageurs, Paris
92 rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris, France.
Prices from £320 for classic room per night per room. To book visit www.hoteldesgrandsvoyageurs.com
or email hotel@hdgv.fr
GETTING THERE:
EasyJet flies from Birmingham to Charles De Gaulle, Paris from £43 each way. Visit easyjet.com
WHERE TO VISIT
The Eiffel Tower
It’s one of the world’s most visited monuments and with a 1083ft summit, where better to celebrate your newlywed status than from the highest point in the City of Love?
Even if you do decide to brave the climb to the top—all 674 steps—our top tip is to ditch the heels, regardless. You’ll want to start a romantic visit here by skipping the entry queues with a fast-track ticket, which lets you breeze past the South Pillar entrance lines and hitch a ride via the old-fashioned glass lifts straight to the Tower’s viewing platforms. Each level offers panoramic sights of the city’s landmarks like the Louvre, Sacré-Cœur, and Notre-Dame Cathedral as well as the Seine and its stunning bridges below.
Nothing beats the thrill of hitting the Champagne Bar on the third level and where you’ll find the highest observational deck. You’ll be rewarded with glasses of bubbly and even more 360-degree views, 906 feet above Paris. Busy as it may be, the magic of the Eiffel Tower means staff and fellow visitors are all friendly and enthusiastic while you feast your eyes upon the sights of Paris. Queues for lifts going down are often lengthy, so at least on the way down, get your steps in and take the stairs from the second level.
At sundown, the tower shimmers and enchants for five minutes on the hour, every hour until 1am thanks to 20,000 twinkling lights embedded within the glorious iron lattice framework.
Open year round, seven days a week with varying opening hours – typically 9.15am until 11.45pm. Visit www.toureiffel.paris/en for more information.
The Louvre
Sure, you’ve got The Mona Lisa sitting pretty in the world-famous Denon Wing (though news is Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous portrait will soon have her own specially built room under the Louvre’s new £675 million renovation plans).
And while the world’s largest and most visited museum itself is one of Paris’ most popular proposal spots, it’s a landmark romantic destination for honeymooners too. Avoid the day crowds and boost your love story by sauntering past I. M. Pei’s magnificent glass pyramid after dark when the storied address offers more peaceful and intimate late night visiting hours on Wednesdays and Fridays.
From there head to the Richelieu wing for a visit to Napoleon III’s lavish drawing room where you can see what the interiors and state rooms looked like when it served as a former royal residence. 35,000 works – some dating back to 7000 BC – are spread out over 403 rooms including Mesopotamian antiquities and Italian Renaissance masterpieces. You won’t be able to see it all of course, but you can still seize the opportunity to pour attention on your beau under the watchful eye of Botecelli’s frescoes (found adorning walls in rooms on level one in the Denon wing), and other masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci located in the Grand Gallery.
Steal a kiss beside the Ancient Greek Venus di Milo – presented to King Louis XVIII, who in turn had the statue housed in the Louvre in 1821 – then stroll hand-in-hand past the iconic marble Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss sculpture before heading back to the courtyard for a walk soaking up the exteriors.
A ticket provides access to all permanent collections and temporary exhibitions at the Louvre, as well as to the Eugène-Delacroix National Museum on same day or day after your visit to the Louvre museum. The Louvre is open year-round except on Tuesdays, 1st January, 1st May and 25th December when it is closed. Visit www.louvre.fr/en for more information.
Palace of Versailles
Unimaginably extravagant, Versailles is the ultimate treat-yourselves day trip from Paris for newlyweds.
You’ll get your art, history and culture fix all in one fell swoop in just under an hour by RER train from the city. The ride affords lush views over the countryside before you find yourselves with the sense you’re entering another world of courtiers and revolutionaries as the golden gates and cobblestone courtyard of France’s most famous royal residence and then its grand facade of gold, marble and 17th century architecture come into view. Be sure to pack your sunnies: the sun bounces off palace windows and gilded framing like it’s on steroids.
Once you’re inside King Louis XIV power statement historical abode, expect to see all the abundance of those 2,300 gilded, excess-driven stately rooms, mammoth chandeliers and incredible muralled panelling.
As a setting for masked balls and royal weddings, you’ll also be properly dazzled in the iconic Hall of Mirrors: it’s here Marie Antoinette paraded in custom silks and where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. The 357 mirrors reflect both sunlight and light from chandeliers and you’ll be in awe of the spectacle of it all.
After wandering through French rococo and baroque art-filled corridors, head for some time wandering and getting lost outside in the palace’s gorgeously green and expansive ornamental gardens. Discover secret paths and mythology-themed fountains then enjoy drinks under a shaded tree or hire a boat and row your way across the Grand Canal. Make the day trip extra special – and easier on your legs – by hiring a golf buggy for an exclusive whizz around the grounds together. Don’t miss the Musical Fountain Show in summer, where the fountains light up and dance to Baroque music just as they have done for the past 350 years.
Tip: Book skip-the-line tickets beforehand and arrive early. Even better, check out the English guided tour of Marie Antoinette’s pastel and floral themed bedchamber and see if you can spot her hidden escape door.
BOOK: Versailles is open year round except on Mondays, December 25th and January 1st.
Visit https://en.chateauversailles.fr for more information.
Eat: La Petit Venice, Palace of Versailles
Hidden away in the vast palace gardens, Alain Ducasse’s menu at the wildly popular La Petit Venise is through and through Italian with a good, serious take on trattoria home-cooked comforts.
The vibe here is countrified and chic with a shaded terrace and bistro tables for al fresco dining while inside, the interiors feature exposed wooden beams, cream walls with lots of draped fabrics, light wood tables and plush chairs.
Since the food here leans into the history of the building – it was the lodge where Louis XIV’s team of Venetian gondoliers stayed – naturally, what you order should be traditional.
Dive into seasonal starters of creamy ricotta balanced with herbs and the tanginess of coloured beets then platefuls of deeply satisifying taglioni pasta with candied vegetables or roasted hake with peas and spring onions. The homemade pasta with blue cheese and hazelnuts is velvety and rich. For desert, opt for the outstanding and refreshing, smooth Panna cotta with raspberry coulis.
Visit
https://en.chateauversailles.fr/plan-your-visit/facilities/petite-venise to book a table.
