I have written on them before, but just found me some brochures of those wonderful years spent at the Intercontinetal Hotels of France that made write again this new post, This was a great moment in my life as we had all the family together and had a blast, Memories that are still intact as well as the friendship of those collegues from yesteryear still in touch, Let me tell you briefly on this wonderful experience with especially the so called L’Inter hotel of Paris ! Hope you enjoy it as I.
A bit of background to the newcomers to my blog, The Intercontinental Hotel or l’Inter (now the Westin Paris) on rue Castiglione near the Tuileries garden, and the Le Grand Hotel Intercontinental and its wonderful Café de la Paix by the Opéra Garnier were my hangouts. The HQ handling all the hotels was at the Intercontinental Paris or affectionally called L’Inter. It was at the corner of the streets 3 rue de Castiglione and rue Rivoli. The offices were again in the mezzanine area off the general public but we could walk all over, and I did as my job will take me to see the restaurants/bar personnel as well as the rooms. The walks between the l’Inter and Le Grand were sublime passing by the Place Vendôme into the Place de l’Opéra!! The Le Grand hotel is at the corner of 2 rue Scribe,and 12 blvd des Capucines.
Other IHG properties, I was responsible for was in Cannes, the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in the Croisette! I was, also, responsible for the Holiday Inn -pl de la République in Paris (now a Crown plaza hotel), and the Holiday Inn Disneyland ,(the hotel is now call the Vienna House Magic Circus Hotel), of course, I not only visited on business but also stayed with the family while going to Disneyland Paris (see posts). So why I have good memories of it and always will remember them? Well , I used to worked in them, and was in charge of all intercontinental hotels in France that were owned by the group IHG at the time base in Windsor, England, with European hq in Brussels Belgium. Two wonderful years bouncing from one to the other in an top management position in the Accounting dept.Memories forever,thanks guys!!
While at the L’Inter hotel had the distinct pleasure of helping out a fund raiser for the Hurricane Katrina (2005) in New Orleans, LA USA, It as an effort by the entire expat community on providing free host in the great salons (historical monuments of France) for charitable events , This was a huge success with more than 500 guest and musicians from the US and some base in France, All proceeds were to the American Red Cross.
We as a family and me employed there went thru wonderful Christmas parties for the employees, to welcoming and meeting some of the famous and known such as U2, Condoleezza Rice , Sec of state USA; Stéphane Bern , French actor, presenter and many many more. Working with the upper class of the French nobility including Princess Napoléon, to the marquis and dukes of France; and the famous brands who held many events in the hotels from Louis Vuitton, to Chanel, to the fabulous Fashion Weeks of Paris !! Never to forget and now fix into my blog for eternity,
From the brochures that I kept as souvenir, this one is one of my favorites so will translate here for you and me, Another memorable brochures of a wonderful property and people, the L’Inter or Intercontinental Hotel Paris, (now a Westin Vendôme Paris hotel).
The first king of France to fall in love with Paris was Philippe Auguste constructed the Louvre dungeon around 1200, while creating the ramparts of the City, The huge tower which was destined to become the royal castle in the 16C was the starting point of the superb promenade whose central section leads into the Champs Elysées, this extends to the top of the Chaillot slopes and is crowned at the Etoile by the Arc de Triomphe, During the Renaissance, Queen Catherine de Médicis ordered the Tuileries Palace (gone see post) situated at the angle of the Seine river to complete the Louvre ensemble whose extremities form the great Marsan and Flore pavilions, The garden was designed and enlarged by André le Nôtre (see post) who previously had created the gardens of the Palace of Versailles,The Tuileries Gardens (see posts) bordered by the Seine river and the future place Louis XV constructed in the 18C, From the Louvre folks passed in front of the Capucins, Cistercians and the convent of the Assumption later the Polish church,
These monasteries emptied during the French revolution became meeting houses and felled quickly into decay, The Fall of the monarchy is marked as August 10th 1792 and from the Tuileries the king Louis XVI sought refuge in the Riding school which was razed to the ground during the construciton of the rue de Rivoli as the crossroads of the rue de Castiglione,It was decided to build a road from the rue de Rivoli to the place Louis XV (now place de la Concorde), The Rue de Castiglione running from the rue de Rivoli to the Place Vendôme commemorates one of Napoléon Ier victories during the Italian campaign of 1796, In May 1871 several areas were burnt to the ground by the great fire including the Rue Royale, Tuileries Palace, and the Ministry of Finance, good fortunes the blaze did not reach the Louvre and its precious collections,
The new parliament of the French Republic refused to replace the roof of the Tuileries Palace whose stone were removed to Corsica by the Pozzo di Borgo family rivals of Bonaparte, In 1878, the Continental Hotel rose up from its ashes, Its portals situated in the Rue de Castiglione were erected on the site of the monk’s former refectory, Gilded drawing rooms enriched by sculptures and mythological scenes , a Moorish style winter garden walnut panneled Henri II drawing rooms and an electric dynamo machine feeding the incandescent lamps from 1887, All the latest discoveries and developements made available by progress were incorporated from the very infancy and the five hundred rooms became the meeting place both for the members of the elite and heads of State, It is here on Saturday April 13 1889 while the inauration of the Tour Eiffel that a sumptous dinner was organised in honor of M, Gustave Eiffel, Some of the menu included gonale cream, Dieppe turbot with Mousseline sauce, Nevers-style lamb saddle, Russian-style lobster, Dombe orange and vanilla glazed cake punch, fruit basket, sweets, small wine ovens: Médoc in a carafe, Pommerol St Emilion, Champagne Frappé, coffee and liqueurs.
In 1883 ,Victor Hugo presided over the luncheon given here to celebrate the publishing of his complete works, From Peter 1st of Serbia, King Fouad of Egypt and on several occasions Empress Eugenie (Spanish wife of Napoléon III) , the last monarch to reside at the Tuileries Palace, all spent periods of time in the hotel, In 1940 Jean Giraudoux set up his information office in the drawing rooms of the last Empress, The Nazis later occupied the building for four years and the Continental Hotel once more renewed its normal activities continuing until 1968, With the Inter-Continental Hotel we witness the ultimate matamorphosis still sparkling from the recent beauty treatment, These lines of historical praise join together to form a magnificent bouquet of which as Montaigne puts it « I am but the narrow ribbon to tie around » Sublime indeed,
There you go folks, a wonderful experience of many memorable moments never to be forgotten, You in eternal Paris, and in the marvelous area of beauty,luxury and high class, The hotel even today I say its worth a stay, eat in, visit anything there is worth it me think, Again, hope you enjoy the memorable post on the Intercontinental Hotels of France and especially on the L’Inter !!
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 