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Paris, France
For A DrinkWe usually prefer a neighborhood café to sip a libation in ease. The lack of formality is our day-to-day style, and more luxurious surroundings may connote a stiffness that means they’re not amusing enough. We would be required to liven things up to make it more interesting—or be bored. But there are times when nothing will do but an elegant coffee or cocktail, and we’ll spiff up and give one of the posh hotels a whirl. Or we feel compelled to visit a Lost Generation mecca to sit where they sat—at their tables, on their stools with their drinks in hand. Or we simply want a celebration, or for the most frolicsome, no reason at all. A swish drink must be had. As the taxi was crawling down the Rue de Rivoli, I spotted the Hotel Meurice. That was before I knew we’d miss-timed our trip to attend an opening at the Louvre and would desperately need a drink to assuage our dimwittedness. In consolation, we walked back up the street and dropped in. Luxury drips off the walls and draperies, and the number of staff to greet and assist you is remarkable. The service is impeccable, the drinks sublimely poured, and the well-heeled clientele populates the scene as a stage. Expensive. 1st Arrondissement. Metro: Concorde or Tuileries. Hotel Meurice Hip but relaxed, Le Fumoir is a heady place for a café or cocktail, to people watch, and have an intellectual chat with friends. It is centrally located at the Place du Louvre, and on our first visit, we were with our artist amis, Patricia and Ruben. We sat in the spacious library in back which takes you out of the intense action and discussed life for artists in the U.S. and France. Other creative types they knew were there too. Good menu, too. Moderately priced. 1st Arrondissement. Metro: Louvre-Rivoli. Le Fumoir Every time we walked by the Maison Rouge we noticed it. My daughter, Blair, and our friend Holly, and I stopped in for kir royals, and it was a lounge a la groove—sleek modern furniture with a sleek clientele and sleek staff to serve them. Jim and I had lunch there a few months later in the first breath of Spring, and it was delicious. A see and be-seen kind of place. High end of Moderately priced. 4th Arrondissement. Metro : Hotel-de-Ville. Maison Rouge Not particularly remarkable from the outside with only a few tables, Au Petit Fer à Cheval is one of the historic cafés of Paris and a good, groovy dive. A distinctive horseshoe-shaped zinc bar wraps around the cozy saloon. There are good wines, cool jazz, and a dining room in back. The juicy steaks were delicious. Moderately priced. 4th Arrondissement. Metro: Hotel de Ville. Au Petit Fer à Cheval A prime seat to watch the Seine in relative peace and quiet is on the terrace of the Brasserie de l’Isle St-Louis. The tableau is lovely with the apse of the Notre Dame in front of you but without the tourist horde. If you’re hungry, this brasserie has hearty Alsatian cuisine—choucroute garni, beer, and chilled Riesling—with a rustic décor. 4th Arrondissement. Metro: Cité or Pont-Marie. Brasserie de l’Isle St-Louis |
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Copyright © 2005 James Morgan & Beth Arnold. All rights reserved
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