Quaismodo would be impressed were he to return now to the cathedral that he inhabited as Victor Hugo’s beloved and maligned hunchback. He would immediately feel at home within the stone walls and wooden frames of the towers of Notre-Dame. Yet the cathedral has also changed and brightened since he knew it as Hugo’s fictional bellringer in the 15th century. There are new elements and much has been restored over the centuries, including its most recent restoration from the fire of April 15, 2019. But I imagine that Quasimodo would be enthralled as we were as we climbed the southern tower, examined gargoyles and chimeras, took in the extraordinary view, stood before the great bells, and descended through the northern tower.

As you would expect, the 360-degree view of Paris is well worth the effort of climbing 424 steps, despite the chicken-wire enclosure from which we take it all in: the city’s rooftops and monuments, church towers and spires, river and bridges, and the spire of Notre-Dame itself rising right before us.

The view over the city isn’t all that makes this visit worthwhile. There’s more to the new climbing route than the grand view. Quasimodo would be in awe to stand face to face, as we did, with the cathedral’s two great bells or bourdons, though these aren’t the ones that he so loved to ring: the 6-ton bourdon Marie, cast in 2012, which sounds a do, and the 13-ton bourdon Emmanuel, cast in 1686, which sounds a fa. The latter is France’s second largest bourdon after the 18-tonner known as La Savoyarde at Sacré Coeur Basilica, the church that we see on the hill to the north.

In bringing the hunchback to life on the page in 1831, Hugo also called for new life to be breathed into the then-dilapidated cathedral. Over the ensuing decades, appointed architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc honored that call by leading a massive restoration while also reimagining missing or degraded elements, taking liberties here and there. The tower route gives a close-up view of several of the 54 animal and demon chimeras that he and an assistant designed. Those that were heavily damaged during the fire of 2019 have recently been replaced with copies, as has Viollet-le-Duc’s spire of 1859. Even if none of these were known to Quasimodo, we are tempted to do as he did and “spend whole hours crouched before one of the statues in solitary conversation with it.” But visitors today don’t have such luxury of such time when visiting the towers.

My own climbing group, comprised of journalists specialized in cultural heritage, had the enlightening pleasure of touring the towers in the company of Viollet-le-Duc’s current successor, Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect in charge of the restoration and reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris since the fire.

As we rose, he steered our eyes to various eras and elements of construction and major restoration. The current restoration work in response to the fire will likely continue through 2028, he said.

Even without Villeneuve’s insightful company, you’ll see along the way two major markers of his conceptual work. First, the massive oak spiral staircase, partially in double revolution, that Villeneuve designed for the passage from the second landing to the medieval stone staircase in the tower. Villeneuve’s staircase was shaped and puzzled together by an exceptional band of carpenters in Normandy. Throughout our visit, he sang praises to the dedicated, high-level artisans he’s worked with over the course of the restoration. As he points up to his work, a glimpse of the peak of the spire tatooed on his arm peeks out from beneath his sleeve.

Second, from the top of the south tower, you’ll look out to the real spire rising from the roof. It’s crowned by the flaming golden rooster—symbol of France and of the resurrected monument—that Villeneuve himself designed to replace the fallen, damaged rooster that has now been placed in one of the chapels inside the cathedral. On this national monument belong to the State, not the Church, the rooster crows above the Cross. View the full spire, accompanied by bells, on the 15-second video below.

On the way down, we glimpsed through windows “the forest” of oak beams, cut from throughout France, that form the roof beams. They replaced the medieval forest where the fire originated before consuming it into the night before the eyes of the world.

No more than 26 visitors are allowed to start the climb per 15-minute time slot. Contrast that with the lengthy queue down below leading to a shoulder-to-shoulder shuffle along the cathedral floor. Comparatively, a visit to the towers, culminating with the grand view (even if limited to 5 minutes), feels semi-private, nearly exclusive.

All that’s required is a timed ticket, to be reserved in advance, at a cost 16€ or free for under 18s and adults with the Paris Museum Paris or the Passion Monument pass. While you needn’t be a high-level athlete to climb the 424 steps to the top, do be aware of your own limitations before undertaking the endeavor. The winding staircases include some narrow passages less than 18-inches wide as well as low sections where someone over 5’10” or so is well advised to watch their head.

Along the way, there are levels to pause on, where one can learn a few historical tidbits on information panels about the towers and the bells. There is no elevator. There is no WC. Families are discouraged from bringing children under 6.

Timed ticket to the towers of Notre-Dame should be reserved only through the official site managed by France’s Center for Historical Monuments. Even free tickets require reservations.

From great heights in architectural history to great heights in culinary history

Epilogue: From great heights in architectural history we crossed over the Seine to great heights in culinary history as we pursued our conversation with Philippe Villeneuve at one of Paris’s other celebrated tours, La Tour d’Argent (The Silver Tower). That’s the famous gastronomic institution with the stunning view of the Notre-Dame’s chevet, the portion of the cathedral that radiates in an eastern flourish. Even with the crane and scaffolding that remain on that side of the cathedral, the view from the upper-floor restaurant is a sight for well-heeled, well-fed eyes. We, however, settled into the bar on the ground floor, where we were entertained and informed by Villeneuve’s insightful, cutting, wit-laden accounts of these past seven years of restoration—the wonder, the toil and the beauty of the work on the one hand and the egos, the politics and the back-stabbing on the other. Listening to his vision of architectural and decorative triumphs and failures and to his expression of emotional zeniths and nadirs, the current guardian of the temple seemed to embody both Viollet-le-Duc and Quasimodo. His thirst was quenched with water brought not by Esmeralda, however, but by a polished server from the Tour d’Argent.

As a further treat, André Terrail, owner of the Tour d’Argent made a gracious appearance. While the restaurant is heir to a history that begins with the creation of an elegant inn on this site in 1582, Terrail is heir to the celebrated restaurant that his grandfather, also named André Terrail, purchased in 1911. It was then a ground-floor restaurant, raised to the top in 1936. The Tour d’Argent has now developed into something of a “village,” to use the current Terrail’s term, with its restaurant, its rooftop and ground-floor bars, its grocer next door, its bakery across the street, and beside that its rotisserie. There’s even an apartment with the fab view that can be rented for the night (1800€).

Despite the Tour d’Argent’s visual affinity for Notre-Dame, I’m not promoting it here as the natural extension of a visit to the towers, however many Michelin stars its restaurant may or may not receive in a given year (in 2026 it has 1). Nevertheless, one’s got to go somewhere after the extraordinary experience of climbing to the top of the cathedral, and it might as well be somewhere that’s also earned its place in Paris history and lore, someplace accessible, if not to Quasimode, then perhaps to the likes of Victor Hugo, Viollet-le-Duc, Philippe Villeneuve, and yourself.

© 2026 by Gary Lee Kraut

Also read Notre-Dame: An Interview with Witnesses to a Dazzling Restoration

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Pierrick Bourgault is a bistro devotee and a steadfast reporter and photographer of such places. Author of dozens of books on bistros and bistro life, he has, in his latest little book (in French), written a love letter of sorts to a bistro and a bistro-keeper dear to his heart: Le Café du Coin in Le Mans, operated for 37 years by gruff, tender, pipe-smoking Jeannine Brunet, known affectionately as La Mère Lapipe. La Mère Lapipe spoke of herself in interviews as the fourth historical monument of Le Mans, after the cathedral, the 24-Hour race, and the shredded meat spread called rillettes. And well before she died, in 2022, at the age of 80, she was celebrated as such.

Pierrick Bourgault’s works about bistro life may be slight or filled out, personal or researched, scattered or focused, but in all he pays homage to the bistro as a gathering place and sanctuary for those who might otherwise never meet, a place that’s as indistinguishable from its overseer as the Vatican is from the Pope.

In this new book, a mini coffee-table book, the writing is sparse. In 50 snippets, each illustrated by a rudimentary cartoon drawn by Gab, Pierrick Bourgault sketches moments of drunkenness, silliness, humor, anger, quirkiness, joy, tragedy, temperament, wit, hope, despair, tenderness, raucousness, and vulgarity, and of loneliness momentarily set aside. This Café du Coin was a real place that could be any place that allows for the creation of a community of eclectic and diverse individuals. La Mère Lapipe was a real person who could be any bistro owner dedicated to maintaining such a place of character and conviviality over many years.

Pierrick Bourgault grew up on Mayenne, in western France, and studied natural sciences at the University of Le Mans. Though he made his home in Paris, he returned to Le Mans frequent enough to be a welcome regular at Le Café du Coin, both as observer and participant, with an admiration for Jeannine’s own devotion to bistro life. This book isn’t detailed, in-depth, analytical writing about bistros, but rather an affectionate broad-stroke portrait that reveals how one place and one person can bring together a diverse group of individuals simply by being as tolerant of them as they are of her. La Mère Lapipe’s Café du Coin comes across not so much as a business establishment as it does a home away from home, as the best bistros do.

La Mère Lapipe au Café du Coin by Pierrick Bourgault, published in April 2025 by Editions Ouest-France.

See this video portrait of Jeannine Brunet aka La Mère Lapipe filmed after its reopening in 2021 after Covid lockdown.

The post Bistro Life: La Mère Lapipe by Pierrick Bourgault appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

The full one-hour presentation can be viewed below.

Part 1 of this series, which examined the creation and evolution of luxury hotels in Paris from 1855 to 1909, i.e. from the era of Napoleon III though the Belle Epoque, can be viewed here.

Part 3, covering the history of luxury hotels on the French Riviera, from the Hotel de Paris in Monaco to the Byblos in Saint Tropez by way of the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, the Negresco in Nice, Les Belles Rives in Juan-les-Pins, the Hotel du Cap-Eden Rock on Cap d’Antibes, and the Carlton in Cannes, can be viewed here.

Jean-Pierre Soutric follows in the footsteps of three generations in the hotel industry. His great-grandmother opened a hotel in 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War. Jean-Pierre has held marketing positions at leading hotel groups, including Four Seasons, with which he worked for 20 years. Passionate about history, culture, art and the evolution of French elegance and style through the centuries, he now works as a Paris-based consultant advising luxury hotels in France on how to live up to the expectations of demanding and well-heeled travelers from around the world.

Gary Lee Kraut has been inspiring and informing travelers to France for three decades. His unparalleled experience as an editor, travel writer, journalist, lecturer, consultant and guide has made him one of the most trusted voices for English-speaking travelers, armchair travelers and travel professionals interested in France.

Part 2 was originally subtitled “From the Roaring 1920s to the Vaccinated 2020s,” but our story actually begins a decade earlier, with two hotel openings in 1910 and 1913, shortly before the outbreak of the war. You’ll learn about the following hotels in this presentation:

Starting time on video – Hotel – Year opened

00:44 – Guess where?
07:56 – Lutetia – 1909
18:36 – Plaza Athénée – 1913
23:37 – San Régis – 1923
25:00 – George V – 1928
35:11 – Raphael – 1925
36:10 – Bristol – 1925
44:46 – Royal Monceau – 1928
49 :04 – The Peninsula Paris – 2014
49 :21 – Shangri-La Paris – 2010
50 :09 – Mandarin Oriental Paris – 2011
52 :01 – Cheval Blanc – 2021
52 :51 – Bvlgari – 2021
53 :20 – Le Grand Contrôle – 2021

Stay tuned for Part 4, coming in the fall.

Invitations to attend future France Revisited conversations and presentations live are sent out through the France Revisited Newsletter. If you aren’t already a subscriber, you can signing up now to receive the France Revisited Newsletter.

© 2021, Gary Lee Kraut. All rights reserved.

The post The History of Luxury Hotels in Paris, Part 2, 1910-2021 (Video) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

France Revisited’s “Conversation with an Expert” series has launched with the first part of a 4-part discussion between Gary Lee Kraut, editor of France Revisited, and Jean-Pierre Soutric, a leading French specialist and consultant on luxury hotels around the world, on the history of luxury hotels in Paris, on the Riviera and along the Atlantic Coast.

In Part 1, which can be viewed below, Gary and Jean-Pierre examine the creation and evolution of luxury hotels in Paris from 1855 to 1909, i.e. from the era of Napoleon III though the Belle Epoque, and is illustrated with historical and contemporary images of hotels created during that period that still hold their heads high today within the triangle formed by the Louvre, the Garnier Opera and Place de la Concorde, including the (Grand) Hôtel du Louvre, the Grand Hôtel, the Ritz, the Regina, the Meurice and the Crillon. The difference between a palace hotel, which is the most prestigious category in the official French rating system, and other luxury hotels is discussed. Major historical events and famous figures associated with these hotels are presented as are their contemporary bars and tea rooms.

Jean-Pierre Soutric follows in the footsteps of three generations in the hotel industry. His great-grandmother opened a hotel in 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War. Jean-Pierre has held marketing positions at leading hotel groups, including Four Seasons, with which he worked for 20 years. Passionate about history, culture, art and the evolution of French elegance and style through the centuries, he now works as a Paris-based consultant advising luxury hotels in France on how to live up to the expectations of demanding and well-heeled travelers from around the world.

Gary Lee Kraut has been inspiring and informing travelers to France for three decades. His unparalleled experience as an editor, travel writer, journalist, lecturer, consultant and guide has made him one of the most trusted voices for English-speaking travelers, armchair travelers and travel professionals interested in France.

Part 2, covering luxury hotels in Paris create from 1910 to 2021, continues here on France Revisited.

Part 3, covering the history of luxury hotels on the French Riviera, from the Hotel de Paris in Monaco to the Byblos in Saint Tropez by way of the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, the Negresco in Nice, Les Belles Rives in Juan-les-Pins, the Hotel du Cap-Eden Rock on Cap d’Antibes, and the Carlton in Cannes, can be viewed here.

Stay tuned for Part 4, coming in the fall.

Invitations to attend future France Revisited conversations and presentations live are sent out through the France Revisited Newsletter. If you aren’t already a subscriber, you can signing up now to receive the France Revisited Newsletter.

© 2021. All rights reserved.

The post The History of Luxury Hotels in Paris, Part 1, 1855-1909 (Video) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Nevertheless, 35 years ago “bartender” was one of the most promising lines on my resume, and I am not immune to cocktail trends or simply to a good brandy cocktail come aperitif time.

Among the trio of brandies mentioned above, cognac and armagnac, as grape-based spirits, carry more prestige than apple-based calvados, yet calvados is the one I most frequently encounter on my travels for the simple reason that I visit Normandy from Paris more often than I visit Charente or Gascony. One of those visits to Normandy was to the Calvados Nouvelle Vogue International Trophies, an annual bartending competition to create the best calvados-based cocktails.

The competition is held in a different location in Normandy each year in spring, for example the pretty port town of Granville in 2017 and the city of Caen in 2018. I attended last year’s edition and was invited to serve on the jury for the inter-journalist competition. I even had a chummy moment with that year’s master of ceremonies, Colin Field, head bartender of the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz in Paris and the most famous barman in France. That for the photo op.

When it comes to calvados cocktails in particular, the shout-out goes to Marc Jean, who has just celebrated 30 years of tending bar at Le Normandy, the venerable Barrière-owned hotel in Deauville.

Jean began his working life at the age of 16, in 1982, as an apprentice waiter at another of the region’s great historic hotels, the Grand Hôtel de Cabourg. But it was behind the bar that he would make a home for himself. Hired as third barman at the Normandy in 1988, he rose to head barman in 2000. One of the original participants in the Calvados Nouvelle Vogue competition, he is now one of its organizers as well as president of the Association des Barmen de Normandie.

As a Norman born and bred, calvados naturally hold place of honor on his liquor shelves. He has created numerous calvados cocktails. Four of his recipes can be found below.

Before turning to mixology, however, a brief history of the brandy called calvados.

A Brief History of Calvados

Normandy has been prime territory for fermented apple juice, i.e. hard cider, since the early 16th century. The first record of the fermented juice being distilled to make brandy (eau-de-vie in French) dates to 1553. Though produced for centuries, the spirit became largely associated with the Normandy department (or sub-region) named Calvados in the 19th century. In 1942 it gained status as a legally recognized appellation, meaning only apple brandy produced within a specifically delimited zone could be called calvados. Wartime—1942—may seem an odd time to be seeking official appellation status, particularly as the Germans were increasingly building up defenses along the coast in order to repel an eventual Allied invasion. But the war was in fact a major reason for producers to seek regulation of the term calvados for their brandy: during the German Occupation, the only copper stills that were not requisitioned by Germany for military purposes were those used for appellation products. It’s a spirit that Allied soldiers got to know following D-Day during the Battle of Normandy 1944.

Calvados, affectionately known as calva, is largely produced in the Normandy departments of Calvados and Manche (which represent the major of the zone in which the Battle of Normandy took place). There are also designated production zones just over the border in Mayenne and Sarthe and in the area around the town of Neufchatel, further west in Normandy.

AOC (Controlled Appellation of Origin) Calvados represents the majority of brandy production in the region, while two other AOCs within restrained zones are Calvados Pays d’Auge and Calvados Domfrontais. For the latter, produced in area on the southern edge of Normandy that lends itself to growing pears, the brandy is a made from distilling the fermented juice of apples and at least 30% pears.

Calvados Cocktails

For much of its history calvados has been imbibed in its pure state. It has also found its way into the kitchen. And increasingly over the past 20 years it has been used in cocktails. Or 22 years to be precise since a major influence in the spread of the gospel of the calvados cocktail has been the Calvados Nouvelle Vogue competition, which was launched in 1996.

Originally a regional bartending competition, Calvados Nouvelle Vogue International Trophies, as it came to be called, now includes bartenders from 15 countries, mostly European, themselves winners of national competitions which draw 500 competitors. Competitors are judged on creativity, dexterity and the story they tell about the inspiration for their cocktail, along with its taste and presentation. A theme is given each year—this year, vegetables. A Polish bartender, Robert Piasecki took top prize, followed by a Swede and a Belgian.

Last year’s winner, on the theme of the sea, was French bartender Yolanda Fouquet, whose cocktail brought together calvados and beer from Brittany. (She returned as a competitor in 2018 but didn’t make the podium.) A competition among student bartenders and another among journalists are also held.

Among Marc Jean’s many Calvados-based cocktails, long and short, I’ve selected below, with permission, four recipes from Cocktails au Calvados, a collection of recipes that he co-authored with Dominique Grousseaud. I’ve selected these because they represent a relatively easy introduction to making Calvados-based cocktails with ingredients that you’re likely to have at home. (For more complex concoctions go see Marc Jean at Le Normandy in Deauville.)

You’ll need the calvados, of course.

When traveling in the production zones in Normandy you’ll undoubtedly drive by apple farms that offer a tasting or a visit of their installations. Local tourist offices can provide a list of those that receive visitors. Some of the best are produced in the Pays d’Auge and under that appellation, but there is quality elsewhere as well.

During my own travels in the region, I enjoy the encounter as much as anything. Quality of the calva is often the secondary pleasure but nothing beats meeting a quality producer with a good story to tell.

More than half of calvados production is exported, with the U.S. placing near the top of the list, so you’ll have little trouble finding some at a decent liquor store at home. Calvados is aged in oak vats for a minimum of two years (three years for calvados domfrontais). Long-aged calvados of six years or more may be more difficult to find in ordinary liquor stores at home. Anyway, a young calvados of two or three years of oak aging is more appropriate for most cocktails since they provide the fruity aromas that are often sought. Older brandies can also add their distinctiveness to a cocktail, but personally I’m saving mine for a nightcap.

© 2018, Gary Lee Kraut

Calvados Cocktail Recipes

Here are four pages from Cocktails au Calvados, a collection of recipes by Marc Jean and Dominique Grousseaud, reproduced with permission.

Further information about calvados and hard cider in Normandy can be found on France Revisited in this article and in more detail on the site of IDAC, the Interprofession des Appellations Cidricoles, the association of professionals involved with appellation (hard) cider products, those made from cider apples and perry pears.

For information about cocktail-bar tours and encounters with mixologists in Paris see here.

France Revisited reminds readers to drink responsibly and with moderation.

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