In this one-hour presentation, Gary Lee Kraut, editor of France Revisited, and guest expert Jean-Pierre Soutric, a consultant who advises luxury hotels in France on how to live up to the expectations of demanding and well-heeled travelers from around the world, take you to the southeast France to visit famous and historic hotels along the Riviera.

Part 1 of this luxury hotel series, examining 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 2, which examines the creation of luxury hotels from 1910 to today, can be viewed here.

Stay tuned for part 4, coming in the fall. Invitations to attend France Revisited conversations and presentations live are sent out through the France Revisited Newsletter. If you aren’t already a subscriber, you can sign up now to receive the France Revisited Newsletter.

Luxury on the Riviera: Starting time on video – Topics, towns, hotel

0:01:49 – Where is the Riviera?
0:03:43 – The origins of luxury on the Riviera
0:09:30 – Monaco: Hotel de Paris
0:16:14 – Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat: Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat and the Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa and Gardens
0:24:05 – Nice: The Negresco, coastal festivals and museums
0:29:23 – Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Cap d’Antibes: Les Belles Rives, Jazz à Juan, Hôtel du Cap – Eden-Roc
0:44:18 – Cannes: The Carlton, The Martinez, The Majestic
0:50:34 – Saint Tropez: The Byblos, La Réserve Ramatuelle
0:55:08 – When is the best time to go to the Riviera?
0:58:55 – The Riviera, playground for the rich or destination for all?
1:00:24 – Should you use a travel agent to reserve at a luxury hotel?

© 2021. All rights reserved.

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 luxury travel and hotel 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.

The post The History of Luxury Hotels on the Riviera (Video) 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.

This launches what will be an on-going series of conversations between editor Gary Lee Kraut and guest experts in various fields with respect to travel, tourism, history and culture in France. We are particularly interested in the interplay between history, culture and points of interest for today’s travelers and armchair travelers. Registration information is sent out through the France Revisited Newsletter.

The series’ inaugural guest is Jean-Pierre Soutric, a leading French specialist and consultant on luxury hotels around the world. Born in Lourdes and based in Paris, Jean-Pierre follows in the footsteps of three previous 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 luxury travel and hotel consultant.

In three separate Zoom conversations, Gary and Jean-Pierre will discuss the history of luxury hotels in Paris (Parts 1 and 2) and on the Riviera (Part 3). Dates and times of Parts 2 and 3 to be announced.

Part 1 examines the creation and evolution of the first luxury hotels in Paris from 1855 to 1909, i.e. from the era of Napoleon III though the Belle Epoque. The conversation will be 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 (and its Café de la Paix, image above), the Meurice, the Regina, the Ritz and the Crillon. We will also discuss major historical events and famous figures associated with these hotels as well as the hotels’ contemporary bars and tea rooms.

Following the 50-minute presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions via the Zoom chat feature.

In May, readers will be invited to attend Part 2 (from the Roaring 1920 to the Vaccinated 2020s) and Part 3 (the French Riviera) of this Luxury Hotel Series. Attendance for this Luxury Hotel Series is free for readers of France Revisited.

Upcoming conversations with other leading experts in their fields will also be announced in May.

The post The History of Luxury Hotels in Paris and on the Riviera appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

* * *

Relais & Châteaux… If those words mean nothing to you, it’s a safe bet that your travel budget and fantasies typically stops short of 5-star lodging. Relais & Châteaux, a grouping of individually owned hotels and restaurants, publishes a luxurious color catalog with drool-inducing cheesecake photos of its platinum-card fantasy resorts. It’s 815 pages of travel porn.

Today’s Relais & Châteaux spans the globe from A(rgentina) to Z(ambia), with 544 resort/restaurant “members.” Of course, all this glamor had to start somewhere and “somewhere” turns out to be roughly 80 miles south of Paris, in Loiret, a region on the eastern edge of the Loire Valley, at a quiet, family-run inn called the Auberge des Templiers.

Back in the 1940s, the French were just getting used to the concept of paid vacations. Naturally, everyone wanted to go south for their holiday, and the National 7 highway, linking Paris with the Riviera, took on a mythic allure, similar to that of Route 66 in the US.

In 1945 the grandmother of the present owner of the Auberge des Templiers opened her roadside family kitchen to hungry vacationers happy to hit the road in liberated France. Nine years later, what had become a prosperous inn joined seven other National 7 inns to form Relais de Campagne, an association dedicated to “calm, comfort and courtesy.” Their pilot group was federated under the Relais & Chateaux banner in 1975.

Of the original eight hotels, only the Auberge des Templiers still exists. Guillaume Dépée, the third generation to run the family business, occasionally finds it difficult to fit into the corporate mentality of the present-day R&C, a gold-plate logo that embraces wine tasting in Uruguay, Chinese spa treatments in Nanjing, and luxury safaris near Kenya’s Maasai Reserve.

“There’s an emphasis on global investment and celebrity chefs, which are areas where a small family hotel like mine simply can’t compete,” says Guillaume Dépée, whose restaurant nevertheless has one Michelin star. “I don’t do glitter; I do authenticity. I give people exactly what I want as a consumer and what my grandparents stood for: calm, comfort and courtesy.”

Calm and comfort? Oh yes! The Auberge is a woodsy haven with wisteria-bedecked terraces, 400-year-old trees and a large outdoor pool. The guestrooms are housed in delightfully eclectic buildings with thatched or gabled rooftops. No two are the same since each generation of the Dépée family makes its own additions. The present owner added an Esthederm spa for the summer 2017 season plus a poolside champagne bar with sushi snacks created by Chef Yoshihiko Miura.

Courtesy? Yes, that’s also there but it works both ways. “This is my family home and I don’t mind ejecting guests who are rude with the staff,” says Dépée, noting that a prized staff-member has worked at the hotel since his grandparents’ day. Unlike most hotel directors, Dépée lives on the premises, in the house where he grew up, sharing his digs with a stray cat who developed a penchant for Chef Miura’s sashimi.

While the chef hails from Japan (and has a coveted license-not-to-kill with fugu), he displays a Franco-French sensibility for dishes like savory crabmeat with avocado cream and delicate lamb chops accented with herbs straight from the hotel’s garden.

“We buy only from local suppliers who use no pesticides,” says Dépée. “We have our beehives for honey and I support local wine-makers. Just don’t expect tuna, strawberries in January or water in plastic bottles.”

In other words, you can dine at the Templiers without fretting too much about your carbon footprint.

“I totally support the Relais & Châteaux ecological initiatives spearheaded by [Brittany’s three-star chef] Olivier Roellinger. As members of the hospitality business, we are the ambassadors and guardians of the precious ecosystems that make our locations so attractive to others.”

The Auberge des Templiers is also surprisingly affordable, offering some economical mid-week packages and lunches – either in the restaurant or poolside.

The Auberge des Templiers may be removed from the block-buster chateaux of the Loire Valley but the World Heritage portion of the Loire Valley actually starts right nearby, with the castle at Sully sur Loire. A few miles from there is Saint Benoit sur Loire, notable for the extraordinary details and luminosity of the Romanesque basilica of Fleury Abbey. An excursion from the inn might also include a visit to Gien, famous for its earthenware (faience) and its International Hunting Museum and to Lorris for the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation.

Auberge des Templiers. Les Bézards, 45290 Boismorand. Tel: 02.38.31.80.81. Closed February 15 to March 10. The Auberge is a 75-minute train trip from Paris-Bercy to Nogent-sur-Vernisson. For those arriving for car-free R&R the hotel can arrange to meet guests at the station, a 10-minute drive from the inn.

(c) 2017, Corinne LaBalme

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* * *

Chambery swelled with civic pride when the fourth of its four elephants returned last summer. A carnival atmosphere filled the center of this valley city of 58,000 at the base of the Alps. Bands played. Artists created miniature elephants. A tremendous mechanical pachyderm wowed the crowd. A costumed parade marched down rue de Boigne from the Castle of the Dukes of Savoy to the Fountain of Elephants.

There they were, the four of them, their new iron cast dazzling in the light, home at last after an absence of seven months. Affectionately known as les Quatre sans culs, the Assless Four, since only their fore portion is visible, they faced the crowd in each direction. Mayor Michel Dentin, his deputies and several thousand people of all ages gathered around, flush with admiration for the newly restored emblems of the city.

There was a time, however, when the man at the top of the pedestal that soars above the Fountain of the Elephants was the pride of the town rather than the pachyderms: General and Count de Boigne (1751-1830).

De Boigne was a mercenary who had made his fortune and his titles by selling his military and governing skills to various powers of Europe and the Indian sub-continent, especially in the Maratha Empire. He eventually retired from a life of adventure and settled back, via a stint in London, to his hometown of Chambery. Here he donated sizeable funds to charitable organizations, including to build a home for the aged and the indigent, and for projects to embellish the city. A municipal theater was built. So was the arcaded street that bears the philanthropist’s name, the street the elephant parade marched down.

After his death, Chambery would return the favor with a monument honoring his philanthropy and his military glory. De Boigne stands dressed as a general on a pedestal nearly 15 meters high. Yet it’s the cast-iron elephants that have become the symbol of the city worthy of celebration. As a sign of the popular desire to support the elephants, €160,000 of the €1 million restoration project came from donations.

“The elephants may not be the most profound historical element in Chambery, but sometimes an amusing piece of heritage is what one needs to enter further in depth into what makes up this peaceable city,” said Gerard Charpin, communications officer for the Chambéry Tourist Office. “Perhaps Chambery’s greatest symbol of heritage isn’t a monument at all but rather the sign that one might not even notice upon entering the city: Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire” (Cities and Territories of Art and History).

30 Years of Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire (VPAH)

Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire (VPAH), meaning Cities and Territories of Art and History, is a label that’s easy to miss, particularly for foreign visitors unaware of its significance. Yet it brings together the wide variety of points of historical and architectural interest in Chambery, as it does in the 183 other towns, cities and territories (i.e. communes or grouping of communes) throughout France that hold the state-award label. The VPAH label was created under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture in the spring of 1985. That winter Chambery became one of the first towns to receive it. The city formally celebrated the 30th anniversary of its label in January, though with far less fanfare than the festivities that surrounded the return of the elephants.

As a name, Cities and Territories of Art and History is less seductive than a moniker as Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France), the name of an association of 153 village and the signal that a visitor is entering a village or small town with two listed or classified monuments along with movie-set charms. Nevertheless, VPAH holds out the promise to residents and visitors alike that here one will have the opportunity not only to see but also to understand the history and significance of local heritage and architecture.

The VPAH label represents a joint engagement between the State and the municipality or group of communes to promote an understanding and preservation of local heritage and architecture. The label-holder undertakes to make significant efforts to engage local residents of all ages in local heritage, architecture and urban planning. This is done through guided tours, documentation, exhibitions and colloquia. Visitors can benefit from these as well.

A Vector of Identity

Heritage is given its broadest meaning for the purposes of the VPAH label. It includes natural, industrial and maritime heritage, as well as the memory of residents. Chambery’s Mayor Michel Dantin has called the label “a vector of identity.”

What is Chambery’s identity? It is the culmination of many components, eras and populations that create a city that sees itself a peaceably place in the valley at the base of the Alps.

Geographically, Chambery now appears to be on the edge of the map of France but for centuries it was the center of a duchy that straddled the Alps with Chambery and then Turino (now Italy) as its capital.

Duchy since 1416, Savoy was annexed to France, as was Nice, in 1860. Its firm attachment to France was part of a remodeling of the map of the Alps that soon involved the unification of Italy. Within the castle complex, now the prefecture of Savoy, at the opposite end of rue de Boigne from the elephants, the 15th-century chapel of the dukes of Savoy once housed the cloth purportedly showing a crucified Jesus that has become known as the Shroud of Turin. It remained there from 1502 to 1578 when the dukes moved it to their new capital across the Alps. A copy of the shroud can be seen in the recently restored chapel.

In conversations with elected officials, tourist officials and cultural leaders, it’s evident that they would like Chambery to live up not to its ducal grandeur but to the reputation that the philosopher and novelist Jean-Jacques Rousseau gave it when he called Savoyards “the best and most sociable people I know” and wrote of his stay here from 1736 to 1742: “If there is a little city in the world where one can enjoy the sweetness of life in a pleasant and secure society, it is Chambery.”

Quality Tourism and Programming for Families

To see VPAH as a mere reflection of a classification of historical monuments is to ignore the community-wide dimension and intention of the label. As Mayor Martine Berthet of Albertville, an Alpine town that has held the label since 2003, has said, “The label enables the recognition that Albertville’s historical and heritage-related richness largely goes beyond the context of the medieval city.” The same can be said about Chambery.

Alexandra Turnar, Chambery’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and Housing, the elected official responsible for overseeing Chambery’s proper application of the VPAH label, says that the label and the efforts it implies work on many levels.

“Tourism related to old stones may sound old-fashion,” she says, “but this isn’t simply nostalgia, it’s also turned toward the future… It isn’t just the sights that are important but how we live with this heritage and architecture today and how we will live with it tomorrow… For those visiting from outside of Chambery, it is a sign of a quality tourism, of intellectual tourism, where every age finds its place.”

“Intellectual” tourism certainly doesn’t preclude the pleasure of simply getting lost in the historic alleyways that run through the old town or from using Chambery as a jumping off point for excursions into the Alps for hiking or skiing or further along the valley to splash or bike or hike around Lake Bourget. Instead, it signifies that resources—exhibitions, brochures, guides, oversight, training of guides—are available to educate visitors and residents alike.

While applauding the quality of programming that introduces local school children to the city’s heritage, Turnar, at 34 a young parent herself, seems especially pleased to see “families increasingly involved in visiting and learning about our heritage.”

“Previously, Chambery was very turned toward a tourism of consummation. With respect to families that meant that we wanted activities to keep the children busy. Now there’s more of an effort towards and interest in transmitting our heritage, our knowledge and our memory of Chambery and of Savoy… Families are essential in transmitting heritage.”

Heritage and Architecture Interpretation Center

One of the obligations of the label is the creation and operation of a Heritage and Architecture Interpretation Centre or CIAP, which is partially subsidized by the state. Chambery’s CIAP is housed in the 16th-century Cordon mansion in the city center. The CIAP and its programming serve as one of the primary sites for educating children as well as adults about the city.

“The label recognizes work done of a long period of time as well as ongoing, forward-looking work,” says Sarah Dietz, who oversees the CIAP under the umbrella of Chambery’s Tourist and Congress Office. “Our task is to show how the story of the city is told, through architecture, daily life, history, monuments.”

Chambery’s CIAP, as that in other VPAH towns, is an appropriate starting point for both those seeking an in-depth approach and a light overview of the history of Chambery. Entrance is free. Documentation in Chambery is available in English. Chambery has no regularly schedule guided tours in English, though they are available upon request.

Beyond the Interpretation Centre, the visitor’s curiosity then leads to any number of major points of historical interest in the city: Saint Francis of Sales Cathedral with its surprising décor trompe l’oeil décor, among the largest such surfaces of the 19th century in France; the Beaux-Arts Museum; the Castle of the Dukes of Savoy; Les Charmettes, the house where Rousseau lived with his benefactor and lover Madame de Warens (thereby gaining his view of the sweet life in Chambery), and the Fountain of the Elephants, of course.

“The label isn’t simply a notion of quantity, of how many visits we organize, but also of quality,” says Dietz. “It translates the engagement of the city with respect to its heritage, its architecture, its urban planning and its population. It enables public awareness of urban developments. It is a part of public policy.”

Chambery’s Locomotive Roundhouse

Chambery’s locomotive roundhouse, la rotonde, a rare element of the railway system of yesterday still in use today, is a prime example of the evolving notion of what constitutes heritage. In 2012, just over a century of its being put into service, a portion of the roundhouse was opened as a second Architectural and Heritage Interpretation Centre, allowing for guided tours. With an internal diameter of 108 meters beneath a metal fame, the roundhouse is an impressive early 20th-century construction with 36 tracks that allows for storage of 72 locomotives.

On May 26, 1944, Chambery’s railway installations are hit by American bombers in order to prevent the movement German troops from to/from Italy as the Allies prepared for the Invasion of Normandy. About a third of the town were destroyed, but de Boigne and the elephants survived, furthering their symbolic value in a wounded city.

Despite effective destruction to the railway network the aerial bombing of 1944 also did surprisingly little damage to the roundhouse itself, which was fully restored in 1948. The structure also survived the threat of demolition in the early 1980s when the National Railway Company SNCF planned its demise in view of the cost of renovation. Those plans were thwarted by the efforts of railwaymen and in 1984 the roundhouse was listed on the supplementary inventory of Historical Monuments.

While still in use for maintenance and service by the French National Railway Company SNCF, the portion dedicated as the CIAP allows the general public to be inform and awed by the powerful locomotives. That dedicated as a portion is also used by the Association for the Preservation of Savoyard Railway Equipment (APMFS), which restores and maintains in working order a number of historic locomotives. The SNCF has authorized the association to use them for occasional tourist outings.

Other Heritage Organizations in Chambery

Chambery has a deep tradition of preserving and promoting their heritage sites. The Chambery Tourist Office was created in 1896. Les Amis de Vieux Chambéry (The Friends of Old Chambery), an independent association for the protection, preservation, restoration and acquisition of elements that historic and artistic value in the city and in the department, was created in 1933 and currently has over 600 members. While the association isn’t directly involved with the VPAH label, the label “gives more weight in defending major issues such as the protection or preservation of various buildings or monuments that are the focus of our attention,” says Michèle Chappius, the association’s president.

La Manivelle, meaning The Crank, Chambery’s club for vintage car collectors, has existed since 1972 and now has 120 members. It organize outings and events through the year, including a rally to visit their sister club ASVA Turino in view of Chambery’s historical relationship with the city on the other side of the Alps.

Serge Gross, president since 1998, the owner of an MG TA 1938 and a 1967 Jaguar, among other vintage vehicles, said that “Every amateur collector has a special affection for England.” British cars, he said, account for about 25% of those of the club’s members. The club’s major public event is the organization of Chambery’s Auto Retro fair, which attracts 7000 visitors over the first weekend of December.

The VPAH Network

The VPAH label itself must now be renewed every 10 years. Chambery is due for renewal in 2017, so preparing the renewal application is one of the projects that will be underway this year along with developing new sightseeing circuits and creating new opportunities for families to explore the city’s heritage. “We’re confident to have the label renewed,” says Turnar, “but one can’t miss the boat.”

With 186 labelled towns, cities and territories across France, label-holders have a lot to learn from each other. A national association that combines municipalities with the VPAH label and those with preserved and protected sectors “enables professionals in the heritage sector to exchange practical information and to reflect on various themes,” says Dietz.

In February, network participants from throughout France came to Chambery for a day of study on the theme of heritage sites belonging to companies, such as Chambery’s roundhouse with respect to the National Railway Company SNCF or hydraulic sites belonging to electric company EDF.

“We’re proud of what we have in Chambery,” says Turnar. “We’re proud of our history as Chamberians and as Savoyards. But the VPAH label isn’t just something we have where we can say, ‘There, we have it, now we can focus on something else,’ but rather a constant calling into question of what we are and where we’re going. Yesterday’s tourism is not today’s.”

As to tomorrow, cue the elephants. Following the successful celebration of their return in 2015, a second elephantine celebration took place on the 1st of July 2016. A new annual event seems to have been born in Chambery: The Elephant Festival.

Chambery Tourist Office, 5 bis place du Palais de Justice. Tel. 04 79 33 42 47

City Lodging in Chambery

5* Petit Hôtel Confidetiel, 10 rue de la Trésorerie. Tel. 04 79 26 24 17.
In the old town at the foot of the ducal castle, a stylish contemporary 5-star boutique hotel.

4* Le Cinq, 22 Faubourg Reclus. Tel. 04 79 33 51 18.
A contemporary boutique 4-star hotel between the train station and the elephants. Small indoor pool.

4* Mercure Chambéry Centre, 183 place de la Gare. Tel. 04 79 62 10 11.
A reliable 4-star chain hotel across the street from the train station.

3* Hôtel des Princes, 4 rue de Boigne. Tel. 04 79 33 45 36.
A central and pleasing hotel between the elephants and the ducal castle. Small spa.

Country Lodging near Chambery

4* Chateau de Candie, 533 Rue du Bois de Candie, 73000 Candie Tel. 04 79 96 63 00.
Midway between Chambery and Bourget Lake. Gastronomic restaurant L’Orangerie, noteworthy whether spending the night or not, especially in weather with dinner on the terrace.

4* Domaine des Saints Pères, 1540 Route de Chartreuse, 73000 Montagnole. Tel. 04 79 62 63 93.
Several miles south of Chambery, a lovely manor with a grand view up the valley. Small outdoor pool. Chalet-like restaurant.

Chambery’s Neighbor Aix-les-Bains, a Newcomer to the VPAH Label

Currently, 186 cities, towns and territories across France hold the label Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire. Of Chambery’s relative neighbors, the lakeside towns of Annecy and Aix-les-Bains also hold the label as do, as do Albertville (site of the 1992 winter Olympics) and the rural and mountain territories of Hautes-Vallées de Savoie, Vallée d’Abondance and Voironnais. The complete list of VPAH cities, towns and territories throughout France can be found at www.vpah.culture.fr. (Also see www.an-patrimoine.org for more about how the association of VPAH towns and territories and towns with preserved neighborhoods stick together.)

While Chambery is now an old-hand at carrying the label, Aix-les-Bains, a town of 29,000 alongside Lake Bouget 11 miles north of Chambery, is a newcomer, having received it 2014. “It took four or five years to prepare the application for the label,” says Beatrice Druhen-Charnaux, a guide with the Aix-les-Bains Tourists Office whom Mayor Dominique Dord appointed to develop the application for the label. Durhen-Charnaux says that by enabling programming for both school children and adults VPAH can nearly be considered “a label of social engagement.”

Whether on a daytrip from Chambery or on a longer stay, visitors in Aix-les-Bains architectural evidence of the town’s significance as a 19th-century spa town as well as current sporting activities related to the lake and the mountains. Boats take visitors across the lake to Hautecombe Abbey, a burial place for the House of Savoy since the 12th century. Humbert II of Savoy, the last king of Italy, was buried here in 1983.

© 2016, Gary Lee Kraut

A previous version of this article appeared in the February 2016 issue of The Connexion.

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The gilt bronze equestrian statue of Joan of Arc on Place des Pyramides, across the street from the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden, is one of the most well-known and copied statues of the martyred heroine of the Hundred Years War with the English. Though glimpsed daily by thousands of tourists, few stop to contemplate the work or even to photograph it—and with good reason: they are intent are on preserving their own lives as they cross the street. Greater notice is likely given to copies of the statue in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland and Melbourne. Nevertheless, holding her standard high, Joan rides on here in (temporary) victory over the “invader” as a symbol of, well, whatever one group or party wants or needs her to be.

In the wake of France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), France’s young Third Republic needed her to represent a proud and unified nation marching in progress. Emmanuel Frémiet was commissioned to create the statue. No sooner was it installed on Place des Pyramides in 1874 than another invasion gathered strength: the invasion, welcome this time, of wealthy British tourists for whom the 1st arrondissement was becoming their Paris headquarters. In the decades that followed the statue’s inauguration, major new hotels opened or expanded on and around Rue de Rivoli and Rue Saint-Honoré—the Normandy, the Continental (now the Westin), the Meurice, the Ritz and others—as did shops and tea rooms and restaurants (“We speak English”).

As the prosperity and innovation of the Belle Epoque raced toward the turn of the century, a new hotel, the Hotel Regina, prepared to open on Joan’s Place des Pyramides. The Regina was under construction at the same as the Alexandre III Bridge, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, all to be ready in time for the World’s Fair of 1900.

The Regina was founded by Léonard Tauber, working with an associate named Constant Bavarez. Eventually Bavarez would take the reins, and the hotel is still majority owned by the Bavarez family, as are two other hotels developed by Tauber, the Raphael and the Majestic, both 5-stars near the Arc de Triomphe in the 16th arrondissement.)

Enter the Regina’s original art nouveau revolving door today you’ll find yourself in the lobby of old-fashion luxury with a choice of three directions: to the left to check in at the reception desk to one of 100 rooms and suites, straight ahead into the oak-paneled English bar for a cocktail or whiskey or to the right to the new wine bar.

The Hotel Regina was refurbished in 2015 without losing any of its character circa 1900, gaining a fifth star in the process. Its room style is clear and direct in its sense of well-being, with grey, beige and off-white walls and fabrics offset with the occasional touch of red. Excellent sound-proofing allows rooms facing the street to shut out the traffic on Rue de Rivoli.

Some furnishings, notably desks, from the opening years of the hotel are still present. Several rooms might even fulfill a guest’s fantasy of living luxuriously in Paris circa 1900, both for the décor and, in the case of exceptional corner rooms, the view to the Tuileries Garden and beyond it Eiffel’s Tower, a remnant of the World’s Fair of 1889.

Having refurbished its rooms and repolished its reputation, Regina opened a new wine bar this year. The bar is a sleek, boldly lit little white box with gold trim, high saucer stools and a corner view toward the garden and the tower.

It’s a sign of the times that the old English bar is called le Bar Anglais and the new French wine bar is named Wine & Friends.

Wine & Friends is the domain of sommelier and barman Antoine Henon, who counsels and pours with the cool and gracious demeanor of a man who is trying to please but not entertain or impress. Henon supplies the wine; you supply the friends.

With friends I turned right at the revolving door to have a drink—actually four, but I’m not one to try to impress with beverage consumption. They were small glasses, several tastes to get acquainted with the pleasantly balanced Dourthe wines while getting a feel for the place.

Dourthe is a company that owns ten Bordeaux vineyards (among them Saint-Estèphe, Haut Médoc, Saint-Emilion, Pessac-Léognan, Graves) including several grand crus. Producing grower and merchant wines, it is part of the Thiénot Group,  whose home soil is in the Champagne region. Other regions are also selectively represented at Wine & Friends.

I’m not a fan of the presence of branding stamped into the décor of luxury bars as found here, but many now have them—an indiscretion that is also a sign of the times. Nevertheless, Wine & Friends (& Dourthe) offers a nice variety of wine styles.

Considering the location between the Louvre and Rue Saint-Honoré, the sense of privilege of leaving hurried Rue de Rivoli and the elegant presence of Antoine Henon, a decent bottle of wine is rather moderately priced at 29-55€, a glass at 9-15€, with several more prestigious wines available by the glass or bottle.

A glass or a shared bottle can be accompanied by a fine plate of cheese and charcuterie, as one would expect in a Paris wine bar. Foie gras and sourdough toast (tartines) topped with smoked salmon or Bayonne ham or chicken are also available.

The atmosphere depends on the aforementioned friends as well as the light, which together lend themselves to cheery aperitif, showy chicness, rising romance in fading light or post-dinner dialogue. Wine & Friends is open daily from 5pm to midnight.

The cocktail-drinker among a group of wine friends needn’t go his or her separate way since one can also get a cocktail served here from the hotel’s Bar Anglais. That bar, with its oak paneling and red velvet armchairs and sofas, is the domain of Marc Desange, who has been shaking and stirring cocktails and pouring whiskey here since last year.

Previously he worked at the Regina’s sister hotel the Raphael, another worthy stop on the Paris hotel bar trail.

Hotel Regina
2 place des Pyramides
75001 Paris
Tel. 01 42 60 35 58
Metro: Tuileries
© 2016 Gary Lee Kraut

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The best adjective to describe the family-run Hôtel San Régis, nestled on a side-street betwixt the Grand Palais and the Avenue Montaigne haute couture shops, is discreet. However its latest renovation, completed in 2013, is all about glasnost. Owner Elie George literally blew the roof off his “insider’s only” restaurant, which originally catered only to hotel guests. The lighter-and-brighter glass-roofed result is now open to all hungry and thirsty travelers and residents seeking a quiet refuge from museum blockbusters, Dior ODs, and Champs-Elysées traffic.

The restaurant/tea room, now re-named Les Confidences du San Régis, has a glass roof that shows off the half-timbered walls of the hotel’s attractive, provincial-esque courtyard. The new concept also includes longer hours. Jet-lagged travelers can now drop in for a cozy little chorizo-laced cheeseburger (24€), club sandwich (22€), Caesar salad (28€) or organic omelets (16€) in sophisticated surroundings from 3 to 6pm.

Reflecting the hotel’s new contemporary spin on its classic decor, the new menu adds curcuma-laced quinoa to the tomato fritters (16€) and proposes a hummus garnish with the lamb filets (34€). Quite astutely, the wine selection tends towards to affordable, rather than aspirational, vintages. The Château de Lachaize Brouilly, one of the best bargains in Beaujolais, is a case in point at 24€.

The San Régis has also expanded its tea-time offerings, with over a dozen super-stylish Kusmi teas accompanied by finger sandwiches and/or lush pastries from Philippe Conticini’s ‘Patisserie des Rêves’, like the re-visited Paris-Brest.

The latest renovation includes guestrooms given 21st century pastel update (bayberry greens, powdered azur and gold) by designer Pierre-Yves Rochon while retaining classic touches like the Art Deco style light fixtures beloved by SR regulars.

Hôtel San Régis Paris. 12 rue Goujon, 75008. Tel: 01.44. 95.16.16. Metro Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau or Alma Marceau

© 2014

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In 1954 three Michelin stars landed on Les Baux de Provence, an isolated hilltop aerie 9 miles (15k) north of Arles. They fell specifically on Oustau de Baumanière, a hotel/restaurant nestled in the trees below the fortress. The personal automobile gave gourmets the means to get there by way of the winding road that snakes through dramatic white walls of rock leading to Les Baux, testament to the mining for bauxite, a mineral that took its name from the village. Offering magnificent glimpses of the Luberon, Mont Ventoux, the Rhône Valley and the local vineyards, the route alone makes for an exhilarating approach.

Michelin’s weren’t the town’s first stars. The first settlers claimed kinship to Balthazar, one of the three sky-gazing kings in the Christmas story. After that, the history of Les Baux falls into the ill-starred category befitting of a zone that would come to be called the Valley of Hell.  The most notable former residents include beautiful black widow Queen Jeanne, smothered to death by a jealous cousin, and evil Raymond of Turenne, who laughed as he pushed his enemies off the town’s vertiginous cliffs. In 1632, weary of policing a precinct that thrived on internal conflict and political chaos, Louis XIII’s right-hand man Richelieu ordered the ramparts to be razed while taxing the residents to finance the demolition.

The result of Richelieu’s meddling is a romantic ruin of a fortress, the stuff that postcards were invented for. All through the summer, the slim mountain access road is choked with tour buses, slowing traffic to a diesel-scented standstill.  Sightseers dream of parking places that may never materialize, making the ‘Valley of Hell’ appellation quite understandable. Yet, on a sunny day in October, we had to watch the dashboard to make sure we weren’t speeding. Off-season, the road is almost vacant.

Oustau de Baumanière, a 5-star hotel, is a sprawling ensemble cluster of buildings (14th, 16th and 18th centuries), tennis courts and heated swimming pools. Queen Elizabeth stayed in the main hotel in 1972. Her ex-suite, N° 2, has a working fireplace that wouldn’t be out of place in Buckingham Palace. The hotel still houses Les Baux’s premier restaurant (currently awarded two stars by Michelin).

But for sheer romance, nothing beats the portion of the complex called Le Manoir, an 18th century dream-house with its own private rose garden. Here, the suites are far bigger than necessary (of course, one doesn’t come here for the bare necessities). Room 15 has two ballroom-sized rooms and two rough-hewn marble bathrooms, one with an oval bath-tub and the other with giant walk-in rain shower. There are two stone fireplaces as well, along with excellent wifi, cable tv, minibars and coffee machines.

There’s no restaurant at the Manoir, a half-mile from the main building of the Oustau, so that means heading through the woods to the enclave’s two restaurants. At the two-starred Oustau, chef Sylvestre Wahid put together some major miracles like delicate scallop carpaccio layered with foie gras, stuffed rouget, agneau en croûte with a lush rosemary sauce, and a deconstructed lemon meringue pie. The 60,000-bottle cave has something for everyone, from a 2011 Cassis (30€) to 1961 Hermitage la Chapelle (9,000€).

A second restaurant is at Oustau’s sister 5-star hotel La Cabro d’Or (meaning The Golden Goat), a hotel that might hold special appeal to traveling (upscale) families with kids who would enjoy the proximity to a mini-farmyard with dwarf goats. Compared to the Oustau, Michel Hulin’s menu at La Cabro d’Or is less formal and easier on the high-end budget with a 56 € lunch that includes wine. The chef trained at Château Les Crayères in Reims and the Près d’Eugénie in Eugénie-les-Bains. Though La Cabro is starless in 2014, Mr. Hulin’s ultra-light crabmeat/crayfish salad with fresh brousse cheese is nearly addictive. Happily, the hotel has a little van that can scoot guests between locations because the property is big enough to get lost in. The Spa Baumanière is nearby.

So… ready to enjoy Les Baux without the crowds? When you make your reservations, just make sure the restaurants will be open if you don’t want to head into the village. The Oustau kitchen closes down in January while Sylvestre Wahid heads for Courcheval’s Le Strato, although the Cabro d’Or stays open except for Sunday and Monday. Needless to say, these are fine places in season as well.

Oustau de Baumanière. Chemin départemental 27 (route 27), 13520 Les Baux-de-Provence. Tel: 04 90 54 33 07.

La Cabro d’Or, Chemin départemental 27 (route 27), 13520 Les Baux-de-Provence. Tel. 04 90 54 33 21.

Bikes can be rented at both hotels. Two or four wheels will get you to plenty of olive oil producers and winegrowers in the surrounding area.

Both resorts are Relais & Chateaux members.

Official Les Baux-de-Provence tourist information site.

© 2014, Corinne LaBalme

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Getting There

Avignon is 2:40 by direct train from Paris (Gare de Lyon) and is served by two train stations:

1. Avignon TGV. Most high-speed trains arrive here, four miles from the center of town. From the station there’s a light rail line that connects with Avignon Centre station in 6 minutes, making 35 round-trips per day. There’s also regular bus to/from the city walls. Take it to the final stop, “Avignon Poste,” about a 12-minute ride. Avignon Poste is actually just a hundred yards from the Avignon Centre station. The Popes’ Palace and the intra-muros hotels are within a 10-minute walk from there. Taxi service is also available from the station.

2.  Avignon Centre, across the street from the city walls. From here it’s easy enough to walk to any of the hotels intra-muros, though taxis are also available.

In summer, there’s a direct Eurostar to Avignon from St. Pancras as well as direct flights from Birmingham, London and Southhampton.

Having your own wheels—bike, car, a chauffeur—is naturally the best way to explore Provence, but on a brief visit with a limited radius one can do surprisingly well with public transportation.

Tourist Information

The official site of the Avignon Tourist Office is www.avignon-tourisme.com.

Avignon is capital of the department of Vaucluse, which lies east of the Rhone River and includes Orange, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Carpentras, Cavaillon, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Gordes, the Abbey of Senanque, many vineyards and lavender fields and much of the Luberon Natural Regional Park. The official site of the Vaucluse Tourist Office is provenceguide.com.

To the west of the Rhone River and easily accessible from Avignon are Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (just across the river) and the Pont du Gard, which are located in the department of Gard whose official tourist information site is tourismegard.com.

Avignon Theater Festival
During three weeks in July Avignon holds a major international theater festival, le Festival d’Avignon, with venues throughout the town, most prestigiously in the Court of Honor of the Popes’ Palace. Playing at Avignon during the festival signifies a major stamp of approval for a production, a director or a troupe, even if the best of the new productions presented here aren’t necessarily French. For more information see the official festival site.

Video intermission (33 seconds): A view from the edge of the Rock of Avignon overlooking the Rhone River and accompanied by the sound of cicadas.

Choice Accommodations in Avignon

La Mirande
4 place de l’Amirande. Tel. 04 90 14 20 20.

Situated in the shadow of the fortress wall of the Popes’ Palace, this former cardinal’s palace, transformed into a hotel by the Stern family in the early 1990s, provides Avignon’s most luxurious accommodations. The view from most of the rooms may be stopped short by that imposing wall but it is a view that’s long on history. The 26 rooms (sizes vary) of this 5-star boutique include 20 rooms in the older palace building decorated in 18th-century styles and 6 rooms that opened in 2012 in an adjacent building decorated with Empire-style furnishings. Handsome Zuber wallpaper provides an elegant touch throughout. Contributing to the hotel’s feeling of intimacy, an array of charming settings—in the garden, in the inner patio, in the “Red Room,” in the “Chinese Cabinet”—are available for tea, cocktails or an after-dinner drink.

The hotel’s restaurant (not tested for this article) has reportedly had its ups and downs in recent years, but the great dining pleasure of La Mirande is Jean-Claude Altmayer’s guest table in the basement (see #5 in this other article about Avignon). The hotel also offers cooking classes conducted by various chefs of the region.

Hotel d’Europe
12 place Crillon. Tel. 04 90 14 76 76

From its entrance off the square just within the old city ramparts, through the shade of the plane tree in the entry courtyard, into the aura of the ancient walls, past a peek into the large, expectant dining room, up the promise of the grand staircase and into the spaciousness of some of the rooms, the home that the Marquis of Graveson had built in 1580 certainly has the potential for a great hotel. In fact it became one when it opened to the public as the Hotel d’Europe in 1799. So the hotel can boast a fine guest list of celebrated men and women and statesmen that sojourned here over the next two centuries. But during a visit in December 2012 I found the hotel uneven in its physical offerings, green in its staff (admittedly, my site visit lasted less than 30 minutes) and the atmosphere generally lacking in spirit and fantasy. Its 39 double rooms and 5 suites alternate between worn traditional and overly classic renovated, an indication that, like the continent itself, the Europe in search of its soul. These are nevertheless spacious rooms from the “superior” category on up to the presidential suite. This is not to write off the Europe; the hotel’s current owners are apparently striving for more consistent elegance, and this is, after all, a 5-star hotel. The classic grand hotel dining room has a Michelin star in 2013 (not tested for this article).

Hotel de l’Horloge
1 rue Félicien David (corner with Place de l’Horloge). Tel. 04 90 16 42 00.

L’Horloge is a pleasing 4-star ideally set beside Place de l’Horloge, the town’s main square, just a few hundred yards from the Popes’ Palace. Its modest lobby signals a hotel with great pretensions as far service goes but in two stays here I’ve found the reception and cleaning staff friendly and willing to accommodate. The 66 rooms, mostly with bath, some only shower, offer square comfort with an easy décor in tones of brown and off-white. Various categories ensure that the hotel can satisfy a range of budgets and family-friendly accommodates, with attractive off-season prices available online.

Marie Touzet’s Villa de Margot
24 rue des Trois Colombes. Tel. 04 90 82 62 34.

Marie Touzet operates an attractive B&B with three rooms and two suites in an 1820 mansion within easy walking distance of the center of Avignon. The well-maintained rooms and suites of various comfortable sizes are decorated with a nod to various 19th- and early-20th-century styles and run 120-200€, including breakfast. The Suite Royale is a large family suite with a double bed and two single beds for children (supplement) and a terrace with a view at one edge of the Popes’ Palace. Private parking (10€/night) Dog alert: There’s a friendly little mutt named Easy roaming about. Open year-round.

© 2013, Gary Lee Kraut

For more on Avignon read Profiles in Provence: Passionate Purveyors of Fine Food and Drink.

For a glimpse of nearby Orange see Black Diva and the Roman Theater of Orange.

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