Hôtel Pont Royal

For five days and five nights in Paris, I would highly recommend the:

Hotel Pont Royal - Saint Germain des Près

7 rue de Montalembert
75007 Paris - France




Located right off of Rue St-Germain, on a quieter side street, Montalambert, this sweet little gem was perfect for our brief but full jaunt to Paris in December.

(and you'll notice that all these polished, stylized photos were taken straight from the website.)

the lounge.....


a view...



another view...



and the lobby...


We stayed here for two reasons, the location and the restaurant.

The location was right in the heart of the 6th arrondisement. Right where we like to be....walking distance to the Seine, the Latin Quarter, the Marais, and beyond.

And the restaurant is L'atelier de Joël Robuchon Restaurant.







Dressed only in red and black, the impression from this Michelin three-star chef's eatery is not one of warm and welcoming but stark and serious. That all dissipates the minute you sit down and waiters surround you with smiles, greetings, bread, information, and humor.

If you look closely at the photos, you can see the perfect example of food as art. Floating slices of cukes, carrots, and red pepper in oil? water? Colorful lentils layered in a vase. Perfectly placed apples.....all just there for you to stare at and enjoy along with the handsome staff of young men manning the stove, grill, oven, and crockpot. Okay - no crockpot but there was a load of quiet mystical culinary action just an arm's length from our seats - absolute cooking wizardry with wooden spoons as wands.

It's hard to go into all the detail about the 3 course meal we had without sounding a little repetitive. I can, however, easily point you in the direction of a better written review from NY Times, Mark Bittman.

Suffice it to say, it was absolutely the most amazing meal I have ever had. In my life.