Paris, France - Lapérouse

Last Wednesday night I took the train to Paris to meet my best friend from 7^th grade, Mercedes, who was in town from Boston to celebrate her birthday. You may remember Mercedes from her wonderful guest blogs on Argentina and Hawaii. To help us party in style, Mercedes’ mom Vicki (one of my most faithful blog followers) treated us 4 American girls to several nights in two junior suites at the decadent Le Burgundy hotel just off Rue St. Honoré. 

The bar is lively and a great place to stop in for a pre or post dinner drink

We spent the actual night of Mercedes’ birthday on October 4^th sipping champagne and eating desserts in the Salon Victor Hugo, a private room at Lapérouse, one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, located on the left bank of the Seine. The bordello-like atmosphere of the restaurant, along with its former famous regulars (Alexandre Dumas, Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, Victor Hugo) had us all begging the walls to talk.

Salon Victor Hugo, our private room for the evening

Lapérouse has a fascinating history. During the early 1800s, the high rate of criminal activity and the fact that all transactions were conducted in cash, gave the owner a brilliant idea: make the servant's rooms on the second floor of this former mansion available to customers as a secure and practical place to do their books in total discretion. Thus the former 'petits salons' of Lapérouse, like the Salon Victor Hugo we reserved, were born. 

I introduced Mercedes to this champagne a few birthdays ago; its our favorite, hands down.

Mille Feuille

Soufflé

Le Paris-Brest

Chocolate decadence

Me and the birthday girl

5 Americans in Paris

"Walking into Lapérouse is like entering a place where time has, to a certain point stood still. A place where the clang of silverware has been resonating for almost 250 years, and where the spirits of the likes of Victor Hugo and Gustave Flaubert still waft through the hallways like a rare perfume."