London at the End of the Century:A Book of Gossip
a Beckett, Arthur William
1900
THE HOTEL DU LOUVRE AND ITS RIVALS.
Of course there are other excellent hotels besides the Grand. There are any number on the Boulevards; along the Rue de Rivoli; in the Rue St. | |
326 | Honore. In the days of my youth I used to like the Grand Hotel du Louvre. It still exists, but its ancient site is now occupied by the Magasins, the delight of the ladies and the terror of their remaining The other day, when I passed through what used to be the courtyard, I found it full of all sorts of Here were some feather ruffs, there a miscellaneous collection of bonnets all ticketed ten francs a piece, yonder a great bazaar of I could not help sighing when I thought of the past, and I feel certain that my melancholy would have become chronic had not my better seven-eighths cheered me up by wanting to buy a Franco-Russian fan, an eiderdown quilt, four umbrellas, a trunk, a dozen and a half of blankets, a few hats, some curtains, a gauzy arrangement for the front of the dress and a dining-room table. We did not purchase all these articles, and those we did I am bound to say we found a nuisance. I put some of the blankets, two of the umbrellas, and the fan in my bundle of coats, and unfortunately these did not seem to agree with my recently polished evening boots and my partially opened sponge-bag. But, of course, you cannot expect everything to go like clockwork when travelling. Still, it must be supposed that a feather fan, representing the Franco-Russian colours, is not improved by the application of escaped boot polish and liberated Odonto. |
327 | Leaving the reduced Louvre, we may patronise, if we please, the increased Hotel de Lille et d'Albion. Years ago this was quite a small place, and the original site is now occupied (I fancy) by the Hotel St. James. In its present form it is not bad, still it is Breakfast is distinctly breakfast, and there is a strong suggestion of in the other meals. Much the same may be said of the Normandie, and if the Continental is not so popular as the Grand, it is because it is at the wrong end of the Avenue de l'Opera. I have been told by daring tourists that there are good hostelries on the other side of the Seine. I cannot speak from experience, but if all I hear is true, in the Quartier St. Germain there may still be found representatives of the old who, having no houses in , still put up at the ancient inns devoted to their class. Here you will find marquises who do not owe their coronets to chocolate manufactories, and peers of France who can trace their titles beyond the days of |
