Esprit de france - le blog

Today in the Creative Spirit section, enjoy a drawing signed by a customer who left a deep footprint at the Hotel Aiglon. This is the British drawer and cartoonist Ronald Searle who designed this flying cat “Chataiglon”.

Mr Searle spent his career working for the New Yorker and Life magazine expressing his satirical eye on society. Drawings he made during his captivity in Singapore from 1941 to 1945 are a precious testimony of the daily reality during the 2^nd world war. He is now recognized as a prolific artist who constantly managed to exploit his talent through various styles.

Mr and Mrs Searle are loyal customers of the hotel Aiglon for 35 years. So loyal that a suite has been renamed “the Searle Suite”.  The artist has offered three lithographies for this room which confer a strong and unique personality to the place.

This article is also a way to thank Mr and Mrs Searle for their loyalty.

The Searle Suite at the Hotel Aiglon

Today, Paris’ creative spirit takes place at the Hotel d’Orsay with this Eiffel Tower, so emblematic of the city of lights.

One of the hotel’s customer spontaneously illustrated his journey with this drawing and we want to share it with you.

Some of our customers sometimes draw in the hotel visitor’s book to express feelings about their stay.

We would like to share with you these pieces of humor, spontaneity and creativity with the “Creative spirit” section.

Translation: “I always stay at the Hotel Mansart”. Pun with the verb “descends” which means “go down” in a different context.

On foot or on a bike, take the time to discover the streets and neighbourhoods that are filled with charm and that will tell you the history of Paris.

Between the Hotel des Saints Pères in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and the Hotel du Parc Saint-Séverin in the heart of the Latin Quarter, discover some of the famous Parisian sites…

The neighbourhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, bordered by the river Seine, the Luxembourg garden, the boulevard Saint-Michel and the rue des Saints Pères, owes its name to the nearby church the earliest stone of which dates back to 557. Today, the neighbourhood is made up of a maze of old streets full of art, books and fashion.

The Place Furstenberg

Le Café de Flore, les Deux Magots and the Brasserie Lipp, make up the golden triangle of the boulevard and the place Saint-Germain, which was once the hotspot for intellectuals such as, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Paul Eluard and André Breton; it has since become a historical location.

If you return up the rue Bonaparte, you will reach place Saint Sulpice, where the church, famous for its Eugène Delacroix frescoes and its chancel adorned with statues by Pigalle, was the main setting for Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code.

From there, go down the rue Servandoni all the way to the Luxembourg Palace and its gardens. Commissioned by Queen Catherine de Medicis, the Palace still houses the Senate, whereas the gardens welcome temporary art expositions.

Leave the gardens by way of the boulevard Saint-Michel, you’ll be minutes away from the famous Panthéon and the rue Mouffetard and its typical Parisian market. If you go back up the boulevard Saint-Michel, you will find yourself near the Sorbonne and the Cluny Museum, the window of the history and art of the Middle Ages.

Behind the Hotel du Parc Saint-Séverin, nestled in the pedestrian area of the Latin Quarter, you’ll be next to the Ile Saint-Louis, Notre Dame, the Ile de la Cité and the Sainte Chapelle.