Grand Hotels— A Tale of Two Cities

The Paris Le Grand and the Carleton

in Cannes personify glitz, history

and comfort.

BY SARA EVANS

Paris in the mid-19th century was not the Paris we know today. It was for the most part a series of slums, a city without paved roads, street lighting, running water or a sewerage system. It was essentially a medieval, walled city, way behind the other great cities of Europe.

When Emperor Louis Napoleon, aka Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, took the helm after his election to the presidency of France in 1848, all that was to change.

Together with the genius Baron Haussmann, Napoleon III created the beautiful City of Light, the Paris of today. The creation of modern Paris was perhaps the greatest examples of urban renewal in the history of the world. Radiating out from the new center, the Etoile, were five main boulevards, with many streets branching out from them. Important historic buildings, such as the Louvre and the city’s many magnificent churches were preserved, while 20,000 homes were razed. In their place, 40,000 new ones were built. Over the twenty years of this vast project, 350,000 citizens were displaced; 300 new streets were created.

A jewel in the crown of the new city was the Hotel Le Grand, which today is part of the global network  of Intercontinental hotels. Designed by Charles Garnier, a favorite architect of Haussmann and the Emperor, it was the finest and most modern hotel on the planet. Opened in May of 1862 by the Empress Eugenie, it filled an entire city block. It perched next to Garnier’s triumph, the Garnier Opera House. Jacques Offenbach himself led the orchestra at the opening, filling the air with arias from such popular operas as La Traviata and Giselle. The hotel then boasted 400 bedrooms and 65 reception rooms. The dining room could feed 800 guests and its fabled wine cellar held over a million bottles from every region of France. It was—and is—more like a royal palace than a mere hotel.

And royalty flocked to Le Grand from all over the world, along with gamblers and bon vivants, crooks and courtesans, industrialists and bankers, and a host of conductors and singers.

On the ground floor of Le Grand, the famous Cafe de la Paix became the center of Paris, a meeting place for the haute and demi-monde, for artists and writers, politicians and poets.  De Maupassant, Zola, Hugo, Corot, Millais and Flaubert all hung out there. King Edward VII was a huge fan. Upon meeting Empress Eugenie on his first visit to Paris, he said, “What a beautiful country you have here. I would so like to be your son and stay here.”

Me, too. When I first entered my room at the Grand, all I could think was, “Pinch me. I’m dreaming.” Impeccably decorated in Second Empire style, with opulent fabrics and spitting distance from the statues that grace the Opera, I finally understood the cliche about dying and going to heaven.

The hotel underwent a massive renovation in 2003. Today, its great public spaces evoke both the Second Empire and the Belle Epoque..             But Le Grand is also emblematic of contemporary Paris, with a state-of-the-art spa, fitness and technology services.  The wine list is impressively broad and the meals and desserts at both La Verriere, the elegant, glass-enclosed winter garden, and the famous Cafe de la Paix are wonders to behold. Josephine Baker sang there. Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich stayed there—and the good news is, you can, too.

The city of Cannes is a complex mix of glitz and the quotidien, of the new and the very old. The Old Town boasts steep, narrow, cobbled streets, an ancient fortified castle and a fantastic farmer’s market with produce from all over Provence. Before the invention of the Cote d’Azur in the 1860’s, it was a sleepy fishing port. All that changed rapidly with the arrival of the railway—and the hordes of tourists from all over the globe who flocked to the fabled South of France.

The Carleton Intercontinental in Cannes is a standout in this star-struck town. Perched on the famed La Croisette, the elegant boulevard that borders the sea front, the hotel’s two gleaming slate domes dominate the city’s skyline. Overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean, the Carlton has been a favorite of visiting luminaries and generations of well-heeled tourists ever since it was opened. For Russian Grand Dukes to Turkish pashas, from sultans, oil sheiks and royalty from all over the world, the Carlton has been the go-to hotel.in Cannes.

Built between 1910 and 1913, this hotel is a stunning example of French Art Nouveau architecture, with elaborate cornices embellished with figures and flowers, and gardens bursting with color.

Cannes of course is the site of the fabled Cannes Film Festival, held in the Palais des Festivals every May. The town is transformed, clogged with limos and movies stars, directors and distributors. And the glamorous Carleton, with its fabled Terrace, becomes Cannes’ Ground Zero, the place to see and be seen, the place where major deals are done. The hotel itself has been the site of many famous movies, including “To Catch a Thief,” and “A Man and a Woman.”

The Carleton has hosted countless movie stars  and directors. The list is huge and includes Hitchcock, Quinn, Bardot, Clooney, Deneueve, Liz Taylor and Sophia Loren. Some stay with such loyal regularity that they have their own suites, including Sean Penn, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Sharon Stone, Robert de Niro and the lovely, late Grace Kelly.

La Croisette is a shopper’s delight, with Cartier, Tiffany, Bulgari, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Hermes, Gucci—you name it. In Cannes, shopping is definitely a way of life, with Ferraris, Maseratis and Bentleys clogging the streets.

The Carlton has its own manicured beach and a delightful beach restaurant, and is elegantly furnished, with rooms that evoke the Belle Epoque. The hotel and some of its interior spaces are designated historical landmarks. The Terrace, overlooking the Mediterranean, is the ultimate meeting place for the wealthy of the world. The Carlton is more than a hotel, it is a total experience, with superb foods and an infinity of fine wines and champagnes.

The luminously beautiful Director of Communications, Narjiss Falcoz, a transplant from Morocco, has worked at the Carlton since she was a teenager. She sums it all up: “This hotel isn’t just any hotel. It’s different. It has a soul.”