Luxury Travel Advisor - January 2008 - (Page 31) ACCESS: Dining in Paris and Cannes Le Candille (www.lemascan dille.com) in Mougins is a short drive from Cannes and is well worth the visit. With a gastronomic menu to rival the most acclaimed Cannes restaurants, the Michelin-starred restaurant promises one of the finest dining experiences on the French Riviera. Try the eight-course tasting menu; the dishes and flavors wonderfully mix French and international cuisine. In Paris, Chez Georges (www.centrepompidou.fr) at Centre Pompidou is a must. On the top floor of the arts complex, it boasts views over most of the city through bay windows. Request a table overlooking the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame. Tables are made from sand-blasted glass, lit from below and accessorized with hypermodern cutlery. Cuisine is a mix of Asian, French and international styles. Le Saut Du Loup (www.lesau tduloup.com), also in Paris, offers amazing views of the Eiffel Tower. This culinary delight is in the Museum of Decorative Arts and combines French cuisine, salads and inventive plates. stores and the luxury boutiques of the Place Vendome. Although each room at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand is unique (various sizes, accessories, room layouts) all rooms share the same opulence and elegant details. The rooms are dressed in a delicate harmony of blue, red and deep gold, and are decorated with wall engravings evoking dance and music, paying homage to the Opera House next door. Framed sheet music can be found throughout the corridors of the Le Grand. For the best rooms, book one of four Presidential Suites, all of which offer amazing views of the Opera House. The largest suite is the first-floor Imperial. It boasts high ceilings, beautiful moldings and two bedrooms (great for kids or their nanny). The fifth-floor, one-bedroom Honeymoon Suite, though smaller in size than the Imperial, is also a favorite due to its fantastic views. Guests can peer out their window and into the Opera House, spying dancers during rehearsals. The Honeymoon Suite is also the only suite with a Jacuzzi bath and steam room. Luxury travel advisors can contact Sales and Marketing Director Veronique Sellier (vero nique.sellier@ihg.com; 33-1-4007-3526) for VIP bookings. The most demanding guests have the Club InterContinental and its VIP lounge—think round-the-clock cuisine, cocktails, e-mail, fax and other business services—at their disposal. It is a veritable hotel within the hotel, providing services that are even more personalized and rival those of the best establishments in Paris. For guests looking to have a glass of champagne while taking in the surrounding views of Paris, those of the Opera House from the top floor of the lounge are some of the best in the city. For dinner, a must is Le Café de la Paix, the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant and a legend in Paris. Among the decisive steps taken to make this one of the top restaurants in a city known for its cuisine was hiring talented young chef Laurent Delarbre, who was awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France. More than 70 percent of diners here are locals and guests from other hotels, as the restaurant is consistently ranked among the top in Paris. Head Concierge Gilles Harrault (gilles.harrault@ihg. com; 33-1-40-07-3232) is an expert at putting together “insider” packages of Paris; two of our favorites are a private tour of Paris via a Citroën convertible and the insider’s tour of Dior, which includes an individual presentation of Dior’s collection in a private salon complete with champagne. The convertible Citroën 2CV tour (www.4roues-sous-1para pluie.com) offers gorgeous panoramic views of the city as an expert driver maneuvers his way through the famous boulevards and tiny streets. We felt like celebrities as locals pointed at and snapped pictures of our retro convertible. REGAL SUITES have drawn celebrities to Paris’s Le Grand for decades (suite living room, shown). January 2008 | LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR www.luxuryta.com 31 http://www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com http://www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com http://www.lemascandille.com http://www.lemascandille.com http://www.centrepompidou.fr http://www.lesautduloup.com http://www.lesautduloup.com http://www.luxuryta.com
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