Ile St-Louis
From Paris Hotels Reviews
The Ile St-Louis is arguably the most romantic part of Paris and prime strolling territory. Unlike its larger neighbour, the Ile de la Cité, it has no monuments or sights as such, save for a small museum at 6 quai d’Orléans devoted to the Romantic Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz (Thurs2.15-4.30pm, Sat 9am-noon or by appointment on 1.43.54.35.61; €5).instead, you’ll find tall, austerely beautiful houses on single-lane streets, tree-lined quais, a school, a church, assorted restaurants and cafés, and interesting shops. The island feels somewhat removed from the rest of Paris, with its own distinct charm, an oasis little touched by the city’s turbulent years of revolution and upheaval. Inhabitants of the island even have their own name – “Louisiens”.
For centuries the Ile St-Louise was nothing but swampy pastureland, a haunt of lovers, duelists and miscreants on the run, until in the seventeenth century the real-estate developer, Christophe Marie, had the bright idea of filling it with elegant mansions, so that by 1660 the island was quite transformed. In the 1840s the Ile gained popularity as a Bohemian hang-out, much like the Ile de Louviers a decade earlier. The Haschischins club met every month on the ground floor of the Hotel Lauzun, 17 quai d’Anjou. As the club’s name suggests, hashish was handed round – apparently in the form a green jelly – at these gatherings, attended by Manet, Balzac, Nerval and Baudelaire, among others. Baudelaire in fact lived in the building for a while in a small apartment on the second floor, where he wrote much of Les Fleurs du mal and ran up large debts furnishing his rooms with antiques. The hôtel, built in 1657 by Versailles architect Le Vau, has an intact interior, complete with splendid trompe l’oeil decorations; it’s often used for government receptions, and is sometimes open for guided tours to the public – details are given in the “Visites conferences” section in Pariscope.
Le Vau also built the splendid Hotel Lambert at the tip of the island, 1 quai d’Anjou. Decorated by two of seventeenth-century France’s greatest painters, Charles Le Brun, who painted Versailles’ Galerie des Glaces, and Eustache Le Sueur, it’s widely thought to be the most beautiful residence in Paris. Past inhabitants include Voltaire, who lived here with his mistress the Marquise du Châtelet, and the exiled Polish prince Adam Czartorisky, famed for his lavish parties attended by Chopin, George Sand, Delacroix and other luminaries. At the time of writing the current owner, Baron Guy de Rothschild, had put the house up for sale amid speculation that it could fetch up to a staggering 150 million euros.
A visit to the island wouldn’t be complete without a stop at M. Berthillon, 31 rue St-Louis-en-l’lle; buying one of their exquisite sorbets or ice creams and then wandering down rue St-Louis-en-l’lle, ice cream in hand, is something of a tradition. For absolute seclusion, head for the southern quais, or climb over the low gate on the right of the garden across boulevard Henri-IV to reach the best sunbathing spot in Paris. The island is particularly atmospheric in the evening, and an arm-in-arm wander along the quais is a must in any lovers’ itinerary.
