Shangri-La Garden of pleasure
It is a place of pleasure, but also full of history, installed in the former residence of Prince Roland Bonaparte, grandnephew of Napoleon I and renowned botanist (its herbarium gathering nearly 100,000 plant species still flares), but also geographer and licensed astronomer, member of many learned societies and passionate promoter of nascent aeronautics. This is to say that it was necessary to have a palace worthy of the great man, who in 1891 entrusted the construction of this box for his collections to the architect Ernest Janty, in a pure eclectic style proper to the Second Empire. Completed in 1896, it was reborn more than a century later under the name of Shangri-La.
Inaugurated in 2010, after five years of work, the mansion was transformed into a five-star hotel, the palace, under the leadership of architect Richard Martinet and interior architect Pierre-Yves Rochon, who knew how to finely connect the Parisian spirit of the Historic Monument building and the Asian influences of the Chinese group that holds it. This wedding makes it a unique place, from its public areas to its 65 rooms and 36 suites opening in majesty on the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. A great lady always in sight, like a reassuring lookout, also pointing her silhouette on the garden terrace of the restaurant La Bauhinia, one of the two establishments of the hotel with the Shang Palace (a Michelin star), which brings Cantonese culinary art to its peak. The summer day stretches out in sensuality on this terrace lined with green jars, lawns and flowering groves, mixing relaxation and gastronomy to the rhythm of the agapes that scan the hours. You can indeed have a drink or lunch there late and at any time (or even brunch on Sunday) by drawing from a menu that satisfies the desire of freshness.
For lunch (from 12pm to 2pm) and dinner (from 7pm to 10pm), chef Christophe Moret, orchestrates a farandole of dishes with iodine and fruity flavors, such as lobster salad served with avocado, mango and ponzu sauce, the back of bar grilled Riviera sauce, or the delectable Crying Tiger, one of the house’s bestseller. We still have a small dip to finish in beauty with one of the signature pastries of Maxence Barbot like the Millefeuille vanilla and caramel or the Tatin of seasonal fruit. You can also opt for the 100% sweet Summer Tea Time of the pastry chef, with champagne (on Saturdays and Sundays), which unfolds a menu of vitamin-rich seasonal fruit treats, to be enjoyed under the spectacular glass dome of La Bauhinia.
And to finish in beauty, head to the Chi, the Shangri-La spa, whose «Summer in Paris» offer allows you to enjoy daily, all July and August, the fitness areas, the terrace and the magnificent swimming pool bathed in natural light that irrigates the space with large bay windows. It is also an opportunity to test the Chi’s new anti-aging treatment, the Jet Peel, to perfect a summer day where everything is «luxury, calm and voluptuousness».
