I Prefer Paris: Vincent’s Birthday Celebration 2024

Vincent’s birthday is August 24, and every year since we moved to Paris, we travel somewhere to celebrate, since most of our friends are away, and most good restaurants are closed.

This year we went to Versailles and were invited by the fabulous new hotel Les Lumières Versailles, to spend the night, and boy, did we get the VIP treatment.

We arrived at 10:35 last Saturday, and they had a slick Mercedes limo pick us up at the station, even though it was a ten-minute walk to the hotel.

When we approached the hotel, we realized it was just across from the palace entrance. It was a beautiful day, and the glass-enclosed, sun-drenched lobby with bamboo lounge chairs and velvet couches was so relaxing, we wanted to spend the day in the lobby. They gave us the top suite, which was named after the Montgolfier brothers, who invented the hot air balloon in the 1800s. The lovely living room was decorated in neutral shades, and I loved the gray walls with white molding. Our bed was extra cushy, and the TV was cleverly hidden inside a picture frame. The coolest thing about the room was a meditation device, a box that had different settings for sounds and music to meditate with. We wanted to try but we thought we would fall asleep the rest of the afternoon.

The day manager, Thibaut, gave us a tour of the hotel and shared the history. It was originally a hotel de particulier given as a gift to Édouard Colbert and Antoine III de Gramont by King Louis XIV. The gut renovation was finished in July and the hotel opened just in time for the equestrian Olympics in Versailles. Les Lumieres Versailles recently received Relais & Chateau status. The name, Les Lumieres, is derived from the Age of Enlightenment, the influential cultural, literary, and philosophical movement of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

The Library

The highlight of the hotel is the gorgeous ballroom on the second floor, which is now a Pierre Herme restaurant. The enormous, open space has pink velvet banquettes, crystal chandeliers I would kill to own, a beautifully patterned Oriental rug, and black bentwood chairs. We were seated at a table with a marvelous view of the palace and we each had simple Caesar salads, so we could indulge in a decadent, Pierre Herme dessert. Jardin Japonais is a pretty pink, shiny dome filled with lemon-flavored shortcake, lemon compote and Morello cherries, and had a little candle on top. Vincent quickly blew it out, and we annihilated it like it was going to be the last pastry we would ever eat.

That afternoon we toured the gardens of the palace and saw and heard the musical fountains. At the Orangerie, which we’ve never visited before was a fantastic, immense tapestry by Eva Jospin. (I wrote about it on Monday this week, CLICK HERE if you missed it).

Back at the hotel we had yummy mocktails at the impressive Philosophers' Bar, which only stocks drinks, spirits, and wines from France.

The Table des Lumières restaurant where we had dinner that night, had an intriguing concept. Chef Erwan Le Thomas devised a vegetable-based menu with meat and fish served as a side dish, which was perfect, since Vincent primarily cooks vegetables and seafood at home. Vincent had a plate with sliced carrots and carrot puree with a side of John Dory fish, and I had a plate with yellow and red beets, with a red beet sauce, accompanied by two slices of Wagyu beef. Once more, the restaurant topped our amazing peach éclair with a birthday candle, but the server remained discreet and thankfully didn’t sing happy birthday.

Later that evening at 10:50, we returned to the palace to watch the fireworks, and the sky lit up with a dazzling light show.

The next morning, we returned to our favorite room, the ballroom, for breakfast and had a super fluffy, cheese omelet, strong coffee, croissants, and pain au chocolats.

We went to the huge food market, voted one of the best in France, and picked up cheeses, fruit, and herbs, all which were much less if we bought them in Paris.

5 rue Colbert, 78000 Versailles

https://www.leslumieres.com/en/