HOTEL PARTNERS

IN NUVO

Chef Alain Ducasse’s empire is impressive. Few are aware, however, that this famed French chef also owns two Provençal country-style hotels.

The chef behind Osteria Francescana, the world’s best restaurant, upends the norms of Italian cooking

The final product comes filled—should you have the heart to crack it—with crispy almond-praline eggs.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: When you enter the shop on rue de la Roquette, you’re hit with the most luxurious of aromas: chocolate. And not just any chocolate but chocolate made in the open manufacture (workshop) on-site. This chocolate is so pure, all that’s missing is the cocoa plantation out back.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:Flying by helicopter from Nice’s Côte d’Azur Airport to the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo this year seems apt since it’s the 60th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s creation of the James Bond character. The opulent five-star hotel was used as a filming location for GoldenEye and Never Say Never Again.

Hotel Plaza Athénée opened in 1911, at 25 Avenue Montaigne, at the same time as its neighbour, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées. It was not long before the hotel, situated so perfectly, became a Parisian hot spot.