This Paris Hotel With a Special Connection to Picasso Is Taking Guests on a Tour of All His Favorite Spots
Courtesy of Dorchester Collection’s Le Meurice Dorchester Collection’s Le Meurice Hotel
It's not every day that you can — quite literally — walk in the footsteps of one of the world's most famous artists, but now the historic Le Meurice hotel in Paris is offering just that.
The hotel, which hosted the iconic artist's wedding banquet when he married Russian dancer Olga Khokhlova in 1918, is offering an overnight stay complete with an expert-guided walking tour of his favorite haunts in Paris' bohemian Montmartre neighborhood.
From the hotel guests will join an art historian for a two-hour private tour of Picasso's Paris on the cobblestone streets of Montmartre. The tour will highlight Picasso's life from 1900 to 1911, when he moved to Paris and began painting and hanging out with the likes of Gertrude Stein, Henri Matisse, and Andre Breton.
Courtesy of Dorchester Collection’s Le Meurice
Guests will learn about Picasso's drinking habits at local cabarets, the secrets behind some of his most beloved paintings, and his arrest in connection with the theft of "Mona Lisa."
When guests return to the hotel, the art experience continues. Le Meurice is located in the epicenter of Paris, just steps from Le Louvre, which made it a popular meeting spot for the city's artists and intellectuals. Other famous artists like Salvador Dali loved the hotel and stayed there for extended periods of time.
The hotel — where a painting in the banquet room still bears a dent from a flying champagne cork on the artist's wedding day — boasts an impressive art collection and is considered a quintessential Parisian glamour hotel, having been the first to receive the prestigious "Palace" designation from the French government (marking it as a place of significant architectural significance).
The "Picasso's Montmartre" experience starts at €1,330 for two people and includes a one-night stay, American breakfast and a two-hour guided walk. It's available to book from Sept. 20 by calling 33 (0)1 87 16 44 59 or by email at: réservations.LMP@dorchestercollection.com
Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com.
