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Hotel L de Lutèce

The minds and spirit of the place

A single letter, an initial full of promise, which encompasses the ineffable inspirations of the Île Saint-Louis. An L, for light-hearted, to evoke the unique body of knowledge that has emerged from one century to the next, from one side street to another. L for the homonym aile, which is French for wing. Indeed, at the Hotel L de Lutèce, in the flap of a wing you see beyond the façades, contemplate the water as it flows under the bridges, and let your mind wander freely, so as to nurture an authentic art of living, with that certain je-ne-sais-quoi of daring.

 

The Wings of Lutèce

Long before Paris flourished, Lutetia, Lutèce in French, came into being on the islands of the Seine. Grounded in the middle of the Seine, it is from here that the city developed. In ancient times, the Île Notre-Dame & Île aux Vaches were combined to form a single island: the île Saint-Louis. This is where the capital’s foundations nestle. 

It is also here in this historic epicentre that the Hotel L de Lutèce is housed. It is in this very place that the spirit of Paris spread its wings in days of yore and the traces of memories of its ascent are preserved to this day.

Hôtel L de Lutèce
Hôtel L de Lutèce - L’Ile Saint-Louis

The women of Lutèce

On the island of the Hotel L de Lutèce a magic feel graces the air: the place’s magnetic appeal is derived from its truly memorable centuries-old heritage. Not just in its buildings, but also in the heritage bequeathed to it by the awards and distinctions won by the illustrious women who lived here. (Elles de Lutèce is also a homonym of the letter L in French and the plural of they in the feminine.). Over the centuries, the island has notably brought together a great many emancipated women who had an avant-garde talent in their particular field, with an incredible freedom of character for the times.

To name but a few who are special to us: the virtuoso musician Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, acclaimed by the court of Louis XIV for her refined harpsichord compositions, which she created in the rue Le Regrattier, just a stone’s throw from our hotel. In the 18th  century, in the elegant salons of the Hotel Lambert, the mathematician — and marquise — Émilie du Châtelet, who popularised Isaac Newton’s principles of gravity. Many years later, until 1913, the quai de Bourbon housed the studio of sculptor Camille Claudel, whose works of striking sensual modernity created a stir in an art form that had primarily been a male preserve. A few months on and a short distance away, Quai de Béthune was home to double Nobel Prize-winner Marie Curie, who made outstanding breakthroughs in 20th-century chemistry and physics. These erudite women, all residents of the Île Saint-Louis opened the way to entirely new ways of thinking with regard to their status as women, whose legacy still resounds to this day… well beyond the island of Hotel L de Lutèce.

Two generations

What about today ? Whilst for two generations now Hotel L de Lutèce has attached great importance to the aura and careers of these women of character, it is above all the notion of chic and elegance for guests that has spread its wings, both resolutely and freely.

Hôtel L de Lutèce - L’Ile Saint-Louis