In LA, we have the famous pink wall outside of the Paul Smith store on Melrose Avenue; and in Paris, we have the famous pink house, otherwise known as La Maison Rose restaurant in Montmartre. I have been dying to visit this idyllic place for months, and when a blogger friend (Kristina Wilde) and I got together one recent afternoon, we decided to make the trek up the hill to see it for ourselves.
To get there isn’t the easiest task–it’s quite a hike up many stairs from the Metro station to street level and then another hike up several stairs to get up to this particular street.
I read up a bit on La Maison Rose, knowing that there had to be some incredible story behind it. I discovered that Pablo Picasso himself used to frequent the venue quite a bit back in the day, and it was also the home of a famous femme fatale who Picasso’s best friend (Carlos) was in love with named Germaine Pichot. She didn’t feel the same about him, however, and Carlos actually tried to shoot Germaine at her house in his emotional state, but missed and shot himself instead. This event brought about a deep depression for Picasso and led to his Blue Period.
Gasp. Talk about history! I HAD TO GO. (and it’s PINK.)
Kristina and I trekked right up the stairs and along the winding road, giddy and excited to have a leisurely lunch at this historical pink place, when we stopped in our tracks and realized it was completely closed in the middle of the day. There was no signage or anything explaining the closure, so we were at a loss. We did stop and take several snaps to document our efforts, however, and Kristina filmed this adorable vlog from our afternoon adventure.
Not one to ever give up on a dream, I decided to try again a few days later on a Saturday afternoon with high hopes of the aforementioned leisurely lunch at the cute pink place. I set out for another outing in Montmartre, thinking surely they have to be open on weekends.
Much to my dismay, it WAS STILL CLOSED.
Seems to be that La Maison Rose is just being very French right now, and closing up shop for no particular reason, without any explanation or regards for those that might be affected by this.
Le sigh.
I guess I’ll never be able to experience their famous French onion soup or see inside the historical house anytime soon; but at least I’ll have these photos to remember the pink place fondly during my time in Paris.
Au Revoir!
xx Jenn
Marilyn Janss says
My grand daughter was just there with friends of the owner and told us the story of why it is close. She went inside. Needs Major repairs and hopefully will reopen in a year.
Keep checking ?