Hermes Tea Room 75006 Paris

Think Hermès – think silk scarves?  That’s right, but now you can also think Hermes tea room in their new store on the rue de Sevres, Paris 6e. which opened at the end of 2010.  It is an impressive ultra-modern store which has been built on the site of an old swimming pool, with soaring light wood coracle-like constructions to separate the various departments. Here you will find all the usual Hermès luxury offerings – suede and leather clothes and handbags,  cashmere coats, silk dresses, jewellery and even Hermès china and silverware.  Plus an exotic flower store just inside the entrance – when I visited in December you could for example have bought lilac trees in full bloom! But the new attraction is the tea room situated on the first floor.  I ordered tea and cakes – which was served on stunning Hermès white china laid out with beautifully starched drawn thread napkins.  The cakes almost looked home-made and were not of the cream and icing variety but rather tarts and kugels and they were absolutely delicious.  The prices for all this luxury were “somewhat more” than you would normally expect to pay for such items (28 euros for tea and a cake!), but as far as I was concerned worth every penny.  It was a return to a genteel style of living which sadly is becoming more and more rare. And thanks to a very discreet sales staff who don’t bother you at all,  there’s nothing to stop you wandering amongst the beautiful clothes and dreaming what it would be like to own some of them…..