Afternoon tea (à la française) at the George V Hotel-the perfect way to celebrate our wedding anniversary

La Galerie, festively decorated for Christmas, in the Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris

As I’ve said before, I’m usually a cheap date but things may change now that I've discovered that George V’s afternoon tea rivals any of those that I’ve had in London. It's so good that I’m already thinking about ways to win the lottery so that I won’t have to wait another year to use our wedding anniversary as an excuse to return.

After making an exploratory visit last weekend when I was somewhat disappointingly seated at a table in the bar, we followed the suggestions of the hostess to increase our chances of getting a table next to the pianist in La Galerie, the room described as the heart and soul of the George V. As only guests staying in the hotel may reserve tables, seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is in high demand. Stephane, Sara and I agreed, however, that arriving shortly after 3:00 p.m. and waiting forty-five minutes for the perfect table isn’t too bad when you're in a prime location for people watching. Our table was ready before we knew it!

Christmas tunes playing in the background and a glass of bubbly - the perfect way to celebrate a December wedding anniversary. 

Wanting to toast our many years together, Stephane and I took the French Tea (55€) that came with a glass of champagne (bien sûr!), while Sara opted for the English Tea (45€).

While Stephane and I raved about our pumpkin soup with chestnuts, foie gras with mango chutney, crab with quinoa and scallops tartare, Sara was pleased by the more traditional fare of tuna salad, cucumber salad, roast beef and smoked salmon. With macarons, Financiers (small French cakes), fruit salad, and some dessert that I don't remember, many of the pastries were the same for the English and French tea. Perhaps best of all were the scones with clotted cream because I would have thought it necessary to cross The English Channel to find ones that tasted as delicious. Sara, who is a bit of an afternoon tea aficionado, remarked that the only difference between the George V and Number Sixteen, where she recently had tea while visting friends in London, is that we weren't offered milk and additional hot water to dilute our tea. I guess that, unlike in England, tea still doesn't take center stage in France.

English Tea goodies on the left, French Tea delicacies on the right.

Not wanting to leave the festive atmosphere of the George V, we did some window shopping at one of the boutiques and found a little trinket for Stephane to put under the Christmas tree. At 194,470 € ($253,608), the necklace made our afternoon tea seem like a real bargain. Maybe I am a cheap date, after all!

Four Seasons Hotel George V
31, avenue George V
75008 Paris


Comments

  1. Gorgeous - post and photos!

    (I am about to buy a Leica D Lux 5 -- not that I could take photos as you do but I need all the help I can get - thanks for sharing what camera you use!)

    Cheers and happy Christmas to you and yours. And happy anniversary!

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  2. I like that necklace... and what's not to like (bar the price tag, of course!;)?

    What a great way to celebrate a wedding anniversary!:) We're planning on coming back to Paris for Easter weekend and our wedding anniversary is on the 2nd of April... Hmmmm food for thought!;) You have a lot of good ideas, MK:)

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  3. Happy anniversary Mary Kay! Thanks for allowing the rest of us to tag along

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  4. Happy Anniversary!!!!! I would have gone for the French tea as well...I'm a sucker for foie gras and champagne!

    I wish you and Stephane a very Merry Christmas...oh, one other thing..is that necklace "the little trinket" really under your tree?! If so....Bravo, Stephane! oh la la!

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  5. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon! Happy Anniversary and I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!

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  6. Happy Anniversary to you and Stephane!! What a fantastic way to celebrate.

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  7. Happiest Anniversary! And what a way to celebrate!

    The tea trays are so beautiful, really well done, but of course. Mais bien sur. I'm a little surprised to see salt and pepper on the table at tea though. And they use tea bags? That's okay, but I would expect loose tea and a strainer, but we're not in England, so...

    Very happy for you, and that you've found a new haunt. All your posts may start coming from there. I love that area, and there's a Maison du Chocolat right across the street, yes?

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  8. Oh, what is the Champagne, do you recall?

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  9. I don't know how I missed this post! Happy Anniversary! And what a wonderful event to mark it. I've only done proper tea once before in London and the "french tea" here sounds much better as far as the nibbles go.

    This sounds like a fun thing to do with friends when they come visit w/ champagne of course!

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  10. Happy Anniversary! That tea looked divine. But I didn't spot any gold dust this time!
    Have a great Christmas X

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  11. Thanks for the anniversary and Christmas wishes, everyone! : )

    Duchesse, One of the things that I liked the most about our visit to the George V were the Christmas decorations and the Christmas music, although I'm sure that it's a good spot to celebrate an April anniversary as well.

    Mlle Ella, As Stephane was staggered by the price of the necklace and had to rub his eyes because he thought that he was seeing way to many digits, I can assure you that it wasn't under our Christmas tree last night! Although we did spend a lot of time talking (dreaming) about what we would buy if we had that much money to blow on a necklace.

    Gatsbynouvel, It was so good to hear from you. I look forward to seeing pics of your recent trip to Paris on your blog!

    Joseph, Sorry but I don't recall the name of the champagne, although I do remember that it wasn't "real" champagne. It was still very good, though.

    Your comment impressed Sara because we were so busy enjoying the atmosphere that we didn't even notice that the tea wasn't served with a silver strainer as it normally is in England. We studied the other photos to look for clues, but I think that you're right that they used tea bags. Stephane's hot chocolate, however, was served in an pitcher and was accompanied by a big dollap of whipped cream, little chocolate sprinkles and confiserie quality marshmallows. Talk about decadent!

    I haven't noticed a Maison de Chocolate across the street but may have missed it. There's a HEDIARD right next to the George V.

    kbh, I'm convinced that the French tea is the way to go, especially since we're in Paris! ;)

    Steph, Ahhh, but there was gold. I should have taken some close-ups of the gold on the fresh vanilla bean stuck in the fruit salad and on the Financier!

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