Follow in Monet’s footsteps on Le Meurice’s art trail

There’s something joyful about looking at a photo of a painting on an iPad and seeing the real-life location over a century-and-a-half later. The artwork in question is Monet’s “Le Pont Neuf” (1872). Standing on the banks of the Seine on almost the exact spot where the Impressionist master would have painted it en plein air all those years ago, it’s fascinating to see how little has changed. Apart from the horse and carriage, and clouds of steam floating up from the boats below, Paris’ oldest bridge looks virtually the same.

I hopped on the Eurostar at St Pancras for the French capital to experience Le Meurice’s latest private art trail, “Monet – Revolutionary Brushstrokes”. The opulent hotel launched the walking tour last year to mark 150 years of Impressionism and celebrate the radical art movement’s founding father.

Versailles-inspired luxury

Le Meurice has close ties to the Parisian art world. Since opening back in 1835, it has hosted an array of notable figures, including Salvador Dalí, who famously stayed for a month every year for over three decades, and Pablo Picasso, who held his wedding banquet in the hotel’s lavish Salon Pompadour. There are playful nods to this rich history dotted throughout – from the beckoning hand on the ceiling above the reception desk (a detail from Baron François Gérard’s portrait of Madame Regnaud de Saint Gene D’Ageny that is in the Louvre) to the winking eye of Dalí that you’ll spot peering at you from a corner of the wood-panelled bar.