Great Bars I Have Known

Le Bar Anglais, Hotel Régina, Paris

One of the most appealing contradictions in Paris is Le Bar Anglais (The English Bar) located in the very French Hotel Régina.

You may not have stayed in the Hotel Régina, but you are certainly familiar with it. If you are a movie fan, that is. In The Bourne Identity, Secret Agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) dispatches his lover/ally, Marie (Franka Potente), to retrieve crucial information contained on a hotel invoice. The hotel she enters? Hotel Régina.

In La Femme Nikita, Secret Agent Nikita (Anne Parillaud) receives orders to report for an assignment as a room service maid who must deliver a spiked breakfast tray to an important hotel guest. The hotel? Hotel Régina.

In Kiss of the Dragon, Secret Agent Jet Li survives an amazing guns-blazing shootout in a stylish Parisian hotel lobby. The hotel? Hotel Régina.

Judging from its cinematic history, you can deduce a couple things. Hotel Régina is obviously the lodging of choice for the world’s foremost secret agents. And why not? It is directly across from le Jardin des Tuileries and a short walk down the Rue de Rivoli from Le Musée de Louvre. You may want to wear a bullet-proof vest when you check in, though, and room service there may have a few more surprises than usual.

The Hotel Régina was opened for the World’s Fair of 1900 on the former site of the royal stables. Just think, you can pay a fortune to stay where King Louis’ horses stayed for free. The founder was Leonard Tauber and his granddaughter, Françoise Baverez, still manages the place.

But forget all that. Le Bar Anglais is what we are discussing. It is tiny enclave just off the lobby that Jet Li shot up. I can guarantee you the bartender did not spill a drop while the bullets were flying. The bar is a wood-paneled, faux Tudor library that is the best place to hide when you are sick of the Louvre. (Believe me, it is easy to get sick of the Louvre.)

The bartender speaks anglais, of course, but he is a tolerant professeur if you wish to practice your français. Order Scotch. French comes easily after that. You can withdraw even further from the madding tourist crowd by drinking in the tiny courtyard adjacent to the bar. A double benefit is this: The courtyard sits below a central ventilation shaft of the hotel. You can actually overhear many interesting conversations in the rooms above.

I actually overheard Matt Damon complaining about the room service. Honest.