The Ladurée family credits themselves for creating Paris’ first tea salon. In 1862, Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from France’s southwest, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale in Paris.

During the same year, the first stone of the Garnier Opera was laid, and the area surrounding the Madeleine was rapidly developing into one of the capital’s most important and elegant business districts. The most prestigious names in French luxury goods had already moved into the neighborhood.

Cafes developed and became more and more luxurious. They attracted Parisian high society. Along with the chic restaurants around the Madeleine, they became the showcases of the capital.

Women were also changing. They wanted to make new acquaintances. Literary salons and literature circles were outmoded. Ernest Ladurée’s wife, Jeanne Souchard, daughter of a well-known hotelier in Rouen, had the idea of mixing styles: the Parisian café and pastry shop gave birth to one of the first tea salons in town. The “salon de thé” had a definite advantage over the cafés: they permitted ladies to gather in freedom.

In September 1997, Ladurée opened a restaurant and tea room on the Champs-Elysées. The mission of the President David Holder is thus to bring back the great classics, which have contributed to the reputation of this ‘salon de thé’, as well as create an environment for gastronomic creativity in Paris. With him, Ladurée will be a tea salon, pastry shop, restaurant, chocolate shop and an ice cream parlor. The Holder group intends to introduce this century-old name in the main capitals of the world and develop new business opportunities.

Here I am in front of one of their gorgeous window displays on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

And me again, enjoying one of their life-altering macaroons.

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