Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-09
A PALAIS ROYAL CAFE.
Decay of the Grand Velour" Restau-
rant-Days Of Beaux and Gallants.s

Paris Cores. Pail Mall Gazette.
In the Paris of our grandfathers there
was a cafe that was the resort OF the
beaux and gallants Of the day; 1t was the
Grand Velour" Its situation was the
Palais Royal, that moribund region In the
heart of Paris so instinct with the life OF
the past. Now they are going to open the
doors of the Grand Velour; but alas! with
the most banal object. The rich and the
chic" of the world will not feast there.
neither will it be the resort of the gay and
the witty; ii is simply the headquarters of
the Corporation of Huisslers. The huissIers
are those dreadful persons that embody the
terrors of the law. They carry out the
Orderngs of the court; hence they are not
Overwhelmingly popular with that class of
citizen that shortnesS of means and length
of expenditure brings face to face with his
creditors before a presiding judge The
bailiffs, then. will people in permanence
this old restaurant. Is 1t not significant of
the changing spirit of the time of the utter
descent of this palace OF the cardinal into
the abyss of things forgotten?
Far away. indeed are the days when
its shady court rang with the noise and
gossip of a kings encourage. Even a
half century ago, the Partisan found the
Palais Royal an excellent spot In Which
to disport himself and to lose great
quantity of cash, the gambling den
abounded. Since then various have been
the projects to .resuscitate the palace. TO
bring back the life and laughter of other
days to Its now silent colonnades The
most attractive of the schemes was to turn
the great building into an encampment of
sport--a headquarters for all the athletic
societies OF France. Apparently the Idea
has not borne fruit any more than the sug-
gestlon to establish an American exhibition,
where all that pertained to the products of
new world would be on show to the Pa
risian. There was something a little shock
I'M N IN n IL mi IN
commercial uses. even though we were
promised an American hotel run on strict
est American principleS-a living example
OF how 1t should be done In public cater
Ing. Perhaps this Is why this attempt at
regeneration appears to have had no more
success than the other. No. the Palais
Royal Is left alone in It's glory, to its mem
cries, to it's huissiers The football OF the
rare tourist. or of the Partisan making a
short cut is the only music of the outer
world that reverberates through its his
toric galleries. True, there are the shops
whose merchandise has sometimes signs OF
degeneration in II. too; true. there Is the
colonial Office that has something very
hopeful in 1t, as the symbol of an advanc-
ing empire: but these are the solitary swal-
lows that do not make summer OF pros
perity.
The fate of Velour, which. as the Cafe
de Charities. gave rest and refreshment
to the great of the earth. is not only
symbolical of the ruin of the palace but
astronomical than of yore, or they dine
in clubs rather than the restaurant The
history OF the great eating houses of
Paris is history of change and decay.
Regard Tortoni's. completely gone; the
Maison dor converted into ''brasserie"
Haunting its striped awning in the face
of Its aristocratic ''yis-a-vis." the Cafe
Anglais. one OF the few surviyals Of the
brave old times. Again. the Cafe dOrsay
is a changed creature inside and out.
Nor does the spirit or demolition or inno-
walton stay here. Take the cabarets-tbe
queer scandalous cabarets, where they
sung and danced and amused the grand
dukes and their bourgeois imitators by
all manner Of eccentricities. They are
doomed = and are disappearing one by
one. Today II is the old "Pere Lunette. /"
the resort OF the stage briganas and
artist Apaches. which is under sentence
of death; tomorrow they whisper that the
list for the tumbrils will include the
Angel Gabriel very unlovely and un-
angelic angel, but a picturesque person.
atty. whose acquaintance is not without
peril for the unguided visitors The truth
is-high dining and high rioting march
together. When one goes the other re-
ceives notice to quit. Public morality is
the better. no doubt. stiii.