Café de la Paix

Its proximity to the Palais Garnier opera attracted many famous regulars including Jules Massenet, Émile Zola, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Guy de Maupassant.

During the Belle Époque, visitors to the café included Sergei Diaghilev, Oscar Wilde, and the Prince of Wales and future King of the United Kingdom, Edward VII.

The café quickly became a major cultural phenomenon and tourist attraction, being depicted in numerous forms of media beginning in the late 1800s.

The café is referenced in musical works by Sidney Bechet and Thomas Fersen, and is the subject of numerous impressionist paintings by artists like Konstantin Korovin, Antoine Blanchard, and Édouard Cortès.

[7] On 1 September 1897 ownership of the café and the Grand-Hôtel were transferred from the Pereires to French hotel magnate Arthur Millon, who leveraged the site to create one of Paris' largest hospitality industry conglomerates.