your Beauty Our duty

Paris’ posh Place des Vosges welcomes a new bar at the Marais District’s must-visit hotel, Pavillon de la Reine. Will you be served bubbly? Mais oui! Can you nibble a flaky croissant? Certainment! Is this going where you think it’s going? Non.

Pavillon de la Reine’s new nail bar offers manicures each Saturday in the hotel’s library. The inviting bibliothèque and honesty bar of the 54-bedroom hotel morphs into a beauty enclave where nails are buffed, shaped and lacquered with OPI polish. While you wait for your nails to dry, page through books from literary greats, cozy up to the crackling fireplace, and sip another verre de champagne. The ambiance feels like a comfortable neighborhood townhouse, rather than a typical nail salon, with decadent tapestries, luxurious wall coverings and oil paintings.

How’s that for a French manicure?

Technicians from the hotel’s Spa de la Reine by Carita give on-the-spot beauty for €25 (around US$33), with no reservation required. The nail bar is open to the public.