The “One Two Two Club”  rue de Provence 75008 (Metro St Lazare or Havre Caumartin) was one of the most prestigious and popular brothels in Paris. The “One Two Two” pronounced in English,was a a very well known brothel, used by many famous people including Cary Grant and Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s son.

Opened in 1933 by Marcel and Fabienne Jamet (daughter of one of the most powerful Police Inspectors of Paris!). During the Second World War this establishment was the meeting place for the German officers of the famous Wehrmacht and many of the girls working at the club, would help the resistance by giving them precious information that they over heard when the officers were drinking together or taking a shower. The brothel was closed in 1949 just before France changed the law concerning brothels, and in 1950 shut them all.

Some interesting facts

The “One Two Two” used to be open from 1400hrs to 0500hrs. The “One Two Two” only  shut one day a year, Christmas day. The girls had one day off a week, If they were ill without permission, they were fined 200 francs, and on the second time, they would be sacked. There was forty members of staff, from security, to hairdressers, beauty therapists and dry cleaning workers, chefs and bar staff.

In the ”One Two Two” there were 20 bedrooms, 10 living rooms, and 12 shower rooms. There were 60 prostitutes working at any one time, 200 appointments a day up to 300 visitors a day and over 150 bottles of champagne consumed a day.

Below you will see a photo of the famous “One Two Two club” notice the two sets of doors, the double doors was the main entrance and the single door to the left was the discreet exit. There were white wooden shutters on every window that remained closed all day and night.  

Google Map (Please click here)

In the day time, especially the weekend, the atmosphere is great, the children love the “Jardin d’Acclimation” with it’s zoo and fun-fare (I will be writing a post about this at a later date) the cycle track that is next to the Horse racing circuit (LongChamp) and rowing boats that can be found on the large lake (next to Le Chalets des Iles). There is a good healthy family feeling.

Firstly, I wanted to tell you about a memorial site in the heart of the forest, about 500 meters from the restaurant “La Grande Cascade”. I was taken back by this memorial which is dedicated to the 35 Resistance volunteers that were assassinated by the Gestapo on the 6th August 1944, they were aged from 18 -22 years old.

They were there to pick up weapons, that had been hidden there by the British, to help fight the Germans in the streets of Paris, but the meeting had been discovered by the Gestapo and they lay in wait for the young patriots to arrive. On arrival the Germans tortured them and then tied them to a oak tree and shot them. The bullet holes are still visible. The French government has since tied a  red, white and blue ribbon around the tree with the words “We will never forget”.

Google Map Link (Please click here)

Restaurants

On a brighter note, there a few restaurants in the Bois de Boulogne and the ones I like the best are ”La Grande Cascade” and “Le Chatlet des Iles”. La Grande Cascade (The water fall due to the water full right next to the restaurant) is a beautiful restaurant serving some dishes, but very expensive, for example a beef fillet in a red wine sauce is € 72 and the degustation menu is € 185 and another € 77 for the appropriate wines.

Le Grande Cascade (Please click here)

Chalet des Isle

The restaurant that I really like is the “Chalet des Iles” this restaurant is on a island, and the only way to get there is on the restaurant boat that ferries people between the mainland and the restaurant all day, giving this restaurant a huge “wow factor”. The food is good (below you will find the restaurant link where you will find the menu) I really like this place and strongly recommend it’s really quite special. Bon Appétit!.

Le Chalet des Isle (Please click here)

The wonderful Hotel de Sens (1 rue Figuier) is a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance architecture and a mixture of civilian and military design with it’s towers and turrets. when looking at the front door, look up and you will see at about 7 metres up a real cannonball embedded into the wall. This was fired at the Hotel de Sens during the revolution in 1830 that lasted three days, also known as the “Trois Glorieuses” or the “July Revolution”, which was basically, the French decided, that they wanted a new king, so they chose ’Louis-Philippe who was crowned “King of the french” on the 9th August 1830.

 I recommend a trip to this fantastic district that has some beautiful buildings and some amazing shops,  I will be writing more articles on this area soon.

Google Map (Please click here)