Description

Visit the only private mansion on the Champs-Elysées, belonging to a former courtesan, known as "La Païva", which has retained its original Second Empire decor.<div> Esther Lachmann, the Marquise Thérèse de la Païva, or Countess Blanche von Donnersmarck, does not represent three different women, but a single individual! This multiplicity of identities illustrates the social trajectory of an exceptional woman. Her townhouse on the Champs-Élysées reflects this success, even if its ornate decor betrays the flamboyant side of this former courtesan.</div><div><br></div><div> Nothing suggested that Esther Lachmann, daughter of a Polish Jewish draper from the Moscow ghettos, would become one of the great courtesans of 19th-century Paris. Her three consecutive marriages propelled her up the social ladder until she became the extremely wealthy Countess of Donnersmarck.</div><div><br></div><div> Among the marvels of this hotel, which has retained its original furnishings, you will discover the famous onyx bathtub and the magnificent onyx staircase. Major artists contributed to the decoration of this private mansion, such as the painter Baudry, and the sculptors Dalou, Barrias, and Carrier-Belleuse.</div><div><br></div><div> Through this hotel, which marks the end of the career of the courtesan, the one who was known as La Païva, we will follow step by step her journey, her loves, her artistic and intellectual aspirations, between 1819 and 1884.</div><div><br></div><div> Finally, we will talk about the guardians of these places and of the memory of La Païva, the Traveller's Club, owner of the club since its founding in 1904.</div>