Pavillon Bellevue

The Bellevue Pavilion of the CNRS (Pavillon Bellevue du CNRS) is a building located in the Bellevue district of Meudon, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, France. Originally, it was a hotel built to accommodate spa patients of the hydrotherapy center founded in 1846 by Dr. Louis Désiré Fleury. Among the notable visitors who stayed there were Théodore de Banville and actor Frédérick Lemaître in 1857, as well as Édouard Manet with his wife in 1879. In 1881, it was converted into a hotel-restaurant under the name Grand Hôtel de Bellevue, managed by the hotel company of the same name. The restaurant, located on the ground floor and known as Pavillon de Bellevue, benefited from the 1893 opening of the Bellevue funicular, which provided an immediate and successful connection between the train station and the landing stage for river shuttles from Bas-Meudon to the Bellevue viewpoint. In 1910, renowned Parisian restaurateur Louis Paillard (2, rue de la Chaussée d'Antin) purchased the hotel and operated it under the name Paillard Bellevue Palace until its bankruptcy in July 1913. That same year, Paris Singer (1867–1932), the wealthy heir of the Singer sewing machine empire, purchased the property and gifted it to his mistress, Isadora Duncan (1878–1927).