“Quai d’Orsay”, as the building housing the French Foreign Office is known, was built to welcome visiting foreign dignitaries with all the splendour befitting their rank.
The building has been left almost unchanged since being finished in Second Empire style in 1855, apart from the First Floor Apartments, where the decoration would be slightly modified at each visit, to suit the guest’s personality. These rooms saw a succession of royal visitors and heads of state, until in 1972 it was decided to re-house visitors in the newly-acquired Hôtel de Marigny.
One of the most spectacular changes design-wise was made in 1938, with new bathrooms fitted out on the occasion of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Paris.
Designed by August Labouret, the bathrooms were created in pure Art Deco style, with furniture made by Jaques Adnet.
The Queen’s Bathroom
The King’s Bathroom
The gold and silver references Apollo and Diana in Greek mythology, Gods of the Sun and the Moon.
