41 rue de Lille (7th arrondissement) 
If there had been thirteen guests at the dinner of 2007 - number unfortunately due to two disposals last minute - we were one of eleven this year. Guests included, for the most part, the participants of my little game, with Olivier P., undisputed winner, author of a very consistent number of items that had earned him nearly unanimous vote.
The venue was the old "House of the Ladies of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones", 41 rue de Lille, built in 1905 by Eugene Bliault - his application for a building permit was issued on 18 May of that year - address certainly less known than many other similar restaurants in Paris. Precisely for this reason that I chose the "Telegraph" in many other restaurants Art Nouveau, believing that the surprise offer a supplement to the party. His name the "Telegraph", once known the original destination of the building, so no surprise anybody.
In this very narrow street, the architect had played the card of verticality, putting most of its originality in the upper galleries, crown-shaped lateral viewpoint (more easily visible from the street near du Bac). It singles out his work by coloring almost unusual red brick facings, amidst the sea of white on a street of very uniform appearance. Unfortunately, for reasons of economy, he could not give effect to the beautiful ironwork specially designed for guardrails; they belong to a fairly common pattern found in an industrial catalog.
A large sign in gold letters out also, nowadays, the original destination of the building, namely: a home for young workers in the mail, mostly of provincial origin, who could find was a single room, but also a large dining hall where they were guaranteed at every meal, ... meat and wine!
Bliault an architect is extraordinarily rare. The small handful of projects identified in Paris - including the home of the Rue de Lille One of the oldest - not located in any district of choice, indicating that its activity was certainly not confined within the perimeter of Paris. Indeed, one of his most important work is the Palacio Portales, a large villa rather late, built between 1915 and 1927 in Cochabamba, Bolivia, it suggests that its activity was geographically very large and that its membership Art Nouveau is a combination of circumstances, both accidental and ephemeral. Should probably learn much more about his apparently very unusual activity in the years to come.
The focus of the rue de Lille was in his time, honors quite flattering to the press. Without doubt the singularity of the assignment gave her a strange character who inspired the journalists of the time, which boasted the highly functional, the existence of a hundred rooms for young postmistress, and the presence of this famous dining which was their common room.
This vast area covering most of the ground floor, has been largely preserved, and until her pretty pavement. It has even been recently restored to the favor of a change owner. It therefore admire the impressive buffet clock that takes up most of one wall, the windows - with stylized plant motifs if they are reluctant to recognize and oranges - and a very fitting "Cubist" for the departures of arches supporting the ceiling, an effect that is simple, functional and very original.
Our dinner took place in the window of the restaurant, which overlooks the small courtyard garden, in an atmosphere that is fresh, the general counting of the decor and atmosphere, with lighting carefully screened.
We have, as it should be, celebrated the success of Oliver, who was happy to offer a very delicate watercolor on tracing model luster pattern of cyclamen. The drawing is not signed, but does not seem to be "school of Lalique", as seemed to me to persuade the market that I had sold a few years ago.
It is generally lends to the rich, but in this case, the fish was obviously too big, so that the lady did not seem to be totally convinced herself. This design could instead be Dampt Jean (1854-1945), a sculptor friend of Charles plume, with whom he had founded in 1896, the group of "art in everything." In that context, he was led to devise several models quite similar fixtures, sometimes characterized by similar plant trees in metal.
