Some hidden sides of the Grand Hotel Intercontine...

Some hidden sides of the Grand Hotel Intercontinental Paris: Until the year 1 905, the Court of Honour was accessible to the brand new automobiles that had begun to circulate, via the entrance overlooking the boulevard des Capucines. The problem with these new machines was that they were smelly and very noisy. It was therefore decided to create a new entrance, suitable for motor vehicles, on the rue Scribe.This involved the demolition of several rooms, among them the Correspondence room, and important alterations to the Court of Honour; which would henceforth be closed to all vehicles. More than 1 80 architects entered the competition and Henri Nenot, designer of the new Sorbonne, was chosen
for the project. He totally transformed the Court of Honour into an elegant Winter Garden "a la Proust".This he roofed with an immense
membrane of coloured glass, whose motifs were refiected in the mosaic on the floor below. It rapidly became the in place for Parisians: the ritual five o'clock tea in the Grand hotel Winter Garden

( text courtesy of the Grand Hotel Intercontinental )