Le Métropole: a historybook at the heart of Hanoi
Hanoi , city of excitement, but also the city of water, reflection and introspection. The Red River acts as a protective barrier and the city winds itself around its two lakes: the Hoan Kiem and the Ho Hay Lake. On the weekends people flock together on the shores and during the week is serves as a place for daily for tai chi exercises. At the heart of the old French quarter, facing the ex-governors’ palace and only a stone's throw away from the Opera - inspired by the Palais Garnier – you will find Le Métropole, the mythic hotel in Hanoi. Guided tour with Luxe Magazine.
Le Métropole, a living myth
Built at the dawn of the 20th century, to be precisely in 1901, Le Métropole is a history book that immerses you in the heart of French Indochina. This is the hotel where numerous famous personalities stayed and their shadows still lurk around the corner, like Charlie Chaplin and his wife Paulette Goddard who spent their honeymoon trip here. In the bar you can still sip a cocktail named after them. Many great names on the hotel record like Joan Baez, who during the Vietnam war stayed in this hotel, William Somerset Maugham and famous writer Graham Greene, who in 1957 in this hotel, began to write "American in Paris". Each suite has been dedicated to one of these legendary figures.
A symbol of the French colonization
Miraculously spared by Ho Chi Minh, who initially saw in Le Métropole a symbol of French colonisation, the hotel became the seat of numerous diplomatic representations. Today, this colonial jewel of the beginning of this century, rescued from the torments of history, regained its former splendour. Classic white façades, windows dressed with wrought-iron balconies and bottle green shutters, timeless fans hanging from the ceiling, centuries-old carpentry and its ceramic lighting, this legendary hotel breathes its past and this makes it a popular rendezvous in Hanoi.
Three restaurants, three atmospheres
In the evening, you can discover the best of Vietnamese gastronomy at the "Spices Garden" restaurant. With a contemporary decoration, bright colours and veranda, the restaurant offers a healthy and refined cuisine with exotic flavours, featuring Vietnamese herbs, spices and other well known traditional specialties of Northern and Southern Vietnam.
French gastronomy can be found in the “Le Baulieu” restaurant, where you have to make a reservation in advance. This elegant restaurant offers the best of French cuisine in town featuring a great selection of imported products. The Beaulieu is particularly famous for evening dinners and Sunday brunches, which have become a tradition for Hanoi residents. The restaurant has an Indochina atmosphere: marble and wooden floors, large bay windows onto the street, ceiling fans and candlelight at night. And there is the wine bar "Angelina" the place to be for the incrowd of the red and black town. Otherwise, the "Oriental Club" restaurant is a nice alternative. Just a few steps away from Le Métropole, this restaurant with a neo colonial ambiance, has a very pleasant service and has a Vietnamese menu in a warm and intimate setting. But in Hanoi you will find multiple small inexpensive restaurants where you can enjoy the real Vietnamese cuisine.
Discovering the Vietnamese soul
In the morning after a refreshing shower, it’s time to go out and discover the softness of Hanoi. It’s better to hire a guide who can lead you to mysterious places unknown to mass tourism, so you can capture the essence of the Vietnamese soul and its legends. Jean-Yves and Christian, founders of Aca Voyages, are people who are captivated by the Vietnamese history and understand its culture and lifestyle. Thanks to them, we look differently at the country’s customs and habits.
Lifestyle in Hanoi
When stepping outside the hotel, you are immediately in the middle of the city buzz and traditions. You see the Vietnamese people with their conical hats rushing by on their bicycles loaded with baskets of flowers, a peasant woman selling vegetables using an ancient balance and the street kitchens are diffusing the smells of the famous "pho" soup, grilled fish and garlic. The streets are as crowded as in our European mmetropolises. Swarms of mopeds, sometimes transporting an entire family, loaded with baskets rush by. In this maze of people accompanied by the sound of klaxons, Christian keeps its phlegm and he is amused when he sees our amazed eyes.
The 36 Corporations
He explains to us that Hanoi is constructed with the working force of the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside. More than 900 years ago, the peasants came to work for the Royal Court and settled in the vicinity of the Royal Palace. These are the quarters of the city centre on the edge of the Red River, that used to house the shopping streets. Each street is still named after the goods that were sold or manufactured in this street: sugar street, hemp street, chicken street, Tin, stainless steel … It’s in these old quarters that you will find the "36 corporations", a maze of alleyways the heart of Hanoi's craft industry. Guided by Christian we visit local markets, far from the tourist circuits. The small stalls with abundant baskets of fruits and vegetables on the sidewalks. Freshly cut meat, awaiting the buyer. One feels that Hanoi is still a rural town.
In the afternoon, with our guide Hung, a humorous Vietnamese man mastering perfect French, we visit the handicraft villages located on the outskirts of Hanoi. These villages are not very touristic and are worth a visit.
Hanoi, city of arts
But Hanoi is also the city of arts and painting. Take a stroll trough the district of the Temple of literature. Built in the 11th century and their teaching is based on Confucian values with emphasis on arts such as poetry, music, calligraphy. This open-air temple appears draped in red robes, the colour of the walls. Engraved in stone, on a base in the form of a turtle, you see the names of the scholars and laureates. You will see students or visitors passing by and touching the turtles to bring them good luck and culture. In Hanoi you can visit a Multitude of temples (Den), pagodas and communal houses (Dinh). The Ba Da is a pretty Pagoda dating from 1056, intimate and close to Joseph Church in Thai To street. The Thanh Chuong Palace and its pagodas with red and green roofs also remains one of the places of art and culture.
4 days would not be sufficient to explore all the facets of this fascinating and touching city, where the lifestyle has remained both traditional whilst the Vietnamese youth clearly has a more modern approach in accordance with the 21st century.
