When Juliette Récamier went to London on a visit with her mother in 1802, there were practically riots. All London tried to invite her, and numerous articles in the press spoke of « la belle française ». However, she never tasted afternoon tea, as the custom was only invented a few years later.
« The tradition of Afternoon Tea started in 1840, thanks to the Duchess of Bedford, who had taken to having food served in her chamber at 4pm, including cakes and garnished slices of bread which had themselves only been invented slightly earlier by the Count of Sandwich.

A typical Afternoon Tea includes cucumber sandwiches, egg and cress sandwiches, salmon sandwiches, scones with Devonshire clotted cream, jams, and cakes such as victoria sponge, all of which is served on a three-tiered stand. »
Thanks to Brillat Savarin and his « Physiologie du gout, » we know that Juliette loved her food. We also know that she excelled in entertaining. So, together with our chef Agnès, we decided to invent the sort of Afternoon tea that Juliette could have offered her guests.

The first step involved attending a large number of rummage sales in order to find all sorts of mismatched plates, which we then drilled holes in with a special tool. Then we ordered a kit to make them all up into cake stands and spent a day getting them all together. What do you think of the result?We wanted an afternoon tea that could be served as a brunch at the weekend or an extended snack during the week. It’s supposed to be a moment of pleasure between friends, taken in lovely surroundings, where you can appreciate a fine cup of tea (or thick hot chocolate, or a cappuccino or even a glass of champagne), accompanied by fresh cakes cooked that day by Agnès.

So here’s what you can expect on your very own cake stand. First of all, a little sandwich (different each day), fresh scones served with ‘conviette’ butter and our delicious jams from La Trinquelinette. Agnès will also prepare other special cakes, such as a pistachio ‘financier’ or a brioche-style pudding (irresistible!). And to top everything off – literally – a little fruit cake awaits at the very top of it all.Of course we’ve tested all that for you (!) and have to say that our afternoon tea really is something special. Make sure you have some free time in front of you, as you’ll be relaxing, munching and making appreciative noises for quite a while! And from the number of people around us that day, it’s probably best to book in advance…

Afternoon tea is served at La Belle Juliette (here) weekdays from 3-6pm and weekends from 1-6pm.

Classic afternoon tea, including a hot drink – 25 euros per person
Extra indulgent afternoon tea, including a glass of champagne – 30 euros per person
THE JOURNEY TO ENGLAND
(1802)
Stay in London (May June, 1802)

THE fall of Pitt and the signing of the Peace of Amiens, in March, 1802, brought about, as is well known, a slackening of the tension which existed between France and England. For the first time since the dawn of the Revolution peace was re-established. This tranquillity, after so many storms, was welcomed with enthusiasm by public opinion. Mme. Recamier wanted to take advantage of it and accordingly started with her mother for a journey to England. She took with her letters of introduction from the old Due de Guines, formerly Ambassador of Louis XVI to London and a fervent admirer of Juliette.

Ballanche, in his unpublished Biography of Juliette, tells us the following episode : « Mme. Recamier, » he says, « was uneasy about her mother’s health, and her doctors recommended change of scene and the Spa waters. It was under these circumstances and upon this occasion that Mme Recamier went to England. Made much of in the most noted circles, the object of public curiosity and of everyone’s attention, she fought shy of the demonstrations caused by the effect she produced, although she was not insensible to them. King George IV, at that time Prince of Wales, treated her with that perfect amiability for which he was noted. The Duchess of Devonshire, whose face is so celebrated, considered it a triumph to show her to her friends at her own home and to the delighted public at the theatre. The newspapers blazoned her name abroad, her portrait was engraved and circulated in all the English towns. It is in the Bartolozzi collection. In London, as in Paris, she was surrounded whenever she appeared and, in spite of the pleasure it gave her to hear how beautiful she was, she always looked ready to take flight when attention was fixed on her. A fete given to the Prince of Wales, the evening before her departure, was a fresh success for her. She yielded to persuasion and consented to play a duet on the harp with M. Marin, whose admirable talent had won him such celebrity, and after the concert she danced at the ball. The English and French papers vied with each other in celebrating this concert. They dwelt particularly on  » the gracious and eager enthusiasm of the Prince of Wales and his undivided attentions to Mme. Recamier. »

Whilst in London, Juliette became friendly with the beautiful Elizabeth Forster, who in her turn was to become Duchess of Devonshire, and with the Marquis of Douglas, later on Duke of Hamilton. She met the Duc d’Orleans, then in exile, and his two young brothers, the Prince de Beaujolais and the Prince de Montpensier. There are many proofs, among which we have only to choose, testifying to her success. The Duchess of Devonshire took her to the theatre, where her beauty triumphed. The English aristocracy, modifying its customs, did not await her visits before going to welcome her. According to Viscount Walsh in his Souvenirs de cinqucante ans « the first Sunday in May, the day on which the whole capital of the Three Kingdoms goes to Kensington Gardens for the inauguration of Spring, Mme. Recamier appeared in the midst of the crowd. According to the French fashion of that day she wore on her hat a lace veil a éphigenie, a veil that reached to the ground, wrapping the woman who wore it round in a kind of white cloud both light and diaphanous. John Bull, not very courteous and gallant usually, fell on his knees. » The French papers were very much interested in this journey, and on the 27th of Prairial of the year X, the Journal de Paris gives this extract from the English papers :  » The pretty Frenchwoman (Mme. Recamier) is leaving London. Praise, poetry, and applause follow her wherever she goes, but do not reach her. She repels the homage offered to her graces with that sweet modesty which is one grace more. She appears not to hear all the praise, and not to see all the flattering attentions of which she is the object everywhere. A witty man said to her, yesterday: « Madame, you intend to leave here then without having seen Mme. Recamier ? »

Juliette received news from France through the intimate friends she had left there. Mme. de Stael wrote her an interesting letter, the entire text of which has never been published. It describes the state of mind in Paris just then:

« Well, beautiful Juliette, are you regretting us ? Will the success you are having in London make you forget your Paris friends ? I have seen one of them, Adrien, who has been really sad ever since your departure. We talked about you for an hour, and I was very pleased with him. He has gone to Dampierre. I am leaving tomorrow for six months. All who love you are dispersing. Let me hear from you. I hope you have lost that strange shyness you felt when you last wrote. Can you not see that I love you and that the intelligence of which you accuse me only serves to divine you all the more, and to find fresh reasons for being fondly attached to you. Nothing fresh in Paris as regards society events. Duroc is to marry Mile. d’Ervas ; Mad. Grand they say is to be married to M. de Talleyrand. Bonaparte would like everyone to marry, bishops, cardinals, etc. I wish it were allowed for all the priests to marry ; there would be no more fear of them then. If you see the Duchess of Devonshire please tell her how much I should like to see her again.

Will you give my kind regards, too, to Lady Caher (?) ? You must think about me and, so that you shall do so, I am making you speak of me. I took a Russian lady to your flat. It made me sad to see it all upside down. I shall not see you again until next winter. Two journeys a year show too exactly how life is passing by. It is not possible to forget its progress. Adieu, beautiful Juliette, it seems to me that everyone is getting bored to death in Paris. Since there has been nothing more to think about, and nothing more to say, no one knows how to pass the time, and I see men and say, no one knows how to pass the time, and I see men and women moving slowly about together, with neither love nor ambition. You are in a country where people still live by their soul an intelligence. What shall you say about us when you come back ? Everything you like, but do not have a greater friendship for any other woman than you have for me. Remember me, please, to Mme. Bernard. »

At the same time the pleasant intrigue with Adrien de Montmorency continued by correspondence. Juliette sent him letters which do not seem to have been exempt from coquetry ; her witty and passionate friend replied by letters that were much longer than hers. On the 8th of May Adrien de Montmorency writes from Paris to Juliette as follows : « I have just come back from the country where I received a kind letter from you. You deign to tell me something of your life. You speak of those social pleasures which you enjoy, but at the same time despise. Thank you for leaving them a few minutes in order to write a few friendly words to me. You were then going to Bath, where you will certainly have had the same tiresome success which was so trying for your modesty in London, and of which the Paris newspapers were full. This is glory, to be able to keep the two great capitals of the world occupied with your beauty. I wrote you a letter from Dampierre, the result of a silence that I considered unjust, and of bitter reflections which were unendurable when I gave myself up to thinking. I wrote it the evening before I received your letter, which was a volume in comparison with the two notes received before. Accustomed as you are to praise, my letter must have appeared to you blameworthy. The style of it was very different from the sweet things that are thrown every day at your feet. You see that I suppose you have learnt a little English. I am going to Clichy to-morrow to dine with M. de (illegible). I do not consider that Ambassador showed his face to advantage by putting it in the same frame as yours. You tell me in your letter, with all the vagueness of most discreet propriety, that the dissipations of your visit abroad do not prevent your regretting some of your friends, and that you will be glad to see them again. I took from this proper phrase all that might be intended for politeness for me. Mme. de Staël. and I have quite different ideas about the mysteries of your behaviour and the intentions of your journey. I do not think anyone in the world has given so much study to knowing you as I have, nor has succeeded so badly. There are inequalities and contradictions in you which are inexplicable to me. You are not happy and you want to be.