To me, it’s the house from Hansel and Gretel, but honestly, I’m not the only one who thinks so…
And so the story goes:
The story begins with Antoine-Brutus Menier (1795–1853), who was born five years before the end of the 18th century, into a well-off family. As a young man he studied at a military academy, where he specialized in pharmaceuticals. He served in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, took part in the disastrous invasion of Russia, and was among the few who made it back to Paris.
After leaving the army, he worked at Val-de-Grâce hospital in the 5th arrondissement (another place well worth visiting as a tourist, not as a patient) as the official in charge of medicines. At 21 he married a well-off woman and opened a kind of thriving hardware and chemicals shop in the Marais. The business covered many areas, but Antoine stayed true to his first love: mixing potions and powders, and he made quite a success of it.
He opened a factory in the town of Noisiel, on the banks of the Marne River, a town that over the years became “the company town” (much like Eindhoven for Philips in the Netherlands): it grew from 200 workers to thousands, with schools built by the family, housing for workers, and a mayor’s office that stayed in the family for 88 years, until 1959.
From a medicine factory to a chocolate factory
The pharmacists’ guild of the time was furious about the unlicensed, money-grabbing sales and demanded that he stop practicing pharmacy without a license. Antoine agreed with their argument, and so at 42 he enrolled in pharmacy studies, finishing in two years with top honors, which put an end to their complaints. Meanwhile, inside the thriving factory, workers had started using cocoa powder here and there to coat especially bitter pills.
Antoine’s son, Émile-Justin Menier (1826–1881), fell in love with this brown powder and began experimenting with it to create unusual delicacies… When Émile-Justin was 26, his father suffered a stroke, and Émile-Justin took over as head of the business. And as you might guess, he was a chocolate lover…
Émile bought cocoa bean plantations in Nicaragua, planted sugarcane fields all over France, and set up production lines for chocolate bars, not yet divided into the little squares we know today. Back then, Menier chocolate was the only one sold in bars, recognized by its yellowish wrapper. The family kept getting richer and rising higher and higher. Naturally, the family’s descendants went on to build grand mansions, like the magnificent (truly magnificent!) Hôtel Menier on the western corner of Parc Monceau (today divided into private apartments, though you can admire it from the outside), and they bought themselves a beautiful château, Château de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley (still owned by the family to this day), in my opinion the most beautiful château in France.
The chocolate house of the Menier family
The grandson, Henri Menier (1853–1913), also wanted a hôtel, a mansion of his own, and if possible near Parc Monceau, next to the family’s magnificent hôtel. He hired the architect Henri Parent (1819–1895), who built him a mansion in a Neo-Renaissance style, partly Neo-Gothic. But the mansion was meant not only to look grand, it also had to remind everyone of the source of the family’s wealth. And it does exactly that: it looks like a house made of chocolate, like the witch’s house that Hansel and Gretel ate from…
Every time you stand in the courtyard and look around, you see chocolate, in all its different shades of brown (and no, white chocolate doesn’t count as chocolate…), and you’re reminded of the taste of chocolate, and the smell of chocolate.
Today, you can go inside Henri Menier’s hôtel, too. It now serves as a conservatory and as the home of the neighborhood’s bridge club. Once you’ve taken in the chocolate-colored facade with your eyes wide open, go into the main building, where you’ll find a grand staircase. Climb it slowly, leaning on the beautiful banister, and hope that the magnificent hall, rising to a height of 12 meters, is open and ready to welcome you.
And what became of the family business, the chocolate?
Well, as often happens once you move away from the founding generation, the chocolate fire didn’t burn quite as brightly in the second and third generations (who needs to work hard when Château de Chenonceau already belongs to you…), and competition from the Swiss Philippe Suchard (1797–1884) and the Dutch Van Houten took its toll. In 1965 the company was sold to the global Nestlé corporation.
But the chocolate house is still standing…
Getting there
Well, it’s very easy to get to, and it’s not really that secret…
Arrondissement: 8th.
Metro station: Courcelles or Monceau
Metro: line 2 (blue).
Henri Menier’s mansion (hôtel particulier) is at 8 Rue Alfred de Vigny, 75008.
And please don’t confuse it with the grand “Hôtel Menier” that stands at the corner facing the beautiful Parc Monceau.
What else is nearby?
Plenty!
First of all, Parc Monceau. Breathtaking, stylish, grand, and just so beautiful…
At its western end stands the Hôtel Menier, and at its eastern end, the Musée Cernuschi, devoted to East Asian art.
In the southwestern part of the park is the Musée Nissim de Camondo, with a sad family story behind it.
Highly recommended! If you’re curious, the Camondo family were Rothschild-like bankers originally from Istanbul, of whom no trace remains today.
Near Parc Monceau:
- The tiny, pricey, and charming Marché Poncelet.
- The apartment where Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935) lived after his release and acquittal, on Rue des Renaudes, a street lined with Art Nouveau buildings.
- The area of mansions of the “demi-monde” that Émile Zola wrote about.
- The charming Russian Orthodox church, St. Alexandre Nevsky.
Want to stay in the area?
The 8th arrondissement, where the Hôtel Henri Menier is located, is an aristocratic, quiet, and beautiful neighborhood. If you’d like to stay close to the places I’ve told you about, look for hotels and apartments around Parc Monceau. Also keep in mind that Parc Monceau also borders the 17th arrondissement, where several of the places mentioned above are located (for example, Marché Poncelet). So if you’re looking for an authentic Parisian spot, not quite as central but not too far from the center either, the 17th arrondissement is also an excellent option.
So whether you decide to stay in the 8th arrondissement or the 17th, you can find recommended places to stay here:
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