The French ignore this beauty of central Switzerland. Wrong. Lucerne, a very compact city where everything is done on foot, does not lack interest: the Richard Wagner House-Museum, the Rosengart Collection, the second largest private Picasso center in Europe, the oldest wooden covered bridge in the world, the Jesuit Church, the first in Baroque style in Switzerland, and the Transport the most visited museum in the country.
The old town also entices with its characteristic residential colorful facades, embossed with trompe-l’œil and its small cobbled squares, where a sharp watch shop smells nice. A contemporary response to the treasures of the past, the KKL, an iconic concert hall designed by Jean Nouvel, overlooking the old city, impresses with the sharp lines of its modern architecture. But Lucerne’s great work is its Lake Lucerne, with its dreamy villas, whose tongues of lawn come to lick the perimeter, and the magnificent rapids that circle the steamers against the backdrop of the “Snowy Alps.” What a sight!
Relaxing and conducive to dreams
There was no luxurious hotel in such a direction. It is not that the hotel offer is lacking in Lucerne, but it has definitely aged a bit. The Palace Hotel was built in 1897, on the edge of the lake, in the historic style of the grand hotels of the past. The magnificent sculptured facade, with its many balconies attached, now houses the Mandarin Oriental. Columns, lavishness of stucco, marble and gilding under impressive volumes highlight the interior decor, which the Chinese owner has respectfully restored. There is nothing crazy about the 136 rooms (including 48 suites), except for the alliance of Mandarin Oriental style, beautiful noble materials and sobriety, with an innate sense of Swiss comfort, placed in the smallest details. There’s no pool, which one would expect to find in such an establishment, while the Bellefontaine spa, somewhat tinny, has the oddity of being separate from the wet area, sauna and hammam. Impractical!
We did everything better in the kitchen. Israeli Gilad Peled, former executive chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Pressoir d’Argent, and pastry chef Clément Laurent have left for Bordeaux and now reign over the hotel’s two restaurants, Quai 10 (Mediterranean) and MOzern (bistromie). Mandarin has also proposed two other restaurants to open in the first quarter of 2023: Colonnade (French haute cuisine) and Minamo (Japanese). The latter will serve omakase cuisine for only six guests. The tree-lined terrace along the entire length of the front adjoins the promenade pier. This is where families, university students and tourists mingle for a soul-soothing concentration conducive to daydreaming. That everything seems far away when we are so close to everything…
Practical notebook
ASK ABOUT
On the website of the tourist office.
GO
TGV Lyria to Basel (3 hours). From Basel, regional train to Lucerne (55 minutes). From €40.
WORTH IT
Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern (Tel: 00 41 41 588 18 18), superior room with lake view from €700, including breakfast.
Source: Le Figaro
