From noon, when we announced to this man we met in a restaurant that we were going to spend the night at the Madonna in, he told us evasively “ahem some people love it but others hate it. It's an experience ". We have to agree with him when we enter his room. The third millennium has not passed by here. The calendar is stuck on 1973. My room is a brown and yellow variation. The bed is bigger than some Parisian apartments. On the fabric side, we wanted to make it plush and heavy. And I'm going to be able to have a great time in this ornate sofa straight out of a Wild West leather center. On the walls, exposed stone like a trapper's hut.
I stare intrigued at a switch on the side of the fireplace and activate it. It is the piezo that allows this gas fireplace to provide me with all the pleasures of a chalet fire in the minute. It is specified on a sign that for safety reasons, do not leave it on at night and open the windows during the outbreak. I imagine a number of men resembling Burt Reynolds have had sex here on animal skin with girls with Farrah Fawcet's sought-after haircut.
A quick trip to the bathroom. The shower is worth its weight as a chain bracelet:walls and floor are made of exposed stone in a cave style, but there is a small detail that is important:everything is varnished (to facilitate cleaning and to fight against humidity, of course). And of course, the first idea that comes up is:glazed stones + water + soap =slipping followed by a skull fracture.
The Madonna in is close to San Louis Obispo, but it is next to nothing:the buildings spread out gently on a hill at the bottom of which a national basks. Behind the mountains, fields, cows, one or two farms. There is also a path that allows you to hike all around. You can ask at reception how to get there.
I find the others before leaving for dinner. Many of us can confirm:it's going to be a little difficult to fall asleep in these rooms with their full decor. Our Parisian eyes are not used to this avalanche of brown. Later the manager of the hotel will explain his story to us. The hotel was built by an entrepreneur who made his fortune building highways. He had originally hired decorators to design the bedrooms, but upon discovering that the decorators had "done the same thing" in the first two bedrooms, he decided to fire them and hand this task over to his wife:who made the each room a unique place. The rooms are also one of the attractions of the hotel. And we can leave with the postcard of this one. Of course they have since been redone (the rooms are super clean), but the current owner has kept the spirit and style of the original decor.
This hotel is for Europeans a true historical testimony, like the Eifel Tower in Paris. California has few monuments. Most of them are regularly destroyed by earthquakes. Here you feel much more at the heart of history than on the Santa Monica pier (1909) for example. Because if this pier is a monument for the inhabitants of LA, we Europeans see above all a wooden pontoon with tourists and attractions. We feel much more moved here. At the heart of West seventies taste and spirit.
To promote conviviality, the hotel offers its customers a voucher allowing them to obtain a free cocktail, which boosts our desire to visit the bar. The opportunity to discover the common areas. They are also worth their weight in the USA. Far from rigor here, everything is fantasy. A western magic, where that evening, as often enough during the week, a somewhat sad orchestra comes to perform standards for regular dancers and customers on the go (us and a few others). We meet this couple of lovers who wear the same shirt and dance almost alone on the huge dance floor while we swallow a second cocktail (good business idea than this first free cocktail). The waiter has the face of a guy who would have swallowed an LSD the wrong way in his youth, all misty smiling a little decrepit. Perfectly fitting.
Exhausted, we go back to our rooms and finally we sleep like cowboys after a day rounding up the herd. And no one broke their skull on the exposed stones of the shower. We also do not miss the morning atmosphere with these workers who come here to have a rustic breakfast. In the kitchen they are really not skimpy on butter, sugar and flour...
Practical info
To organize your trip:MARCO VASCO:TEL:01 76 64 74 90
Direct flight Paris/Los Angeles by AIR TAHITI NUI TEL:0 825 02 42 02
All information on the destination is available on Visit california
