“French Louie” and his Hotel de Paris: a gourmet in the Wild West
After the wave of French trappers who participated in the first exporations of western North America there were relatively few French people who emmigrated to the USA. But those who went brought a part of France with them. For example Louis Dupuy founder of the Hotel de Paris in Colorado.
People in Georgetown, Colorado know very little about Louis du Puy. His obituary starts “Death of Louis Dupuy Man of Mystery”. He simply arrived one day with a donkey named Florette, a tent and camping equipment. He had come, like so many, in search of the quick riches of the silver boom. In March 1873 he was nearly killed in a mining explosion and that ended that career. He said in later years that he chose hospitality as his next reincarnation simply because a good cup of coffee was not to be had in Georgetown. He launched his dream by washing dishes in another establishment. He saved his money and finally in 1874 began to build the Hôtel De Paris. The thick masonry walls and windowed façade were inspired by inns and taverns he remembered from France. A bas relief of Justice on the cupolla was the highest point in Georgetown.
Louis came from Alençon France, born Adolphus Girard in 1844. He was well educated and had picked up some knowledge of food, cooking and English by working in restaurants and journalism in Paris and London. Girard immigrated to the United States in 1866 and briefly worked in New York City as a writer and translator until he was caught plagiarizing. He fled west and after a brief stint in the United States Army he deserted, changed his name to Louis duPuy, and headed to Georgetown. Louis’s upbringing and good education gave him fine manners and a passion for philosophy. Those who saw him preside over the kitchen, found it difficult to reconcile that image with the aesthetic gentleman who like to retire and read long past midnight in his very excellent library with books in four languages including an entire Encyclopedia Larousse, Montaigne, Kant, Schopenhauer, Horace, Virgil, Aristotle,… religion and the occult, home keeping and science, health and anatomy, politics and civics, and history and war ….
In fact Louis presided over all the public rooms in his hotel. He would meet guests in the lobby, take care of the kitchen and act as maître d’hôtel. It’s a wonder he had time for his library at all.
Louis was very discerning, had mercurial moods and whims and could be totally indifferent to those who did he did not fancy. At the same time he is remembered as eccentric, kind, and a chef-sans-pair. Many actors, writers, opera stars, lecturers, counts and countesses as well as higher class traveling salesman were guests at the Hotel de Paris.
“In our crowded societies, what we call pleasures are often pains in disguise. From the duties of life, nobly accepted and courageously fulfilled, spring our truest sentiments and most lasting joys.” — LOUIS DUPUY, JUNE 5, 1887
His discernment applied to décor as well. Nearly everything in the Hotel de Paris was brought across oceans and continents. The dining room was filled with Haviland porcelain from Limoges and Belgian glass. The floor was in laid strips of maple and walnut and in the center was a little fountain copied from one in Florence Italy and filled with trout for diners to select. The walls were hung with western paintings. The food in the delightful dining room included oysters which were an absolute passion of Americans in the late 19th century. The fact that Colorado was 2000 miles from the nearest oyster bed did not matter, the gourmet proprietor of the Hotel de Paris had them brought in barrels across the mountain passes for the magnificent table he set.
One day a train pulled into Georgetown with a group of passengers, whose total wealth was estimated at more than $200 million. These gentlemen included three railroad magnates Jay Gould, Russell Sage and Sidney Dillon. The visitors arrived without prior warning at the hotel, but Louis was not daunted. He sat them down at the damask-draped tables and let them talk as he decided what to serve for dinner. The gentleman were ecstatic over the fresh French bread, the stuffed ptarmigan, venison and French peas. A crisp salad. Moselle wine accompanied the meal and Louis served rare Roquefort, Camembert, and blue cheese for dessert. The meal ended with a cup of his favorite drink … coffee.
Louis’s coffee is described in the Georgetown Courrier of October 13, 1900:
“… it is a pure as the snows that cap the neighboring peaks and when the lump of sugar saturated with cognac is suspended in tongs above the brown liquid and the blue flame sputters, leaps and gurgles in the cup, the finishing touch to an epicure’s meal draws the comforable feeling of satisfied appetite without criticism, to the host who so admirably fills every want.”
The continually expanded and upgraded hotel itself was just as well appointed as the dining room. The rooms had luxuries nearly unattainable in the mining towns of the Rockies. Beautiful black walnut carved and polished furnishings were accompanied by hot and cold running water in the marble wash bowls. There was central steam heat, gas lights and as soon as it was available… electricity!
The only woman in French Louis’s life was Sophie Gally, known as aunt Sophie. She was 11 years older and a distant cousin. She moved from France with her husband and stayed in Georgetown for the rest of her life, nearly 22 years. (Her husband succumbed to a mining accident not long after their arrival). She helped Louis by looking after the table linen, silver, and glasses and tending the flower garden. Sophie was a devout Catholic, and she begged Louis to become a Catholic. Anecdote tells us that when Louis realized his end was near in October 1900, he called for two bottles of France’s most celebrated champagne, drank the contents, was baptized and died soon after. Sophie inherited the Hotel de Paris, a nearby ranch and some mining property, but followed him in death within the year. They are together in the Georgetown cemetery, where the tombstone inscription reads “deux bons amis”. Sophie’s heirs in France inherited her estate. Sarah Burkholder rented the Hotel de Paris and later purchased it from Sophie’s heirs. Sarah then her daughter ran, renovated and expanded the Hotel until permanently closing it in 1954 at which point it became a historical site and museum.
The hotel has been immortalized in Louis L’amour’s 1979 book The Proving Trail (La Longue Chase) which is available in Bill & Rosa’s Book Room’s Library. In 1959, a CBS television series called Hotel de Paree, Hotel de Paree – Wikipedia inspired by the august Colorado hotel, premiered. The 1998 movie Phantoms, starring Rose McGowan, Joanna Going, and Ben Affleck, featured several scenes filmed at the hotel, which stood in as a bakery and hotel for the fictional town of « Snowfield ».
The museum offers guided tours in multiple languages. The building is on the national register of historic places and has been named a site of the national trust for historic preservation. It is still authentic with 90% of the original furnishings.
In addition to tours the Hotel de Paris Museum wine events are immersive food and drink experiences rooted in the history of the site. Wines from France and California are served with charcuterie and cheese. There is also live music. Christmas time brings special decorations and themed holiday trees.
Georgetown Colorado is about one hour west of Denver. Incidently that’s not far from Buffalo Bill’s grave.
You can also read about The Paris of Montana
