Hôtel de Crillon

Hotel de Crillon across the Place de Concorde at night (carla777)

Located at the end of the Champs Elysees and just 500 feet from the Jardins des Tuileries is the Hotel de Crillon.  Originally constructed by King Louis XV in 1758, the Hotel de Crillon was one of the first two buildings to make up the famous Place de Concorde.  Today the building functions as one of the world's oldest luxury hotels with 103 guest rooms and 44 suites.

Like many buildings in Paris, the history behind the Hotel de Crillon is just incredible.  Here's a brief rundown of the early history of the first building on the Place de Concorde:

1758 - Commissioned by King Louis XV and designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel.
1778 - Location of the signing of the first treaties between the United States and France.
1793 - King Louis XVI is guillotined directly in front of the hotel as a result of the French Revolution.

Eventually the building was returned to the Count of Crillon, whose descendants lived in it for over 100 years.  However, I find one of the lesser known facts about the Hotel de Crillon to be the most interesting.  If you look at the front of the building, you might notice that the fifth column from the right is just a slightly different color from the rest of the columns on the face.  Notice in the picture below how one column is several shades darker than any of the other columns?  According to the story, towards the end of WWII during the liberation of Paris, one of the tank gunners was told to watch for "fifth column infiltrators," and took the meaning quite literally as he fired and hit the fifth column of the hotel.  When the column was eventually replaced after the war they were unable to exactly match the color, giving the fifth column its unique shade that still shows through today.

Front of the Hotel de Crillon (Carles Tomas Marti)

Of course, this story is completely unverifiable.  Today, there are no available photographs that show the Hotel de Crillon without its fifth column.  You'll probably even hear a different version of the story depending on which French company you book your walking tour with.  However, even with a lack of evidence, the story of the Hotel de Crillon is just too good not to tell.