007 Book location: Hotel Le Richemond

Bond book: Role of Honour (1984)
Place and location in the book: Hotel Le Richemond, Geneva, Switzerland
Actual place and location: Hotel Le Richemond, Rue Adhémar-Fabri 8-10, Geneva, Switzerland
What happens here in the book: President of United States and Soviet Union's Head of State are keeping a summit here, and villain of the book Tamil Rahani is about to get their secret codes of nuclear weapons by flying over the hotel using airship (Le Richemond not counted as a Bond hotel, because 007 is not inside the hotel at any point)
Visited by 007 Travelers: 2014

”Below them, the lakeside of Geneva slid into view. The airship slowed, tilted forward and turned gently.

- 'No playing around, Nick,' Rahani called in warning. 'Just do what you normally do. Then take her straight over Le Richemond.' 

- 'I'm doing what I normally do. I'm doing it by the book,' the pilot said laconically. 'That's what you wanted and that is just what you're getting.'

- 'And what,' Bond called back, 'are we really doing, anyway? What is the caper that's going to change history?'"

John Gardner: "Role of Honour"

See the whole 007 Travel story here

See more 007 BOOK LOCATIONS here

007 Travel story: Geneva (SWITZERLAND) 2014, day 1/2

Pirita´s, Mika's and 7 -year-old daughter's own family trip for three 13 - 22 July 2014.


Airline: Finnair
Flights: Helsinki-Geneva-Helsinki
Price: 576,00 € / 3 persons (two adults, one child)
Flight time: 3h 5min



Since this is again one of our 007 trips, Pirita got her nails done with 007 style:

Pirita´s nails by Sara Pylkkänen @ Susanna´s Nail Salon, Järvenpää, Finland

After landing in Geneva, we went to baggage collection area, which is in Arrival level. We got free Unireso tickets which allowed us to travel for free for 80 minutes.

Mika and Unireso ticket machine

Then we moved towards Geneva center by train: Genève-Cornavin, gare CFF.

Duration 6-8 minutes. Trains every 12 minutes. Our hotel was only 3 minutes´ walk from the train station.

Hotel: Hotel International & Terminus (reserved via booking.com)
Stars: 3 ***
Address: Rue des Alpes, 20
Price: 152,00 € / 1 night + City tax approx. 10 EUR / 3 persons, breakfast included
Wi-Fi: Free
Attention: Payment will be charged via credit card 30 days after reservation
Check in: 15.00 - 00.00
Check out: 07.00 - 12.00
Room type: Triple room

Our room

Located about 80 meters from the main railway station in Geneva

• The Hotel is 5 minutes far from the airport by train (direct connection)
• Trade fairs and other important sites of the city are easily accessible from the hotel through the main bus routes
• You can reach Lake in just a 5-minute walk
• You can reach downtown Geneva and the old town in a 15-minute walk and international organizations including the United Nations, in 10-12 minutes by bus.

The hotel gave us our free tickets to travel around Geneva.
The tickets are valid during the time spent in the hotel.


After check-in we went to have a lunch.

We found a lovely restaurant near by:
Au Petit Chalet (Address: Rue de Berne, 17)

We had Pasta Carbonara and pizza and had Orangina lemonade and Henniez water.

After lunch it was time to see some 007 book locations and other 007 related places.

We found Richemond hotel at Rue Adhemar-Fabri, 8. This hotel is mentioned in John Gardner's 007 book "Role of Honour" (1984).

”Below them, the lakeside of Geneva slid into view. The airship slowed, tilted forward and turned gently.

- 'No playing around, Nick,' Rahani called in warning. 'Just do what you normally do. Then take her straight over Le Richemond.' 

- 'I'm doing what I normally do. I'm doing it by the book,' the pilot said laconically. 'That's what you wanted and that is just what you're getting.'

- 'And what,' Bond called back, 'are we really doing, anyway? What is the caper that's going to change history?'"

John Gardner: "Role of Honour"

We also found Hotel de la Paix at 11 Quai Mont Blanc, the hotel can be seen in TV series "The Persuaders" starring Roger Moore, in the episode "The Ozerov Inheritance". 

Later we visited Pont du Mont Blanc (Mont Blanc bridge), which is mentioned in the Ian Fleming's book "Goldfinger" (1959).

Mont Blanc bridge

We knew that former 007 restaurant Bavaria, mentioned in 007 book "Goldfinger" had changed its name. It is now known as Le Relais de I´Entrecote. The name was not only thing changed. We found its former location at 49, Rue de Rhone. The restaurant had moved to address 6, Rue Pierre Fatio in April 2014. This location at 49, Rue de Rhone, however, was its original location.



Bavaria / Le Relais de I´Entrecote @ 49, Rue de Rhone

"Bond motored across the beautiful Pont du Mont Blanc and along the brightly lit quai to the Bavaria, a modest Alsatian brasserie that had been the rendezvous of the great in the days of the League of Nations. He sat by the window and drank Enzian washed down with pale Löwenbrau. He thought first about Goldfinger. There was now no doubt what he was up to."

Ian Fleming: "Goldfinger"

Soon we found Quai Wilson, there is this office house, which is mentioned in the same 007 book.

"Behind the desk there was a reproduction of the Annigoni portrait of the Queen. On the other walls were advertisements for Ferguson tractors and other agricultural machinery. From outside the wide window came the hum of traffic along the Quai Wilson. A steamer hooted. Bond glanced out of the window and watched it ride across the middle distance."

Ian Fleming: "Goldfinger"


It was a really hot day and it was to time to have an ice cream. Le Molino Lacustre had wonderful ice creams (15 CHF each)

With city tickets given by our hotel, we traveled with a little city boat around the Lake Geneva.

Our next stop was Quai Gustave Ador, where Bond had two rooms above an old candy shop in John Pearson's 007 book "James Bond, The Authorized Biography of 007" (1973).

Did Bond live here?

"But there was something else about Geneva that appealed to him, and he
agreed with Ian Fleming on the subject. For both of them it had, what Fleming called, a ‘Simenon-like quality – the quality that makes a thriller-writer want to take a tin-opener and find out what goes on behind the façade, behind the great families who keep the banner of Calvin flying behind the lace curtains in their fortresses in the Rue des Granges, the secrets behind the bronze grilles of the great Swiss banking corporations, the hidden turmoil behind the beautiful bland face of the country’.

This then was Switzerland for Bond, and he was fascinated by it. He had two rooms with a respectable Swiss lady over a sweet-shop off the Quai Gustave Ador."

"He enjoyed the rackety routine of life with old Frau Nisberg; he enjoyed the silence of his room with its views across the lake; he enjoyed Frau Nisberg's cooking."

John Pearson: "James Bond, The Authorized Biography of 007"

Later we walked along Rue des Vollandes. We wondered whether there could have been one part of Geneva University once, where Bond had studied...

In real life Ian Fleming also studied short time in Geneva and while in Geneva, Fleming began a romance with Monique Panchaud de Bottomes and the couple were briefly engaged in 1931. James Bond's mother was Swiss born Monique Delacroix, so it is easy to guess from where Fleming got the inspiration for the name...

We wondered whether this could have been one part of Geneva University once, where Bond had studied...

"As a compromise I was finally packed off to my father's old school, Fettes. I
rather liked it after Eton, stayed there until sixteen, then got fed up with it. Decided it was time to move on. Got to Geneva University. And that was where the trouble really started.’"

John Pearson: "James Bond, The Authorized Biography of 007"

After that it was time to see Parc La Grange, which was beautiful.

We also visited children's playground nearby.



Parc La Grange



"The Parc La Grange, Geneva, has a surface of 200,000 m², hosts very old and tall trees, Geneva's biggest rose garden, orangeries and an 18th-century villa. Also two theaters, a playground as well as a paddling pool for the children are found there. It is situated at the Quai Gustave-Ador in Geneva". (Wikipedia)


We had dinner in Pasta Prima restaurant.

Pasta Prima restaurant @ Rue du Mont-Blanc, 24

After dinner it was time to go to our hotel to get some rest.

Geneva part 2/2 will follow in the end of our Switzerland tour. Next stop, however, Bern!

This 007 travel story continues here 

See more 007 Travel stories here

007 Book: Role of Honour (1984)

Bond book: Role of Honour

Author: John Gardner

Publication year: 1984

Role of Honour was the fourth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond.

After receiving a large inheritance, James Bond 007 is accused of improprieties and drummed out of the British Secret Service. Disgusted with his former employers, Bond places his services on the open market, where he later attracts the attention of representatives of SPECTRE who are quite willing to put their one-time enemy on their payroll. But the whole thing was a hoax, just a plan to get Bond inside the enemy's organization.

See more information here

See more 007 BOOKS here
 

007 Hotel: Villa Medici, Rome, Italy

VILLA MEDICI


Location: Rome, Italy
Address: Piazza della Trinità dei Monti, 1
Bond book appearance: Role of Honour

Villa Medici is a historical palace of the 16th century located on the Pincio hill, in the heart of Rome that it has opened its rooms to the public.
Seat of the French Academy in Rome from the XVIII century, Villa Medici is first of all a cultural institution, its core being the residency of fellows and the organisation of several cultural events such as exhibitions, conferences, festivals.
Villa Medici gives accommodation to guests, following specific housing requirements.
Historical rooms
The so called historical rooms are the old Villa Medici's apartments. The rooms are decoreted with Renaissance frescoes, works of the manierism of Jacopo Zucchi and his studio, as well as walls and forniture created by Balthus in 1960s. They are comfortable rooms of about 70 m2, equipped with a doublebed and a bathroom with a bathtub, with a view either on the city of Rome or the Villa Medici's gardens.

Standard rooms
The rooms of the gateway are former fellows' apartments served by a wooden gateway. They have a view on Villa Medici's gardens or on the gardens of the celebrated church of the Trinità dei Monti. They are comfortable rooms of about 40 m2, equipped with a doublebed on a mezzanine floor and a bathroom with a shower. Different smaller rooms (of about 20 m2) as comfortable as the others, are also available. They are equipped with a doublebed and a bathroom with a shower.
It is possible to book a room not earlier than four months in advance.

"They first flew to Rome and stayed for a week at the Villa Medici. Percy had never been to Rome and Bond enjoyed showing her as much as one can fit in seven short days." 

John Gardner: "Role of Honour"

See the whole travel story here

See more 007 HOTELS (visited) here

007 Hotel: Hôtel de Paris, Monte-Carlo, Monaco

HÔTEL DE PARIS MONTE-CARLO


Location: Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Address: Place du Casino
Bond movie appearance: GoldenEye
Bond book appearance: Role of Honour, James Bond, the Authorized Biography of 007, Never Dream of Dying

182 rooms, including 37 Junior Suites, 41 Suites and 2 Diamond Suites.

3 restaurants: Le Louis XV- Alain Ducasse, Le Grill and Côté Jardin.

One grand function room: La Salle Empire.

Le Bar Américain providing a jazz ambiance.

A legendary wine cellar.

A hair dressing salon and luxury boutiques.

Access to the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo (pool, fitness centre, hammam, sauna, solarium…).

8 comfortable and elegant lounges with international secretarial services, technical and audiovisual equipment on request.

”At a little after six on Tuesday the Mulsanne slid into Monaco's Place Casino and up to the entrance of the Hotel de Paris. It was a splendid, clear spring evening, with hardly a breath of wind to stir the palm trees in the gardens which front the Grand Casino."

John Gardner: "Role of Honour"

See the whole travel story here

See more 007 HOTELS (visited) here

007 Restaurant: Le Galion, Menton, France

LE GALION

Location: Menton, France
Address: Nouveau Port de Menton Garavan
Bond book appearance: Role of Honour

Price range: 25 € - 80 €

Cuisines: Dessert, Italian, Mediterranean, Winery

Good for: Families with children, Outdoor seating

Dining options: Breakfast/Brunch, Reservations, Late Night, Dessert

"If they stayed for the evening in Monaco, they ate dinner in the hotel, but when they get excited of Cannes casino, they appeared in La Napoule L'Oasis tasting there the chef Louis Outhier's the last temptation. Sometimes they ate at little more conventional Negresco, Nice, or even La Reserve a Beaulieu, or - when suitable opportunity occurred - a modest, Le Galion, which was located in Menton, Garavan harbour city."

John Gardner: "Role of Honour"

See the whole travel story here

See more 007 RESTAURANTS (visited) here



007 Restaurant: La Rotonde Brasserie, Nice, France

LA ROTONDE BRASSERIE


Location: Nice, France
Address: 37, Promenade des Anglais
Bond book appearance: Role of Honour


A décor filled with vibrant colors, an 18th century carousel and its wooden horses make La Rotonde a very unexpected place. Dedicated to families, it is a warm and bright restaurant where it is pleasant to linger after a delicious gourmet meal. A simple menu and yet full of creative surprises. From the first sunny days, its terrace opens onto the sea and the sun.

"If they stayed for the evening in Monaco, they ate dinner in the hotel, but when they get excited of Cannes casino, they appeared in La Napoule L'Oasis tasting there the chef Louis Outhier's the last temptation. Sometimes they ate at little more conventional Negresco, Nice, or even La Reserve a Beaulieu, or - when suitable opportunity occurred - a modest, Le Galion, which was located in Menton, Garavan harbour city."

John Gardner: "Role of Honour"

See the whole travel story here

See more 007 RESTAURANTS (visited) here

007 Hotel: Le Negresco, Nice, France

LE NEGRESCO

Location: Nice, France
Address: 37, Promenade des Anglais
Bond book appearance: Licence Renewed


Designed in the style of the Belle Epoque, Hotel Negresco is located on the Promenade des Anglais, overlooking the Bay of Angels in Nice.

The perfect combination of historic and contemporary is Negresco’s trademark. Equipped and personalized with exceptional period furniture, each one of the 96 rooms and 21 suites draws its inspiration from the most remarkable French art periods. From Louis XIII style to modern art, five centuries of history are represented.

Each air-conditioned room and suite offers elegant furniture and a four-poster bed. They are also equipped with a flat-screen TV, free Wi-Fi access and a private bathroom.
Savour gourmet cuisine in Le Chantecler restaurants or the Brasserie La Rotonde or meet for drinks in the British-style bar Le Relais.

A generous buffet breakfast of fresh food is served in La Rotonde restaurant each morning.
Hotel Negresco provides a private car park and also has access to a private beach. It is a 15-minute walk from the Old Town and Nice Train Station. Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is just 5 km from the hotel.


248.00 € / night, breakfast not included. (2013)

Negresco is also a Bond hotel. Mr. Bond has stayed there in John Gardner book
"Licence Renewed" and ate there in same author's book "Role of Honour".

"Then they sat and breakfasted at the balcony, watching the early strollers along Promenade des Anglais and the white triangles of yacht sails against the Mediterranean."

John Gardner: "Licence Renewed"

See the whole travel story here

See more 007 HOTELS (visited) here