VB & Cremerie de Paris, a fairytale for the Romanov children
A story that left ... and that returned
VB (Hôtel de Villeroy Bourbon) since 1129
Romanov / Hessen / Windsor Genealogy
go to the end of the page
Alix Hessen (1872 - 1918)
Dmitri Romanov (1891 - 1942)
Anastasia Romanov (1901 - 1918)
Carl Solms (1903 - 2004)
Alexei Romanov (1904 - 1918)
Friederike Solms (1905 - 1993)
Coco Chanel (1883 - 1971)
Aimee de Heeren (1903 - 2006)
VB.com since 1991
/ 2007
The cartoon movie "Anastasia" mentions a music box from Paris.
The real jewelry box is the Cremerie de Paris,
a legendary place in the childhood of the Romanov children.
Cremerie de Paris / VB.com
an old house in France
with a history going back to the year 1129
is a fairytale for the Romanov children
1910s The Tsarina of Russia
tells the young Romanov children
the fairytales
she had hear as a child
from Eugenie de Montijo
Over a hundred years ago grew up in Russia
5 children of exotic beauty.
The were the 4 daughters and the son of Tsar Nicolas II
and his Anglo German wife Alix Hessen / Alexandra Feodorovna.
Olga Romanov, Tatiana Romanov, Maria Romanov, Anastasia Romanov, Alexei Romanov
Around the children were many cousins
Three of them have a direct connection with todays Cremerie de Paris :
Dmitri Romanov (1891 - 1942) was the oldest one.
Dmitri was the son of the Tsars uncle.
He had grown up with Sergei Romanov (uncle of Nicolas II)
and Elisabeth Hessen (older sister of the Tsarina (Alix Hessen).
Following a terrorist attack that had cost the live of his adoptive father Sergei,
14 years old Dmitri became part of the imperial household.
Carl Solms (1803 - 2004) and Friderike Solms (1905 - 1993) the youngest ones.
They were both a nephew and a niece of Eleonore Solms / Eleonore Hessen (1871 - 1937)
the stepsister of the Tsarina and second wife of Ernst Ludwig Hessen (1868 - 1937).
Ernst Ludwig Hessen and the Tsarina (Alix Hessen) as well as their sisters
Victoria Hessen (grandmother of Philip Mountbatten, husband of Queen Elisabeth 2)
and Elisabeth Hessen were grandchildren of Queen Victoria
Carl Solms was a few months older than Alexei Romanov who admired him for being very sportive,
something Alexei suffering from hemophebia was not allowed to do.
Friecerike the young cousin of Anastasia.
The little girls copied each others hairstyle.
The Tsarina had a fascination for children
and when they were by themselves, she told them
stories about VB and the Cremerie de Paris.
Cremerie des Halles was a milkstore at the entrance of the Paris Les Halles foodmarket,
the world's most beautiful maket that ewisited since centuries
and that had been rebuild in the 1860s
by a woman the Tsxarina had known as a child.
There were many many stories,
a new one every day.
The key caracter of the stories was a young boy
that had the same age than the children
and that had lived at the VB mansion (Hotel de Villeroy Bourbon)
250 years earlier ...
The young King Louis XIV, later called le Roi Soleil (Sunking)
When they were among each other
the children continued to talk about Cremerie de Paris.
They all wanted to travel to Paris and discover this fascinating place
in the capital of fashion.
The cartoon movie "Anastasia" mentiones a Music Box The real music box is Cremerie de Paris The film does not match reality and retells Anastasia's life with a lot of phantasy. The moovie enjoyed a positive reception from many critics and received nomination for several awards, like an Oscar award by the Academy Award for Best Original Score of the Best Original Score |
Legendes about Cremerie de Paris
coming from the Tsarina, mother of the Romanov children
Alix Hessen growing up around Eugénie, the woman
that build le quartier des Halles de Paris
The Tsarina had a passion for her children
She was not interested in politics, state affairs, court issues ...
All she liked were the children and her husband.
At night she told them fairytale stories
The most beautiful ones were about a certain "Cremerie de Paris",
a milk store at the iconic Halles Centrales foodmarket in the heart of the French capital.
Cremerie de Paris is part of a century old mansion
where another child, the young Bourbon King Louis XIV had lived a long time ago.
It was the house of the children François and Catherine de Villeroy,
their father was the tutor of the young Bourbon King.
Later they all lived at the Palace of Versailles.
The stories had a secret code "VB" so that adults
would know what their sorties were about.
The Tsarina knew these stories from a childhood friend
the old exiled French Empress Eugenie (1853 - 1920) that was still alive
and that lived the United Kingdom.
Eugenie was a friend of her grandmother, Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901)
mother of Alice of the United Kingdom (1843 - 1878),
that had died when Alix was 6.
Empress Eugénie had lost her only child,
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1856 - 1879)
and loved Alix (the later Tsarina).
Sometimes before Alix went to bed,
Eugénie came to tell her about the Cremerie de Paris.
As a young woman Eugenie had married the French Emperor Napoléon III (1808 - 1873)
with the project to make Paris become the world's most beautiful city.
The new foodmarket at Les Halles Centrales was the project of Eugénie.
She knew the détail of everything.
The market was made of the "Pavillons Baltard",
10 glass iron pavillions
and some beautiful newly erected avenues like the "Rue des Halles".
On the corner of number 15 rue des Halles
and the centuries old rue des Déchargeurs
is located the Cremerie de Paris.
When a grand reception was going on in St Petersburg,
food was coming from this market brought to Russia with the Nord Express train.
1918 - Russian Revolution
End of a story
The 5 Romanov children are killed
1918 july 17 The five Romanov children were killed
under the oder of Vladimir Lenin.
The possible asurvival of Anastasia
remained a much discussed mystery for the entire century.
1920s - The Cremerie de Paris story continues
with Dmitri Romanov and Coco Chanel
N°5 and a little jewel
1920 Dmitri Romanov survives the Russian Revolution
and comes to Paris. He discovers Cremerie de Paris
and shows it to Coco Chanel.
Chanel falls in love with both Romanov and Cremerie de Paris.
A staircase with a mysterious No5 forged into the railings
captivates her.
Video about Coco Chanel
What is left from their affair
is N°5 and a little jewel.
1938 - Coco Chanel runs into a secret sevice agent
Aimée Lopes de Sotto Maior
A little jewel from Coco Chanel
1938 World War 2 is on it's way
and Brazil sends his most beautiful girl to Paris
to find information of what is going on in Europe.
Coco Chanel is captivated by the exotic looking Aimée Lopes de Sotto Maior (1903 - 2006)
without realising that Aimée is a Secret Service Agent
she connects her with many people .
While collected information on Germany
Aimée turnes into an anti Nazi activist.
In London she meets the son of the American ambassador
who falls in Love with her.
1939 november Life in Paris has become to dangerous for Aimee.
She moves on to New York.
Joe Kennedy Jr (1915 - 1944) helps her to influence the Roosevelt administration
to realise that action needs to be taken against the German Dictator.
1960s after not seeing each over for twenty years
Chanel and Aimée meet again.
Chanel is still fascinated by the glamour of a woman that looks the same.
When Chanel cannot sleep and when Aimée just returns from a party
they walk from la place Vendôme to the Cremerie de Paris
to watch the Les Halles foodmarket open all night.
They go to Cremerie de Paris to admire a mysterious staircase
linked to Dmitri Romanov and the invention of the perfume N°5
1970 christmas Chanel is getting old,
shortly before leaving this world
Chanel gives the little Romanov jewel to Aimée.
1970s - The Cremerie de Paris stories continue
with Carl and Friederike Solms
Babysitting with the last survivors of the inner Romanov cercle
Creating a dream to reactivate Cremerie de Paris
Carl Solms 1910 as a young boy with Alexei Romanov and Nicolas II
and 1972 as an old man telling stories about Cremerie de Paris
to his great-nephew Ben Solms.
Friederike Solms 1910 as a young girl with her cousin Anastasia Romanov in Wolfsgarten
and again 1970 with her great nephew Ben Solm (red circles)
The fairytales about Cremerie de Paris
result in curiosity
1980 Ben Solms, now a 14 year old schoolboy travels to Paris
and tries to find the legendary Cremerie de Paris.
Cremerie de Paris still exists,
but since the 1971 departure of the Les Halles foodmarket
the place is closed and abandoned.
The idea comes up to reopen it,
but unfortunately
nothing was left from the Romanov fortunes
to help the project.
Carl Solms has very little money.
Frederike Solms makes her living as a beekeeper.
Nobody would have imagined that living very modestly
they were the last survivors
of the inner cercle of the Romanovs.
1993 A school exchange program makes it possible
to come to Paris.
Working as a host in tradefairs and fashion shows
provides some income and the possibility
to meet people that are hard to meet.
Nothing from the Romanov fortunes
exept a touch of glamour ...
The glamour is called
Thurn & Taxis
Aimee de Heeren
and Coco Chanel
1986 / 1993 / 2006 - Return of a Story
Running into a WW2 secret service agent
and friend of Coco Chanel
Aimée de Heeren
Reopening Cremerie de Paris
1986 A Postman met in a fashion show
pushes the young student to find an idea in the world of
Telecommunications and
onnects the young student to Chanel's friend
Aimee de Heeren / Aimee Lopes de Sotto Maior
1986 reopening the small Cremerie de Paris No2
as a Sony Phone Boutique and Repair Service.
Well when you are just 20
and you have the keys of a small Boutique in Paris
a lot of adventures are waiting for you ...
1988 Lady Diana is one of the customers
and adds a massive glamour to the small Boutique.
1992 The legendary Cremerie de Paris N°1 is for rent.
The small Sony Phone Boutique is doing very well
but it is impossible to convince the owner
to rent a large store to someone still very young.
1993 Aimee de Heeren has an idea
"search for a bank loan
and buy the place instead of renting it."
But unfortunately France is a country that makes
things difficult when you are very young.
A miracle happens
a foreigh bank accepts to finance the project
under the condition a strong down payment can be made ...
The Sony Phones had generated quite some savings,
but not enough
Aimée de Heeren decides to sells the little jewel
Coco Chanel had left her ...
It become possible to buy Cremerie de Paris
as if Chanel
that had already left this world two decades earlier
had decided to continue the story ...
1991 / 1993 / 1999 - Return of a Story
Living the birth of the internet
Getting a Two Letter domain
Inventing the Phone Book of the World
1995 Cremerie de Paris becomes the first Internet cafe in France
1991 early years of the Internet.
Two Letter Domains are among the first domains to be registered.
The Story about getting the Two Letter VB.com domain is another faitytale.
VB is the acronym for "Villeroy Bourbon", the name of the old mansion.
It als means "Very Beautiful"
The internet connections,
still inexisting in Paris Hotels
attracts all kind of Americans
which are impossible to meet.
One was on the first flight to the Moon.
Another one invented the Internet domains
and others are still very young
and knowbody knows who they are
or who they are going to become,
maybe they did not know it themselves.
Today they come back
to open a Pop Up Store
for a company they have invented in the meantime.
since 2012 Return of a Story
Cremerie de Paris turning into a
Meeting Place of the World's most famous Brands
2012 Nike was the first to come to Cremerie de Paris
for an iconic Pop Up Store,
the Nike Barber Shop.
Romanov / Hessen Genealogy
|
Contact
Phone: +33 1 42 21 11 11
Address:
Hotel Villeroy Bourbon,
11 rue des Déchargeurs, 75001 Paris
Email:
b@vb.com
Website:
Very Beautiful by VB.com
Social:
Instagram
Pop Ups
Acer
Adopte Un Mec
Amazon
Charal
Fanta
Final Fantasy
Game of Thrones
L'Oréal
Metal Gear
Microsoft
Nike
Onitsuka Tiger
Pokemon
Renault
Sodexo
Shadow
Siemens
Starbucks
Under Armour
UGG
Weight Watchers
Fans
Louis XIV
Henri IV
Aimee de Heeren
Louis François Cartier
Coco Chanel
Soraya Esfandiari
Empress Eugenie
Thierry Hermes
Marguerite de Navarre
Alexei Romanov
Anastasia Romanov
Dmitri Romanov
Maria Romanov
Olga Romanov
Tatiana Romanov
Carl Solms
Friederike Solms
Philipp Solms
Nicolas V de Villeroy
Nicolas IV de Villeroy
Felix Yusupov
Vincent van Gogh
(c) Copyright VB.com