Hôtel Drouot

What you see in front of you is not a hotel. Hôtel Drouot is the oldest and largest auction house in the world, opened in 1852 on a street where the legendary Salle Le Peletier opera house once stood before burning to the ground in 1873.

Step inside and you'll notice men in red jackets hauling paintings, furniture, and bronze statues through the corridors. These are the "cols rouges," the red-collars, and their story is remarkable. For generations, this was a closed brotherhood of Savoyard migrants, bound by family ties and strict secrecy, holding an absolute monopoly on moving art within Drouot. That privilege survived for nearly two centuries before a major fraud scandal finally broke the whole system open in the 21st century.

Drouot also carries darker weight. During the German occupation, Jewish visitors were banned by official poster on July 17, 1941, while their confiscated collections quietly passed through the hands of licensed auctioneers. It remains one of the most troubling chapters in the history of the Parisian art market.

One more funny detail: a room here was once reserved for the discreet sale of banned erotic literature, offering a polite, official stage for books that could not be sold openly anywhere else in the city. Even contraband, it seems, deserves a proper auction.