The Swedish Club in Paris (Cercle Suédois, Svenska Klubben) is since 1936 situated on rue de Rivoli, just in front of and with a view of the Tuileries Gardens (see previous posts). The club was founded in 1891 - on a different address. Those days it was a Swedish-Norwegian club; the two countries formed a Union between 1814 and 1905. The Norwegians later had their own premises, but today the Swedish and the Norwegian clubs share again the same facilities.
It’s a very nice place and location with its restaurant and bar, open to anybody and of course used for a lot of events. I was there the other night – for wine tasting and took a few photos – before the tasting started!
Alfred Nobel (1833 – 1896) was one of the first club members and the desk on which he actually wrote his testament in 1895 has been saved. (Born in Stockholm, he lived in Paris for some 20 years, died in San Remo.) The desk can thus still be seen with a facsimile of the hand-written document. As you may know, the Nobel Prizes are attributed by different Swedish academies and institutions, with the exception of the Peace Prize, which is attributed by a committee of members of the Norwegian parliament. This is explained by the fact that Sweden and Norway formed a Union when Nobel wrote his testament.
I wish you a nice weekend ... and a nice week! I’m off to Sweden again for a little bit more than a week.
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