Le Meurice · Afternoon Tea by Cédric Grolet

The afternoon tea at Le Meurice is Cédric Grolet's pastry work in the room it was made for — the Dalí restaurant under the Philippe Starck ceiling, the fruit-sculpture cakes that the world watches on Instagram served at the table where the pastry chef built the brand. The tea is the rare Paris palace ritual that has earned its waiting list independent of the hotel guest.

Book three weeks ahead for the late-afternoon service, take the chef's selection of the fruit cakes, drink the rare Mariage Frères tea by the pot. The room is the right answer for the slow afternoon in the 1er, and the only Paris afternoon tea where the pastry chef is the headline act rather than the support.

The Grolet afternoon for the slow Saturday.