Last night I had drinks with my childhood friend at the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. She’s from France, has red hair, and often wears a cute yellow hat. Her name is Madeline, maybe you’ve heard of her?
“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. They left the house at half past nine… the smallest one was Madeline.”
I’ve only been to the Carlyle hotel once before (back in my fashion PR days, I brought Nicole Kidman some clutches for an event) and had never been inside the bar. As I was delighted to find out, Bemelmans Bar is named after the author and illustrator of the Madeline books, Ludwig Bemelmans. The walls of the cozy space are covered in his only remaining public artwork, a mural called Central Park that includes Madeline and her classmates!
Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel
Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel
Not my drink... but let's pretend it was.
It’s probably more accurate to say I had drinks next to Madeline… that’s almost the same, right?
“And that’s all there is — there isn’t any more.”
