Coco Chanel's Everyday Breakfast

Her rich boyfriend, Boy Chapel bought her a four story building at 31 Rue Cambon in 1910 for her new shop called Chanel Modes.

This became the center of her empire.  Her shop was on the ground floor haute  couture on the second, her apartment on the third and her workshop on the 4th.

Her apartment soon became an entertainment center, catering to the many wealthy Parisians as well as international visitors.

Soon there were events virtually every night.  Needless to say this quickly became tiring.  People having too much to drink wanted to retreat to her bedroom and pass out, as well  as lotharios hoping to know CoCo even better.

So she remodeled her apartment.  She added her famous staircase, from which she would watch her shows, and in a brilliant stroke she  eliminated the bedroom.

Of course she needed a place to be able to retreat or  quietly slip out  and sleep.  She talked to her friend, Charles Ritz, and he gave her a tiny closet sized apartment at the Ritz Hotel. The back door conveniently located right in front of her shop.

The back entrance she used was where Princess Diana and Dodi exited on that fateful night.

This worked quite well for years.  The only extravagance she indulged in at the Ritz was breakfast.  Every morning it was the same thing.  A half a dozen oysters.

A sad addendum:  During World War II Coco moved into a spacious suite at the Ritz with Nazi SS General Walter Schellenberg, chief of intelligence.  He would later be imprisoned for war crimes.

The Ritz, ever eager to tap into celebrity fame has a CoCo Chanel suite.  It rents for $12,000 a night.

Of course it's over decorated, and not a really a  part of this story