Cowboy chambre in France

Lobby of the hotel at Pullman City Hartz. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I love finding "wild west" places to stay (and eat) here in Europe. Restaurants, cafes and saloons are not hard to come across -- and a lot of them feature music. But hotels are something else.

Most wild west theme parks have old fashioned style hotels in their wild west towns -- but alas, I've never managed (or afforded) to stay in one of them.

I did have a memorable stay a few years back in the "Little Texas" hotel in Iasi, Romania .... it seemed a lot simpler place in 2006 than it looks now, at least on the web site. (And I don't remember it being four star).

Here's what the web site says now:

THE FAMOUS AMERICAN HOTEL AND RESTAURANT IN IASI, ROMANIA CREATING A LITTLE PIECE OF TEXAS - SINCE 1997 

Just breeze through our authentic old west swinging saloon doors and you are immersed in the Old Southwest. Original & unique American cowboy decor combines with a warm and inviting ambiance. Rich massive wood and great country music conspire to create the sensation that indeed you have stepped into an American Restaurant of yesteryear. Our friendly and attentive staff is on hand to ease you out of the hectic day and into the "Little Texas Experience". Relax and unwind amidst the splendor of our magnificent restaurant garden terrace. Slake that burning thirst from the long dusty trail with a refreshing smoothie drink, a house specialty. 

Little Texas features 32 four star hotel rooms & suites, each with custom crafted American furnishings including large beds especially designed with your best night's sleep in mind. Each room features a fully stocked mini-bar, free wi-fi access, air-conditioning, direct-dial phones and flatscreen TV. 

Most hotel rooms enjoy a stunning panoramic view over the garden and the city below.
All rooms include our full American ala carte breakfast, featuring fluffy pancakes, tasty waffles--piping hot, homeade maple syrup, the perfect omelette--made your way or eggs-crisp bacon with hash browns. 

Our all original Tex-Mex menu offers a Texas size solution for that ranch hand hunger. Sink your teeth into our signature steak, the famous "Little Texas platter"-marinated filet mignon, available with all the trimmings; twice baked potatoes, hand made nachos, sauteed vegetables and spindle top salad. For dessert polish off a slab of our fresh baked double crust apple pie ala mode or the irresistible Texas mud cake - for an explosion of rich chocolate! 

Our Alamo conference room is the ideal choice for your next meeting or event. Fully equipped for your every need, the Alamo room provides a private and discreet setting with a secluded adjoining terrace surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of nature.
Let our experienced and caring staff help plan and organize your next special event, whether a corporate gathering, wedding, anniversary, baptism, party or concert - for groups of up to 150. 

LITTLE TEXAS HOTEL AND RESTAURANT, AMERICAN OWNED AND OPERATED!

I recently came across another place -- this time in France, in the beautiful southern Dordogne area.

The Laboucario Ranch looks like a Saloon and offers "Chambre d'Hôtes Country Western."

I'd love to check it out!

France -- Paris Western Show!

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Paris Western Show last weekend! Oh man, why wasn't I there?? (Though there are actually not too many people to be seen in the video....)

France -- More French Western Food...

 

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I don't usually post info on individual saloons, etc, in Europe (though maybe I should....) but I can't resist putting something up about the Buffalo Grill chain of Western-style restaurants in France -- in part because it is so widespread. They are all over France, with some franchises in Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Rentrer dans un Buffalo Grill, c’est comme faire une halte dans le grand ouest. En version Classic ou Hits, ici le bœuf tient la vedette. Vous pourrez aussi découvrir des produits et recettes originales qui flirtent avec le Far West : steak de bison, chili con carne, burger… Quant aux petits « cow boys », ils choisiront dans le menu Kids.

                  

Cowboy and Country-Western Saloons

Swinging door saloon, Pilsen, CZ. Photo (c) R. E. Gruber

Sam Corbett writes about U Bocmana, a country-western saloon in the current issue of the NYU student online magazine The Prague Wanderer. (He quotes me....)

Places like this are "wild western spaces" par excellence, and there are dozens of such saloons (with or without swinging doors and spittoons) in various European countries -- I have visited them in Germany, Poland, CZ, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovakia....

Some are just bars or cafes; some feature live music; some are full-service restaurants. Most are individual, privately-run venues, but in Poland there is even a chain of western-style restaurants called "Sioux." There is also a big chain of western-style steak-house restaurants in France (with outlets in Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg) called "Buffalo Grill."

One of my first experiences in the Imaginary Wild West was, in fact, a cowboy-style party in a country-western roadhouse in a remote village in southern Bohemia....I was led there by Willie Jones, an American who at the time was working as a singing cowboy at the Pullman City wild west theme park in Bavaria. Along with a Slovak bluegrass group, we traveled in a three-car convoy from Pullman City into CZ.

The road house was in a village too small to appear on my map. From the outside it looked like an anonymous village restaurant, but inside it was decorated with Wild West paraphernalia including horseshoes, sepia photographs of Native Americans and Billy the Kid, and a framed arrangement of pistols and playing cards.

The occasion for the party was the 50th birthday of Franz Zetihammel, a figure well known on the Czech and German western show circuit for his portrayals “Fuzzy,” an “old coot” persona harking back to characters played by comic western actors such as Gabby Hayes or Walter Brennan. Fuzzy has long straggly grey hair and beard and never appears in public without his cowboy hat, cowboy boots and turquoise bolo tie and other jewelry.

A Czech country duo got the guests up and dancing with locally written Czech country songs and Czech covers of American hits such as John Denver’s “Country Roads” and even “I’m and Okie from Muskokee.”

One of the party guests, a man in his forties, was dressed head to toe in full cowboy attire, including sheriff’s star and a six-shooter – which Fuzzy at one point pulled from its holster, brandished at the dancers and then fired at the ceiling – fortunately, it was loaded with blanks....

(I haven't been back to that place -- I'm sure I could never find it again. But I ran into Fuzzy last year; he was working as the blacksmith at the Halter Valley private wild west town near Pilsen in CZ.)

Fuzzy, Halter Valley, 2007. Photo (c) R. E. Gruber

Here is a slideshow of several country/western saloons in Europe. All pictures (c) R. E. Gruber: