"A Tea to Remember"


      Imagine sitting in the back seat of your Renault Enclosed Limousine as your chauffeur navigates through the throngs of passengers, with mountains of luggage, and pulls up dockside. He opens your door and extends his hand as you step out in your flowing silhouette with its sweeping train gathered behind. You tilt your head to maneuver your wide-brimmed hat with its feathered plumes through the opening. 
     As you step down onto the pier, your gaze is drawn upwards to the massive black hull moored in front of you. The shrill whistle of the ship announces its imminent departure. Hoards of people are lined up at the gangplank inching their way forward, anxious to set sail. “I have arrived,” you think, and with electrified anticipation, you board the RMS Titanic. 
      As a First Class passenger, you are soon to be treated to epicurean events like no other on the high seas. For the privileged, afternoon tea may be taken in the Café Parisien, located on “B” Deck adjacent to the exclusive Á la Carte Restaurant. A sunlit veranda that is an exact replica of a Parisian sidewalk café, the Café Parisien features ivy-covered trellises and wicker chairs and soon becomes a favorite gathering place for the younger first-class travelers. You dine next to well-bred young ladies with feminine contours of silk and lace under their own wide-brimmed hats topped with fluffy plumes on the arm of their dashing young gentlemen escorts wearing sacque suits, silk ties secured with gold pins and black bowlers seated for an intermission of tea. 
      A first on British ships, the restaurant is lined with large picture windows affording a view of the sea while dining. And in fair weather, the windows can be rolled down allowing passengers to dine al fresco, another first for sea voyages. 
      French waiters, under the watchful eye of restaurant manager Luigi Gatti, serve tea, coffee and aperitifs along with delicate tea sandwiches on elegant white china rimmed in cobalt blue and gold from a circular buffet while lyrical strains from a string trio waft in from the reception room next door. 
      During the transatlantic crossing, you also discover the Verandah Café located aft on the Promenade Deck. Equally as bright and airy as the Café Parisien, the Verandah Café is patterned after gazebos found on the grounds of grand English country estates. Along with expansive windows affording an uninterrupted view of the seascape, sliding doors can be opened in fair weather to allow the sea breeze to wash over the room. Trellis-work covered in ivy and wicker furniture create the illusion of a conservatory at sea. 
     Once settled into your chair, a solicitous waiter pours your tea into a white china cup decorated in turquoise and brown, and places a matching plate of the most delightful assortment of little sandwiches and scones in front of you. 
      As you spoon a dollop of clotted cream onto your scone, you watch a group of first-class children playing quietly and unassumingly in the far corner of the Café. 
      All in all, it was an enchanting, albeit short-lived dining experience aboard the ill-fated voyage of the RMS Titanic.  We would like to pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice of all the souls lost 96 years ago on this anniversary of her tragic demise.
      Several exhibitions across the United States have run or are still operating where you can view pieces of the original china used aboard the RMS Titanic along with other artifacts that have been salvaged from the wreck site at the bottom of the North Atlantic. They include the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Civic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the Science Spectrum in Lubbuck, Texas, the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio, The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, and the Metreon in San Francisco, California. 

      A debt of gratitude goes to Jonathan Barnes, Senior Manager of Media Relations at Creaxion for Titanic The Artifact Exhibition, for his generous assistance with the preparation of this newsletter.


Sources: www.rmstitanic.net
              www.tudorlinks.com
              www.titanic.marconigraph.com

Photos:  © RMS Titanic, Inc.