Paris walks - In the footsteps of Hemingway
Paris has always been a magnet for artists and writers. One of my favorite ways to explore Paris is to follow in the footsteps of a famous inhabitant. Let's take a walk with Hemingway, probably the best known American to call Paris home.
Hemingway moved to Paris with his wife Hadley at the end of 1921. Let's begin our walk at 74, rue Cardinal Lemoine (metro: place Monge), Hemingway's first apartment in Paris. The apartment is just off the colorful place Contrescarpe and rue Monge, full of cute shops, restaurants, bars, and cafes. He also rented a room around the corner, at 39 rue Decartes, where he would seclude himself to write. Incidentally, this building has another literary association. A half a decade earlier it was home to the French poet, Paul Verlaine.
Follow rue Decartes north for one block, then turn left on rue Clovis. This will take you past the pantheon. Famous Frenchmen such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Marie Curie are buried in the crypt.
Then take rue Soufflot to the intersection of the Boulevard St. Michel, the Latin Quarter's main thoroughfare. In front of you, you will see the Luxembourg gardens, a famous Hemingway landmark, but first we'll take a quick detour to another of his apartments.
If you're in the mood for rich creamy hot chocolate, this is a good chance to stop at Dalloyau, at 2 place Edmond Rostand, a chocolate, pastry, and gourmet food shop. They have a cafe on the second floor, where I recommend you split a generous portion of thick hot chocolate (with or without whipped cream) with a friend (it's that rich and good!).
Continue following the park along rue Medicis and rue de Vaugirard. Turn right at rue Ferou. During the summer of 1926, Hemingway left his first wife and moved in with his soon-to-be second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, at #6. His explanation for leaving the wife: "Because I am a bastard".
Backtrack down rue de Ferou to the park. Take a relaxing stroll through the Jardin de Luxembourg, just like Hemingway would. Only Hemingway, whose writing didn't always put food on the table, would sometimes use his walk to catch a pigeon when the guards weren't looking. He'd surreptitiously strangle the bird, then hide the evidence in his son's baby carriage.
Exit the park on rue de Fleurus. Gertrude Stein lived at #27, with her companion, Alice Toklas. Stein was at the epicenter of the expat community, which Hemingway quickly became a part of. It was she who coined the phrase "Lost Generation" to describe the community, which Hemingway popularized. Hemingway often came to the apartment, along with the other well known artists of the time.
At the end of rue Fleurus, turn left on Boulevard Raspail, which will take you to the Boulevard Montparnasse, home to the famous cafes that Hemingway frequented. Since most of the Americans lived in tiny cramped apartments, the cafes of Montparnasse were like a second home to them. The cafe was a place to write as well as socialize with other writers and artists.
There's the Cafe de la Rotonde at no. 105, the Cafe du Dome at 108, and Hemingway's favorite, La Cloiserie des Lilas at no. 171. Hemingway wrote most of The Sun also Rises on the terrace, which he finished in 6 weeks.
Today these cafes are quite posh, and bear little resemblance to the former hangouts of impoverished Americans. However, a fitting end your Hemingway walk may be a drink on the terrace.
Although Hemingway was definitely a creature of the left bank, two right bank Hemingway haunts deserve mention. First there's Harry's New York bar, at 5 rue danou near the Opera, which still serves excellent cocktails. Hemingway was one of its first customers, but abandoned the place when it became too trendy.
Hemingway often returned to Paris after his initial stay in the 1920's. In later years, when he had more money, he would stay at his favorite hotel, the Ritz on Place Vendome. Hemingway claims to have liberated the place from the Germans during WWII (when they were already in retreat), and in fact the Ritz's bar is named in his honor. Hemingway was back in 1958, when a hotel employee asked him to remove his trunks, which had been in storage for more than 20 years at the Ritz. While going through his things, Hemingway found the notes which would become the basis of A Moveable Feast, an autobiographical work about his life in Paris the 1920's.
A Moveable Feast is an excellent accompaniment to your trip to Paris. In it Hemingway talks about and often disparages other members of the lost generations such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. The latter's The Diary of Alice B. Toklas can serve as a useful counterpoint. Stein also had some mean things to say about Hemingway.
Americans in Paris by Brian M. Morton is an anecdotal street guide to the city. Its a great resource for planning your literary and artistic explorations of the city.
