There were a lot of things about Paris that I wanted to see and do. However, this is me. And I of course made it nerdy in the best possible way (at least in my opinion).
For those of you who are not pursuing a BA in English literature, I'll give you some background. In the 1920's, Paris was the hub and gathering space of some of the greatest creative minds and movements of the time. Since it occurred immediately following WWI but before WWII we like to refer to them as Lost Generation artists. (But, that's a highly problematic categorization which has holes and issues that I won't go into here.) Notable artists who took up residence in the city of light include Joyce Carol Oates, Salvador Dali, and most importantly for me, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. And those are just a few big names. Fitzgerald and Hemingway actually met for the first time at the Dingo Bar in Paris.
While in Paris, I made it my mission to--for lack of a better term--stalk them.
One of the things most associated with this group, stereotypically at least, is the image of a bunch of writers and artists hanging out at some sidewalk cafe. It was in no way limited to that but it is a relatively accurate picture, all things considered.
I made it to a total of three what I call 'Hemingway Cafes'(because he frequented quite a few cafes throughout Europe). They were: Les Deux Magots, Cafe De Flore, and Cafe Le Dome.
Les Deux Magots and Cafe De Flore are actually right next to each other and back at the time of all of this, they were rivals, both being frequented by groups of artists. Now there are small historical plaques out front (unfortunately all in French) which detail their historical significance. Unfortunately both were very busy and very expensive so my dream of having a cappuccino at one of these cafes was crushed, but at least I did get my visit in.
Cafe Le Dome is just a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower. I was really creepy about my visit here and totally just randomly walked through the place without sitting down or saying anything to anyone. The waiters were all really confused. The people who frequented this cafe are known as the Domiers, including: Sinclair Lewis, Henry Miller, Hemingway (duh), Vladimir Lenin, Ezra Pound, Pablo Picasso and many others. It was even mentioned by Hemingway in one story: "Ten years from now it will probably be the Dome."
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| Take me back. |
Aside from stalking cafes, I also visited the Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore, which is honestly a must visit in Paris if you love books (which you should). The books inside are super expensive but It's honestly more of an experiential thing. It's basically everything you could possibly want a bookstore to be, a safe haven for people who just want to curl up with literature forever and ever. It's two stories, the bottom being the shop and the top split into two reading rooms, one for fiction and one for non-fiction. You can just pick a book off the wall.
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| Cat included. |
Also, next door they have a separate store just for really early publications of famous novels. It's like going into a museum where you can buy stuff if you have that kind of money. They have a first edition of Slaughterhouse Five. I got kind of emotional over it.
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| Me and the main squeeze. |
In fact, I got kind of emotional over all of these experiences. I may or may not have teared up going to my first Hemingway cafe. It's just so surreal to walk the same pavement they did, or experience the same businesses they did. It helps to realize that they too were people and that people, maybe even someone like me, could do the same in their own way.
Oops. I think my English major is showing. But are you even surprised?
xoxo
lauren
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