-People come to Paris to give their life a sense of belonging, of almost mythical participation in society.
And yet Paris.
Marguerite Duras
- And there was Paris.
Zelda Fitzgerald
Paris and muse are synonyms. In any corner of the city there is a bar or restaurant that has served as an illustrious backdrop for heated discussions starring the Lost Generation or readings full of poetry.
Cafeterias that could well be cultural heritage, neighborhoods decorated by artists, decadence and romanticism in each Rue. Olympus of expat artists and those hungry for inspiration.
Montmartre, dominated by the Sacré Coeur and the Moulin Rouge.
Paris calms hunger. It may be about one of the few cities whose literary traditions are as famous as its glorious monuments or their prestigious firms. Its historic streets with an artistic atmosphere have inspired some of the most significant works, covers of history books, in the cozy cafes clandestine and secluded patios.
Just like in her movie Cleo from 5 to 7 the director Agnes Varda captured the path of the anxious protagonist of it, we wander through some of the essential enclaves of artists and writers.
To many, Paris sounds like Baudelaire—writing his Flowers of the Sea at the Café—or Rimbaud and Verlaine sharing croissants on the terrace of Les Deux Magots. But, Paris is also Marguerite Duras, Simone de Beauvoir, Silvia Beach or Colette.
Les Deux Magots.
As they tell us from Women of Paris, the first walking tour for flâneuses, In the second half of the 19th century, Paris attracted an international gathering of women artists, drawn to the French capital for its academies, museums, studios and salons.
Impressionist painters like Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot or Sonia Delaunay moved their brushes in Montmartre . The iconic Parisian cafes served as a hotbed of ideas where time did not matter. Hours were spent chatting, debating, or rambling.
While Hemingway, Fitzgerald or Joyce made up the basis of the call Lost generation, a group of women met in the French capital to mark their own language and rhythm. The visionary patron Gertrude Stein and her partner, Alice B Toklas, coordinated the literary room of the rue de Fleurus 27, very close to Luxembourg Garden , where they received those same male writers, along with Picasso, Ezra Pound and any other that caused a sensation.
'Midnight in Paris', Woody Allen's walk through the Paris of the past.
There, in the center of the artistic shore, they also entered, the American author Djuna Barnes and your partner Thelma Wood, the chronicler Janet Flanner , who wrote the mythical Letter from Paris for The New Yorker. Paris was remedy, enthusiasm.
Anais Nin, revolutionary writer par excellence said that in Paris each movement had its own meaning. She divided her nights between her tiny studio on Rue Schoelcher and the Central Hotel, a refuge with Henry Miller.
The author of Delta de Venus frequented, like the poets Hilda Doolittle Y adrienne monnier , the bookstore shakespeare and company insistently. Convince his owner and demanding editor Sylvia Beach for her to buy or publish your book in that now iconic enclave, was synonymous with having achieved it. Beach, inspired by her lover's work adrienne monnier as regent of the Maison des Amies des Livres, he carved out her own shrine.
The writer Zadie Smith she has said of the store, which continues to be a must for cultural gatherings, it is her home in Paris.
Shakespeare & Co (Paris).
The cafeterias became authentic idle universities and personal classrooms. The one in the 6th arrondissement has been the center of Parisian social life since its opening in 1887. The Flower Cafe it has welcomed everyone from literary giants to fashion moguls.
Marguerite Duras , that she used to frequent the Montparnasse Dome, she soon got into the habit of sitting down at one of the dozens of tables on the first floor to work on the manuscript of Her Lover. The cafe was near the Editorial Gallimard –In its gardens you could still find today Patti Smith- and its owner allowed customers to stay without having to consume too much.
The author, who had a reserved table, also I would write part of her memories within her gothic walls and her home located in the street that now bears her name. At Le Flore nothing has changed, staying true to the club sandwich, smoked salmon and caviar since opening in 1887.
Cafe de Flore, Paris.
However, the coronation flower cafe as a literary mecca it was not without rivalry. Les Deux Magots , for existentialists, also located in the area of Saint-Germain-des-Pres , has been a meeting place for visionaries. Many opted for her because of her more open imprint. The first you went with your partner and the second with your lover, they used to say.
Simone deBeauvoir she had weakness, just like Coco Chanel , for its emblematic sculptures of Confucian sages, and she wrote Los Mandarinos in an area of the premises that bears the name of the novel. These two institutions share a legendary cultural heritage with a long legacy. Each year both award their prestigious literary prizes, keeping their trail alive in the collective cultural memory.
Also, in today's not so visited La Closerie des Lilas Cafe more than one tortured verse was written. It is located in the bohemian neighborhood of Montparnasse. Although he usually receives less attention than his neighbor Le Select –the well-known favorite brasserie where you could often spot Dora Maar with Picasso– It was the favorite place of the actress known as The Queen of Montparnasse, Alice Prin.
also there Zelda Fitzgerald she drowned her torments after her ballet classes in the city. The days ended in The Coupole, favorite of Edith Piaff . Replete with art deco fixtures, mural-patterned walls and a stained-glass ceiling, today it shimmers with classic, elegant Parisian glamour.
Panoramic of Paris.
In addition to dining at the restaurant, Piaf used to perform in the ballroom in which she can still attend a show. Frida Kahlo, staying at the hotel regina During her Parisian tour, she dropped by the number 26 rue Depart, the refuge where in the ecstasy of surrealism several artists had their studio. The district retains its charm, and is first on the list of authors as Mariana Enriquez.
The shadow of the Parisian influence is long. Mythologized or not, in the words of Amelie Nothomb –That she has her own room in the hotel La La Bourdonaiss— if we divide the earth into parts, Paris would be its soul.