Literary Paris: A Photographic Tour 9781452169385, 2018027906, 9781452169354

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Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Literary Locations of Paris
Timeline: Highlights in the Literary History of Paris
Acknowledgments
About the Author
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L ITER ARY PAR IS A PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR

NICHOLE ROBERTSON

Copyright © 2019 by Nichole Robertson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. ISBN 9781452169385 (epub, mobi) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Robertson, Nichole, author. Title: Literary Paris : a photographic tour / Nichole Robertson. Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2019. Identifiers: LCCN 2018027906 | ISBN 9781452169354 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Literary landmarks­—France—Paris—Pictorial works. | Authors, French—Homes and haunts—France—Paris—Pictorial works. | Paris (France)—Pictorial works. Classification: LCC DC707 .R594 2019 | DDC 840.9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018027906 Design by Kristen Hewitt. Chronicle books and gifts are available at special quantity discounts to corporations, professional associations, literacy programs, and other organizations. For details and discount information, please contact our premiums department at [email protected] or at 1-800-759-0190. Chronicle Books LLC 680 Second Street San Francisco, California 94107 www.chroniclebooks.com

CONTENTS

Introduction

Literary Locations of Paris

Timeline: Highlights in the Literary History of Paris

Acknowledgments

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INTRODUCTION

has a spectacular intellectual life. The city’s storied cafes, salons, and bookstores drew writers, artists, philosophers, and thinkers for centuries; and together these intellectuals and artists hashed out their ideas, challenged and inspired each other, wrote books, and strengthened the foundations of modern intellectual culture.

Paris: Ville Lumière, or “City of Light.” The moniker elicits images of a twinkling city of illuminated lampposts, light-flooded architecture, and beacons atop a sparkling Eiffel Tower. But the city’s superficial beauty only hints at her true identity. Before the seductive lightscapes of her monuments and the romantic charm of her lamplit streets, “Ville Lumière” referred to the city as a locus of intellectual illumination and of enlightened people. The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century marked a profound shift in the importance of literacy in the Western world, and Paris was at the heart of this intellectual revolution. The literary and cultural movement questioned the authority of both church and monarchy and promoted knowledge and free thinking—through discussion in literary salons, coffeehouses, and printed books. This free-thinking, skeptical attitude helped to form the new public opinion in France. For the first time, French citizens were reading more and openly questioning and analyzing the world around them.

It was this literary culture that drew me to Paris in 2009. Like many writers and bibliophiles before me, I wanted the magic—even if I wasn’t sure what that magic was. Was it possible to channel Simone de Beauvoir at Café de Flore? Conjure Scott and Zelda while strolling along the Seine? Was it silly to chase Sartre around the Left Bank? Rude to stare in the window of Gertrude Stein’s apartment? I (and, I’m willing to bet, millions like me) didn’t care. Proximity mattered; and serious bibliophiles want to be as close as possible in order to soak it in. The idea for this book came to me while shooting a few favorite literary locations, many of which I stumbled upon while shooting my previous books, Paris in Color and Paris in Love. As the collection expanded, so did my obsession and my desire to document it visually. I set out to retrace the steps of great writers and see the corners of the city that these literary luminaries inhabited and the cultural life they engendered. While there were many famous landmarks to cover, there were also quaint

These ideas, liberated from the closed garden walls of the church and government, spilled into the city’s open spaces and cafes. It was the public intellectuals, the philosophes of the day, and the lively communal debates that cemented Paris as a center of literary life. Paris has a dual identity of sorts: She’s an A-list celebrity and dresses the part; but, behind the sparkle, Paris

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of whom could be found arguing till dawn in Café de Flore or Stein’s salon. The places they inhabited and the squares and statues that honor them weave a lovely literary narrative of Paris—one they kindly left behind for us to discover and treasure. All it requires is a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity for the passions of the mind.

bookshops and markets, used-book cafes, libraries, parks, and monuments: from Shakespeare and Company, the most famous bookstore in Paris and arguably the world; to the Abbey Bookshop, with its hidden shelves and basement stacks; to the weekend vintage-book market, where the owners are kind enough to look the other way when you fondle the end papers. Every Parisian neighborhood is peppered with delightful literary spots steeped in decades—or centuries—of history.

Literary Paris is a visual tour—no comfortable walking shoes required!—through the City of Enlightenment and an ode to the great thinkers past and present who have been inspired by it. I encourage you to follow intrepidly in their steps, so I’ve included a handy guide to some of the locations featured in these pages, along with a timeline of a few highlights in the city’s literary history. Whether or not you visit these spots, I hope these pages transport and inspire you as only Paris can.

And then of course there is the legacy of the French writers and expats who called Paris home: A lasting gift of those writers who drew inspiration from the city is the ability to see Paris through their eyes. It became apparent, as I researched locations and snapped shots, that there’s an unbroken line of thought, words, and ideas from Voltaire, Molière, Dumas, Zola, and Colette to us. As years pass, we build and expand on the ideas of those who came before us, which manifest themselves in new art and literature. Because there are so many wonderful musings about Paris, I included some of my favorites on the city, the writing process, inspiration, reading, and books—all of which solidify Paris as the creative muse she is. Even the most love-blind idolaters of Paris’s architectural beauty are familiar with the stories about Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, Stein, de Beauvoir, and Sartre, many

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Paris flared—Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and where in glory waved the great future harvest of truth and justice. —ÉMILE ZOLA

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Paris is the great bureau of marvels, the center of good taste, wit, and gallantry. —MOLIÈRE

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Paris is a veritable ocean. Take as many soundings as you like, you’ll never know the depths. Explore it and describe it with as much care as you like, but no matter how numerous the explorers of its waters, there will always remain unknown caves, flowers, pearls, monsters, something yet unheard of, left behind by the literary divers. — H O N O R É D E BA L ZAC

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To learn to read is to light a fire; every written syllable is like a spark. —VICTOR HUGO

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Art for the sake of the true, art for the sake of the good and the beautiful, that is the faith I am searching for. —GEORGE SAND

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Parisian life is rich in poetic and marvelous subjects. We are enveloped by it, steeped in its atmosphere; but we do not see it. —CHARLES BAUDELAIRE

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Do not read as children do, for amusement, or as the ambitious do, to educate themselves. No, read to live. — G U S TAV E F L A U B E R T

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The hour of infused tea and closed books; the sweetness of feeling the evening’s end. — PAU L V E R L A I N E

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Fair Paris caught the crimson hue—well may I call it fair. —LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON

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Books, books, books . . . It’s not that I read so many. I read and re-read the same ones. But all were necessary to me. Their presence, their smell, the letters of their titles, and the grain of their leather bindings. —COLETTE

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With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy? —OSCAR WILDE

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I’m infected with the romantic fever. It began in my teens when I read Baudelaire in secret. —RENÉE VIVIEN

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I composed silences and nights, I wrote the inexpressible. With each syllable, I paused the whirling world. —ARTHUR RIMBAUD

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We believe that books, instead of rotting behind an iron gate, far from curious eyes, are destined to wear out before the eyes of readers. —JULES VERNE

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A good book is an event in my life. —STENDHAL

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Reading [is] . . . that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude. —MARCEL PROUST

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Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. —GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE

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Every age must look for its sanction to its poetry and philosophy, for in these the human mind, as it looks backward or forward, attains to an eternal state. — JA M E S J OYC E

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The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless. — J E A N -JACQ U E S R O U S S E AU

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Off I go, rummaging about in books for sayings which please me. — M I C H E L D E M O N TA I G N E

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The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries. —RENÉ DESCARTES

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Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. —GERTRUDE STEIN

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Let’s join together and make a great book that will last forever. — F. S C OT T F I TZG E R A L D

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LITERARY LOCATIONS OF PARIS

THE ABBEY BOOKSHOP

LE BATEAU IVRE (THE DRUNKEN BOAT)

This Canadian-owned gem is a delight to explore in part due to the hidden walls and book-lined stone basement walls that always result in uncovering a unique title. Bonus: The owner will insist you take part in the free tea.

As soon as you step onto Rue Férou, you’re treated to an expertly hand-lettered version of one of Arthur Rimbaud’s most famous poems. Address: Rue Férou near St. Sulpice

Address: 29 Rue de la Parcheminerie

See pages 45, 60, 70.

See pages 17, 27, 35, 78.

BIBLIOTHÈQUE MAZARINE

ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE

Marcel Proust was an assistant at this prestigious library, which opened in 1643—making it the oldest public library in France.

Voltaire was one of the forty members—men of letters who established the official rules of the French language. They still debate grammatical matters today, notably the ongoing and heated discussion regarding the masculine taking precedence over the feminine. You can schedule an independent tour or attend one of the group tours.

Address: 23 Quai de Conti See page 75.

BIBLIOTHÈQUE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE

Address: 23 Quai de Conti

This stunning, light-flooded library has served both scholars and the general public for centuries. The lines to visit are often long, but it’s worth the wait.

See page 75.

Address: 10 Place du Panthéon

ANTIQUE- AND USED-BOOK MARKET AT PARC GEORGES-BRASSENS

See pages 42, 111 (top left), 115.

Collectors and bibliophiles alike convene on the weekends to sniff old books and fondle beautiful endpapers.

LES BOUQUINISTES

Address: 104 Rue Brancion

Thousands of used books are sold by riverside vendors in an open-air “bookshop” on the Right Bank from the Pont Marie to the Quai du Louvre, and on the Left Bank from the Quai de la Tournelle to Quai Voltaire.

See pages 18 (left), 26 (top right), 58 (right).

See pages 9, 67, 108.

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BRASSERIE LIPP

LES DEUX MAGOTS

Thanks to its proximity to Café de Flore and Café Deux Magots, this quirky eatery is often overlooked (despite its bright orange façade). Ernest Hemingway solidified Lipp’s place in literary history thanks to his robust dinner of beer, potato salad, sausage, and more beer.

One of the oldest cafes in Paris, it was frequented by writers and intellectuals including André Gide, Pablo Picasso, Hemingway, Sartre, de Beauvoir, and others. The cafe was also popular with the surrealists and existentialists. Address: 6 Place St.-Germain-des-Prés

Address: 151 Saint-Germain Boulevard

See page 55.

See page 91 (top).

ERNEST HEMINGWAY APARTMENT

CAFÉ DE FLORE

Located just steps from Place Contrascarpe is the apartment in which Hemingway lived with his first wife, Hadley. The interior is closed to the public.

Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre famously spent hours writing and debating at Flore—a hot spot for writers and intellectuals in the early 20th century.

Address: 74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine

Address: 172 Boulevard St.-Germain

See pages 110, 111 (top right and bottom left).

See pages 18, 74, 117.

FONTAINE MOLIÈRE

CAFÉ PROCOPE

This stunning bronze and marble statue pays homage to Molière’s literary contributions and was France’s first monument dedicated to a non-military figure.

The oldest restaurant in Paris was also a meeting place for the intelligentsia including Voltaire, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, George Sand, and Napoleon Bonaparte since it opened in 1686.

Address: Rue Molière and & Rue de Richelieu See page 12.

Address: 13 Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie See pages 31, 38, 39.

GERTRUDE STEIN’S HOME

The home of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas was a Saturday evening meeting spot and salon for writers and artists. Notable guests included Picasso, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Guillaume Apollinaire, Sinclair Lewis, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Henri Matisse.

LA CLOSERIE DES LILAS

According to legend, La Closerie des Lilas was the location in which Dadaism met its demise thanks to a heated argument between Tristan Tzara and André Breton. It was also a popular hangout for creatives like Emile Zola, Verlaine, Hemingway, and Henry Miller.

Address: 27 Rue de Fleurus See page 102.

Address: 171 Boulevard du Montparnasse See pages 51, 65.

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HARRY’S NEW YORK BAR

JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG


The adopted home of American expats F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and George Gershwin and home to the famous French 75 cocktail. The English-speaking patrons struggled to pronounce the address in French, so were told to ask taxi drivers to take them to “Sank Roo Doe Noo.”

Pull up a chair, crack open a book, and partake in a Parisian weekend ritual at this picturesque park. Address: 6th Arrondissement, Metro: Odeon See pages 70 (right), 101, 118 (right).

Address: 5 Rue Daunou

LIBRAIRIE JOUSSEAUME

See page 112.

Browse and admire a seemingly infinite collection of old and rare books in this shop in Galerie Vivienne.

L’HÔTEL

Address: 45-46-47 Galerie Vivienne

Oscar Wilde took up residence here at the end of the 19th century and lived at L’Hôtel until his death, prior to which he is reported to have uttered this famous line: “This wallpaper will be the death of me—one of us will have to go.”

See pages 10 (right), 86, 87, 94.

LIBRAIRIE JULES VERNE

An entire bookstore dedicated to the works of Jules Verne.

Address: 13 Rue des Beaux-Arts

Address: 7 Rue Lagrange

See page 52.

See page 68.

HÔTEL MINERVE

LA MAISON DE VICTOR HUGO

Albert Camus is said to have moved into the Hôtel Minerve when he arrived in Paris in 1943 during the German occupation.

Victor Hugo rented the apartment at 6 Place des Vosges from 1832 to 1848. Today, you can tour the apartment and glimpse his furniture, art, and belongings, including his famous standing desk.

Address: 13 Rue des Écoles See page 90.

Address: 6 Place des Vosges See page 109.

JAMES JOYCE APARTMENT

James Joyce lived in apartment E, located at the end of the narrow passage at 71 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine. Unfortunately, the residence is gated so you’re unable to see his apartment.

LA MAISON DE VERLAINE

The house in which French decadent-era poet (and former lover of Arthur Rimbaud) Paul Verlaine lived until his death on January 8, 1896.

Address: 71 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine

Address: 39 Rue Descartes

See page 84.

See page 36.

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MONTAIGNE STATUE


Sorbonne students believe it’s good luck to rub Montaigne’s foot before taking an exam; hence the shiny gold.

to reside on small beds throughout the shop. To date, over 30,000 people have called Shakespeare and Company their temporary home.

Address: 56 Rue des Ecoles

Address: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie

See page 92.

See pages 79, 91 (bottom), 116, 121 (bottom right).

PLACE COLETTE / LE NEMOURS

SQUARE GABRIEL-PIERNÉ

A quiet park behind the Institut de France with charming benches shaped like open books.

The square adjacent to the Palais Royal pays tribute to the writer Colette, at the request of her only daughter, Colette de Jouvenel. The adjacent cafe, Le Nemours, is a great spot for people watching.

Address: 5 Rue de Seine See pages 30 (left), 62.

Address: 2 Place Colette See pages 71, 74 (bottom), 82 (right).

SQUARE LAURENT-PRACHE

Pablo Picasso sculpted a memorial statue of Guillaume Apollinaire, which resides in the Square Laurent-Prache adjacent to the church.

LE PONT TRAVERSÉ

Founded by writer Marcel Béalu, the bookshop Le Pont Traversé—a former butcher shop—is packed with rare books and curiosities.

Address: 1 Place St. Germain des Prés See page 81.

Address: 62 Rue de Vaugirard See page 25.

THÉÂTRE DE LA VILLE

Jules Verne was hired as secretary at the theater and one of his earliest plays, Broken Straws, was staged here.

AU ROCHER DE CANCALE

Founded in 1804, this beautiful restaurant on the cobblestone streets of Rue Montorgueil was a favorite choice for both Honoré de Balzac and his fictional characters. It’s a great spot to people watch and the outdoor tables are always filled.

Address: 2 Place du Châtelet See page 43.

LE USED BOOK CAFÉ

Address: 78 Rue Montorgueil

Choose from over 10,000 books from the library to peruse while you sip a cup of coffee or grab a bite to eat.

See page 30 (right).

Address: 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais See pages 10 (left), 97.

SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY

Founded by American George Whitman in 1951, this storied English-language bookshop invites writers and intellectuals

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TIMELINE: HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LITERARY HISTORY OF PARIS

1580 Michel de Montaigne’s influential Essais are first published.

1844 Paul Verlaine is born in Metz, France, and Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo is completed.

1622 Molière is born as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris, and René Descartes moves to Paris.

1856 Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is serialized in Revue de Paris.

1637 Descartes’ Discourse on the Method is published.

1857 Charles Baudelaire publishes Les Fleurs du mal, a controversial volume of poetry that heavily influenced later poets.

1659 Molière’s Les Précieuses ridicules premieres in Paris. 1862 Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is published.

1694 Voltaire is born as François-Marie Arouet in Paris.

1870 A teenage Arthur Rimbaud flees the countryside and arrives in Paris’s Gare du Nord and is promptly arrested for fare evasion.

1754 Jean-Jacques Rousseau writes Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men.

1871 George Sand (the nom de plume of Amantine Dudevant) sides with the Versailles assembly against the Communards during the Paris Commune.

1760 Honoré de Balzac leaves his home in South France and moves to Paris.

1784 Rousseau is laid to rest in the crypts of the Panthéon.

1872 Paul Verlaine receives his first letter from the young Rimbaud, with whom he had a scandalous relationship.

1813 Stendhal (the nom de plume of Marie-Henri Beyle) arrives in Paris.

1873 Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days is published.

1835 Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s Fisher’s Drawing Room Scrapbook is published.

1898 Émile Zola’s Paris, the last volume in the Three Cities series, is published.

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1900 Oscar Wilde dies in his room at L’Hôtel in Paris.

1941 Jean-Paul Sartre returns to Paris after spending three years in the French army during World War II.

1902 James Joyce moves to Paris to study medicine, but he quickly abandons the field.

1942 The Stranger by Albert Camus is published.

1903 Renée Vivien publishes Evocations, the first work published under her own name.

1944 Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (known simply as Colette) publishes her most widely recognized work, Gigi.

1903 Gertrude Stein establishes residency in a two-bedroom apartment and studio at 27 Rue des Fleurus.

1949 Simone de Beauvoir publishes The Second Sex, a book many regard as a key impetus to second-wave feminism.

1909 Marcel Proust begins writing In Search of Lost Time.

1964 Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast is published posthumously.

1913 Volume I of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is published.

1917 Guillaume Apollinaire coins the term “surrealism.”

1924 F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald settle in Paris, just one year before the publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

1933 Statue of Montaigne by Paul Landowski is erected across the street from the Sorbonne; students rub his foot for good luck.

1934 Henry Miller publishes Tropic of Cancer, which was banned in the United States.

1940 Langston Hughes publishes his autobiography, The Big Sea, which chronicles his time in New York and Paris.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the Parisians, French writers, and expats who contributed to Paris’s inimitable literary culture. I would like to thank everyone at Chronicle Books, especially my editor, Caitlin Kirkpatrick, who always helps me refine my vision, and my art director, Kristen Hewitt, who knows exactly how to design a book that at once surprises and delights me. And finally, I would like to thank my husband, Evan, and my two sons, Alexander and Liam, who’ve accompanied me on my many trips to Paris and have put up with my unyielding enthusiasm for French butter and bookstores.

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NICHOLE ROBERTSON (@nicholerobertson) is the author of Paris in Color, Paris in Love, and New York in Color and is the cofounder of Obvious State (@obviousstate), a New York City–based literary brand. Her work has been featured by Real Simple, CNN Travel, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and InStyle.

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