Paris in July, 2025 - Literary footsteps/Travel

Thank you to Emma @ Words and Peace who is hosting this event this year as well. We are already guided into the various themes of this year. Head over to Emma's website for more information.

One of the aims for my visit to Paris was to follow in the footsteps of the lost generation, Gertrude Stein and the artists who came to Paris in the beginning of the 20th century. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, some of the most famous authors were Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and many more. I had a few addresses to look up, found some on my way and discovered new ones. But, let’s start with the hub of the wheel; Gertrude Stein.

Gertrude Stein

She was an American novelist, poet, playwright and art collector who made her name when she moved to Paris. She came here in 1903, and stayed for the rest of her life. It might not have been her intention, but she started a salon in Paris where the crème de la créme of artists in Paris met. She saw later famous names like Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson and Henri Matisse in her salon, or living room. I am sure there were others who realised her influence. Very early on she bought paintings from the then unknown artists, which must have fetched enormous prices later on.

It was maybe not until 1933 that she became more famous outside her inner circle. This is the year she published her memoir of her Paris years, The Authobiography of Alice B. Toklas. Alice B. Toklas was her life long partner, and she used her name to write about their lives. I have just read it and it is really an interesting piece of memories of a varied life. She was famous for writing long sentences, with repetitions. Like these quotes: “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” and “there is no there there”. She refrains from these things in her novel, and the writing is more like someone is speaking to you. It works.

The famous address at 27, Rue de Fleurus in Paris

Gertrud and Alice lived at 27, rue de Fleurus, where her famous salon was established. Stein used to received Matisse in her salon on Saturday evenings. Soon people started to turn up to look at his paintings, as well as those of Cézanne. As Stein was disturbed by people turning up at any time, she fixed the salon for Saturday nights. When Stein received the artists, Alice used to entertain the wives or spouses. The wives, being not so important as the artists themselves.

Hemingway was another person who frequented Stein’s salon. They had an uneven relationship. From the beginning they were close friends, but later on they grew apart. One of the reasons might have been that Stein called Hemingway “yellow” in her “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”. However, Hemingway asked Stein to be the godmother of his child.

Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway has described part of his life in Paris in his “The Moveable Feast”. It was not finalised before he died, but what he wrote is a memoir of his time in Paris and the people he met. He lived in several places and I visited two of them.

The house and entrance where Hemingways lived

74, rue de Cardinal Lemoine is still there and even has a plaque saying that Hemingway once lived her. It is a quiet street off the Place de la Contrescarpe in the 5th arrondissement. Quite beautiful and not a bad place to live. It turned out that just opposite the French poet Paul Verlaine lived before he died. I wonder if Hemingway knew that?

The house where Paul Verlaine lived. He even got a restaurant named after himself. I don’t know if he would have appreciated this? Hopefully he would have.

Stefan Zweig wrote a “biographical exploration” of Verlaine letting us see a glimpse of his life. He is one of the French Symbolist poets, which takes me to a visit I made to the Ordrupgaard museum a few weeks ago and its Symbolist exhibition. However, I got carried away, more about that in another post.

Later on Hemingway and his wife Hadley, moved to 113, Rue Notre-Dame des Champs. The address is not far from my hotel so I walked there. Once I reached the place I could not find a no 113. There was 111 and 115, but no 113? I think that 113 must have once been where this new building is now standing, which had several 115 as the address: a, b etc. Well, you can’t win them all. It is, even today, a quiet street and must have been quite pleasurable to live there in the old days.

Somewhere her, to the left of the entrance, should have stood the no 113 where Hemingways lived. Most likely the state of the house was too bad and torn down to give way to a more modern house.

5th and 6th arrondissement, the Left Bank

One can only imagine that writers liked to live in this area. Even today it is so nice to walk around in the small streets, going in all directions, but maybe centralising in the Jardin de Luxembourg. A wonderful park, where people go to relax, to make sports, or to just sit down and read a book. It is a place for relaxation, and meeting friends. The area is full of bars and restaurants and, although a buzzing neighbourhood, rather quiet and peaceful. Walking around the streets, I can feel the atmosphere of the area, how writers and artists were inspired by the surroundings, the places where they used to write, the people they used to meet, and the relaxing intoxication of Paris. Yes, it is a magic place, an inspirational place. Even today. Paris is Paris.