Bartholdi

Montparnasse cemetery,  the final resting place of many artists and illustrious personalities.

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The grave featuring Mr and Mrs Pigeon lying on their bed

After WWI, just after the heyday of Montmartre (and before the Saint Germain des Prés one) and for a few decades, Montparnasse was the home and favorite haunt of many writers and artists : Picasso, Soutine,Man Ray,Sartre,Simone de Beauvoir, Hemingway, Foujita, Zadkine, Brancusi,Amadeo Modigliani, Samuel Beckett, Fitzgerald just to name a few27092017-IMG_9992

 

Artists came from all over the world and Montparnasse was the capital of the avant-garde, the heart of the artistic and intellectual Parisian life.

This neighborhood has changed but you can still go to the same iconic cafés, brasseries where all these artists and writers used to go, you’ll see beautiful building façades of the old time, the homes of some of these artists, the old art supplies shops and art academies, and you’ll feel the spirit of the Roaring 20s and of the following decades. Personally, this is my favorite Paris neighborhood (with Saint Germain des Prés)

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Montparnasse cemetery is the final resting place of many of these artists. Man Ray, Soutine, Zatkine, Brancusi, Brassaï, Bourdelle … It’s also the cemetery where you’ll see the graves of Jean Seberg, Serge Gainsbourg, Marguerite Duras, Susan Sontag, César (the sculptor), Brassaï, Baudelaire, Guy de Maupassant, Bartholdi, Camille Saint Saens, Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Constantin Brancusi Some of them were the illustrious residents of Montparnasse. Graves of writers, poets, artists, filmmakers, politicians, actors, publishers, patrons of industry…  Many graves of foreigners who have made France their home.

You’ll see unusual graves too, some with great funerary art (Niki de Saint Phalle, Tinguely, Cesar…)

Auguste Bartholdi's grave

Auguste Bartholdi’s grave

A huge but beautiful and peaceful : 

You can spend a few hours in Montparnasse cemetery, walking through the lanes. This place is worth a visit. It’s a huge cemetery (47 acres – 19 hectares, with about 40 000 graves, 750 trees and bushes), very peaceful with some fascinating graves. It’s divided into 2 cemeteries separated by a street  (rue Emile Richard) : on one side, the “grand cimetière” and on the other side,  the “Petit cimetière” . Btw : The main difference with Père Lachaise is that Montparnasse cemetery is flat. No slopes. Thus, you may find Montparnasse cemetery is less charming than the Père Lachaise, but It still a beautiful place with great funerary art work and great personalities’ graves

But the graves are tightly packed. Even though you’ll find a plan of the cemetery at the entrance to help you find the graves it’s quite difficult to get around and find some graves you want to see, .

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Don’t hesitate to contact me. I can accompany you and help you find the graves you’re interested in (This walk can be added or included in the Montparnasse of the Roaring 20’s’ walking tour). More details about Ann Jeanne Paris tours and  Some details about the booking and pricing 

My personal link with Montparnasse cemetery : This is the final resting place of my father. Also where my piano teacher, who taught me (private lessons) the piano since I was 8 to the age of 22, rest. So to me, this cemetery is not like the others… And … it’s nearby my home and in neighborhood I particularly love. 

Some History :  The cemetery opened in 1824. after the cemeteries closer to the center of Paris, Moulin de la Charitéwere banned owing to sanitary problems. In the early 19th century Montmartre, the Père Lachaise and the Montparnasse cemetery replaced some small ones.

Before being a cemetery, the land of Montparnasse cemetery belonged to a religious community. There was a monastery on the place and an old flour mill. It became national property at the French Revolution (from 1789). The Monastery was pulled down, but the windmill, “Le Moulin de la Charité” was kept.

Practical details : Montparnasse cemetery : 3 boulevard Edgard Quinet – Paris 14  Metro stop : Edgard Quinet or Raspail. Main entrance : Boulevard Edgar Quinet – Opening Hours : March to November : 8.30 to 6pm (Sunday : 9am) November to March : 8 to 5.30pm (Sunday : 9am)

Unusual Gravestones : 

Le Chat : A polychrome cat by Niki de Saint Phalle. A 1,50 m tall masaic representing a cat for the tomb of her friend RicardoLe Chat by Nikki de Saint Phalle

L’Oiseau : a birdman by Niki de Saint PhalleL'oiseau

The statue of the “Génie du Sommeil Eternel” (Eternal Sleep) by the sculptor Horace Daillion in the center of the cemetary14092017-IMG_9758

Le Baiser : by the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi

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Sculpture by Brancusi (“The Kiss”)

Pigeon Charles’s grave (1838 – 1915) : French inventor of a non-exploding gas lamp. Born in France in Normandy. A life size figures of Mr and Mrs Pigeon (fully clothed) lying in a bed. The bed forms the grave . 

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The grave features Mr and Mrs Pigeon long on their bed

Some of the illustrious personalities (buried in Montparnasse cemetery)

Baudelaire (1821 – 1867): French poet born in Paris where he lived most of his life.  buried with his mother and step-father. Also a cenothaph dedicated to the poet.

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Baudelaire’s grave

Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre :  leading figures of the Existentialist literary movement are buried together. Simone de Beauvoir (1907 – 1986) was a French writer, philosopher, and feminist. Best known for her work “The second Sex” (1949) which contained detailed analysis of women’s oppression. Jean Paul Sartre (1905 – 1980) was French writer, philosopher and critic. Best known for his writing : “Being and Nothingness”. He believed in the fundamental freedom of human beings and reflected ont the unbearable nature of that freedom. Major works : Nausea, Being and Nothingness (1943), the Words (1964)

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Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir’s grave

Susan Sontag (1933 – 2004) : American author born in Manhattan. One of her more famous books was “Illness as Metaphor” (1978)08092017-IMG_9722

 

Chaïm Soutine (1893 – 1943) : Painter, born in Lithuania. He moved to Paris in 1911 and settled in Montparnasse district; He became famous after years of poverty in 1823 when Paul Barnes, a wealthy American cnollector bought 60 of his paintings at once. . He became known for his portraits of working-class people, still lifes and landscapes. As a Jew, at the start of WWII, he fled the Nazi occupation of France

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Chaïm Soutine

Zadkine Ossip (1890 – 1967): Russian-born sculptor. There is a Museum dedicated to Zadkine’s work of art located in Montparnasse. This was the house and workshop where Ossip Zadkine major figure in the School of Paris, lived and worked from 1928 to 1967.  Zadkine Museum: 100 bis rue d’Assas – Paris 6

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Man Ray (1890 – 1976) : Artist born in USA especially known as a photographer. He is acknowledged as one of the masters of the 20th century. He moved to Paris in 1921. He immortalized in many famous photographs the model Kiki de Montparnasse with who. In 1940 Ray fled the Nazi invasion and went to California. He returned to Paris in 1951

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Man Ray

Marguerite Duras (1914 – 1996) :  French writer and film director, best known for her novel “The lover” (Prix Goncourt – 1984), which was made into a movie.

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Marguerite Duras

Guy de Maupassant (1850 – 1893) :  French writer. He is considered one of the world’s great short-story writers. He wrote novels too. One of the best known : “Bel Ami”21092017-IMG_9922

Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989): Irish Author, Playwright. novelist who spent most of his life in Paris (Paris 14), from 1937 and wrote in French after 1945 His best known work is the play “Waiting for Godot”08092017-IMG_9724

Ionesco Eugène (1912 – 1994) : French playwright. Known for his contribution to the theater of the absiurd. Two of his plays are  shown at the Theatre de la Huchette in Paris since 1957 without any interruption !. (“The Bald Soprano” and “The lesson”)

Antoine Bourdelle : (1861 – 1929) : French sculptor. One of the Pioneers of 20th century monumental sculpture. His home and studio where Antoine Bourdelle has been working from 1885 to 1929 is located 19 rue Antoine Bourdelle – Paris 15, and can be visited. 27092017-IMG_0017

Constantin Brancusi : (1876 – 1957) : Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. He is considered as a pioneer of modernism and one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century, 14092017-IMG_9780

Brassaï (1899 – 1984) : Hungarian photojournalist, portraitist. He moved to Paris in 1918 and fell in love with the city. Hi is renowned for his photographic chronicles of the night.08092017-IMG_9720

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (1834 – 1904) : French sculptor most renowned for the Statue of Liberty. He designed his own grave.27092017-IMG_9994

César Baldaccini (1921 – 1998) : French sculptor, better known simply as César. He was at the forefront of the  Nouveau Réalisme movement with his radical compressions (compacted automobiles, discarded metal, or rubbish), expansions (polyurethane foam sculptures), and fantastic representations of animals and insects.14092017-IMG_9762

Camille Saint Saëns, (1835 – 1921) : composer, leading representative of French Romantic music. His most popular piece is “The Carnival of the Animals” (1886)

Jacques demy, Eric Rohmer, Claude Sautet, filmmakers

Serge gainsbourg (1928 – 1991) : Songwriter, singer and film maker : one of the most visited graves in Montparnasse. His grave is often covered with different objects which are references to some of his songs : a cabbage (for his LP called “L’homme à la tête de chou”, a metro ticket for his song called “Le Poinçonneur des Lilas”, or cigarettes’ buts because he was smoking a lot and also wrote a song called “Dieu est un fumeur de Havane”.14092017-IMG_9756

Jean Seberg, (1938 – 1979) :  American actress who played in “Breathless” (1959) (director Jean-Luc Godard). 27092017-IMG_0005

(MORE PHOTOS OF MONTPARNASSE CEMETERY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE )

 

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Even with the help of a map, it’s quite difficult to find the graves you’re looking for. Don’t hesitate to contact me : A visit of Montparnasse cemetery can be included (or added) in the Montparnasse walking tour (= “The Roaring 20’s ) Share my Paris, the Paris I love. I welcome you, I accompany you and we walk at your pace. Half a day or a whole day with a native including a break in a very Parisian cafe. It’s a cross cultural experience in Paris and a way to see Paris in a Parisian perspective.

Ann Jeanne in Paris’ private tours are designed for one or two persons. A friendly and personal experience of Paris. I was born and raised in Paris. Paris is city where I live.

 

More details about Ann Jeanne Paris tours Don’t hesitate to contact me

And  : Some details about the booking and pricing 

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More photos of Montparnasse Cemetery

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Practical details : Montparnasse cemetery : 3 boulevard Edgard Quinet – Paris 14  Metro stop : Edgard Quinet or Raspail. Main entrance : Boulevard Edgar Quinet – Opening Hours : March to November : 8.30 to 6pm (Sunday : 9am) November to March : 8 to 5.30pm (Sunday : 9am) profil-paris-avec-oiseaux

Saint Germain des Prés

Café Le Flore

The “grand classic” private walking tour in Saint Germain des Prés with Ann Jeanne in Paris

On the left bank, Saint Germain des prés is renowned for its famous cafes, its narrow streets and antique shops.. After World War II, Saint Germain des Pres became synonymous of intellectual life, centered around bars and cafes.

Saint Germain des Prés reached its heyday in the 50s

Philosophers, writers, actors and musicians used to meet and stay in cafes, clubs… : Hemingway, Miller, Picasso, Jim Morrison, Sartre; Beauvoir… Literature, poetry, and Jazz perfumed all the lifestyle in the area.

Among this neighborhood’s regulars (random list) : Hemingway, Picasso, Miller, Sartre, Beauvoir, Ellington, Hampton, Miles Davis, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Delacroix, Gertrude Stein, Boris Vian, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Cocteau, Duras, Prévert, Johnny Depp, F F Coppola, Camus, James Joyce…

The leading figures of the time have now gone, but you still feel the special atmosphere of this quarter of Paris. In Saint Germain des Pres  : lots of restaurants, cinemas, antique shops, galeries… Though today, you’ll find haute-couture, and fashion shops too (Vuitton, Armani, Dior…)

Saint Germain des Prés : the Kingdom of iconic cafés : 

The most famous cafes of the area are : Le cafe de Flore, les Deux Magots, Le Bonaparte, La Palette, the café Procope (the oldest Paris’ café, actually a restaurant nowadays) the Brasserie Lipp

Nice XVIII century buildings, cobblestone streets…And  the Saint Germain des Pres Church which is one of the oldest church of Paris.

Today, a very classic, elegant and trendy area.

My advice : 

  • No specific monuments except Saint Germain des Prés church, but in my opinion a great area to feel what Paris life is. Very liked by Parisians, and great cafés for cafés lovers. A neighborhood to stroll in. In Saint Germain des Prés, everything is a classic. And so much History.
  • Don’t miss “Le Flore” or its sister “Les 2 Magots” nearby the church, two classics. And if you’ve some time left, either carry on to the river Seine (northern Saint Germain des Prés), or to Saint Sulpice church (southern StGermain des Prés) and Pierre Hermé for a gorgeous pastry (nearby Saint Sulpice – Rue Bonaparte).

 

Some addresses :

  • Capture d’écran 2016-05-17 à 03.03.56Laduré (pastry very well know for its macarons) : pastry shop and tea room : rue Jacob (100 meters from Saint Germain church)
  • Pierre Hermé (pastry – maybe the best in France) : rue Bonaparte – Métro Saint Sulpice or Odeon (both line 4)
  • Gerard Mulot (pastry) : 76 rue de Seine (on your way to Saint Sulpice) www.gerardmulot.com
  • Le Flore and Les 2 Magots (iconic Paris cafés)  : boulevard Saint Germain des Prés – Métro Saint Germain des prés (line 4)
  • L’Avant Comptoir : place de l’Odeon – Metro stop Odeon – for a snack, a crêpe or a gaufre. Métro Odéon (line 4)

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The Saint Germain des Prés private walking tour with Ann Jeanne in Paris. 

l1008109A private  tour in one of the most classic and elegant part of Paris. Saint Germain des Prés is synonymous with chic and Parisian culture. 

Along our way : 

One of oldest church in Paris, Hemingways favorite restaurant, where Sartre used to live, one of the oldest church in Paris, a chocolate shop which opened more than 250 years ago, a strange art gallery which exhibits only one work of art at a time, the favorite café where Fine art students still use to meet, the café where Sartre and Beauvoir used to philosophize and write , you’ll taste among the best macarons in the city of light, and if you choose to, some beautiful cream puffs too from a shop specialized in this pastry. You’ll see (and visit if you’d like to) the studio where Delacroix used to live and paint, the oldest café in Paris, the exact place where the guillotine was first tried, you’ll walk in a charming cobblestone alleywayetc 

A tour with Ann Jeanne in Paris is also a way to meet a Parisian and to know more about Paris culture and everyday life, and to experience Paris as a true Parisian. And I will answer your questions to help you to get the most of your stay in Paris (tips, informations…)

Half day or whole day private tour to experience Paris and Saint Germain des Prés as a true Parisian contact me

Henri Leroux - Saint Germain des Prés

The oldest café in Paris

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Eugène Delacroix used to live in Saint Germain des Prés

La Closerie nowadays

“La Closerie des Lilas” means “Small enclosed lilac garden”. It’s a place, with an enormous charm, calm and elegant, which makes Paris magic. It’s one of the mythical brasseries of Montparnasse neighborhood.  The ambiance of old-world Paris.

WHERE ?

La Closerie des Lilas

“La Closerie des Lilas” is located in Montparnasse neighborhood which was, between WWI and WWII, the heart of the artistic and intellectual Parisian life (after Montmartre and before Saint Germain des Prés heydays). On the corner of Boulevard Montparnasse and Boulevard Saint Michel. A bit off the beaten path. Most regulars are Parisians.

A ONE MINUTE VIDEO FILMED ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON :

A bit of History : 

You can’t forget the richness of its past… La Closerie des Lilas is over 100 years old. It has entertained visitors from all over the world. And many writers and artists met up at the Closerie des Lilas.

Here, you can feel the presence of Hemingway

The only decent café in our neighborhood was La Closerie des Lilas, and it was one of the best cafes in Paris. It was warm in the winter and the terrace was lovely in the spring and fall,” Hemingway – A Moveable feast

Also the hang-out for : Verlaine, Apollinaire, Beckett, Man Ray, Sartre, Baudelaire, Cezanne, Modigliani, Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola, André Gide to name a few.

A revered haunt for the Lost generation writers  : Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway who used to come here to write. La Closerie des Lilas was one of Hemingway’s favorite cafés, where he wrote parts of “The sun also rises here”, and where Scott Fitzgerald showed him “Gatsby” for the first time. Behind the bar, one can find a picture of young Hemingway in an army uniform form WWI.

THE SETTING

A warm and cosy ambiance.

A restaurant with a pleasant terrace, a quaint little tree-enclosed patio, a brasserie, and a bar.

The bar : a gorgeous setting, low-lighted, with furniture made in polished mahogany, red-leather confortable banquettes, A brass and chrome bar. There are one-by-three-inch brass nameplates on the corner of the tables with engraved names of literary figures who supposedly sat there. The bartenders are dressed in white jacket. They will serve you a customized cocktail. Live music most evenings and the sunday afternoon too make the place even more special…. and a wonderful Art Deco bathroom. Probably the most beautiful bathroom in Paris  … and a wonderful Art Deco bathroom. Probably the most beautiful bathroom in Paris.                                                        

Practical details :

  • La Closerie des Lilas – 171 boulevard Montparnasse, Paris 6 –  Hours: 12 noon – 1:00 a.m.  Web site : www.closeriedeslilas.fr    Tel. : + 33(0)1 40 51 34 50
  • Metro : Vavin (line 4) or Raspail (line 4 and 6) (Both metro stop at about 7 min walk) RER : Port Royal (just beside the Closerie des Lilas), Bus : 38 (a bus stop just nearby)

My advice :

  • a must-go on your visit to Paris,
  • Why not a drink (a cocktail, a coffee, a hot chocolate or whatever) in the gorgeous bar, where the bartender will serve you a customized cocktail if you wish to !
  • When you have a drink , you can have a pastry too. The “assiette gourmande” is delightful (An “assiette gourmande” is an assortment of a few very littles pastries). 
  • Or for a lunch or dinner either at the restaurant (but quite pricey, an upscale restaurant) or the brasserie.
  • After a lunch, you can either go for a walk in the Observatoire garden, (nearby –   ) then the Luxembourg garden (10 minutes walk from La Closerie), or go for a walk in the Montparnasse neighborhood (around Vavin) then to the Luxembourg garden (an entrance nearby Vavin street)
  • … And don’t miss the bathroom, which is really gorgeous ! Beautiful Art Deco style. 
  • The 4 other popular literary cafés/brasseries in Montparnasse neighborhood are : “Le Select’, “La Rotonde”, “Le Dome” and “La Coupole”

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Champagne with raspberry liqueur

A former 17th century townhouse

The Cafe Laurent is located in Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood, a stone throw from the Seine, in the Hotel d’Aubusson, a 17th century building.

It’s a bar with an elegant and cosy interior,  furnished in Louis XV and Regency antiques with a large fireplace lounge, just next to the bar and an enclosed patio.

You can attend a live Jazz evening at the Cafe Laurent, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Take a quick walk in the Café Laurent with this 50 secondes video : 

Some History

The Cafe Laurent first opened in 1690. Amongst its customers : Robespierre, Rousseau and Voltaire.

After WWII, in 1947, it was rename “Le Tabou” and became a real legend on the Saint Germain des Prés scene

After Le Flore or « Les 2 magots », had closed their doors for the night, it was the haunt of the existentialists. The intellectuals, the musicians and poets of Saint Germain and Montparnasse used to come to Le Tabou.

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©Robert Doisneau

Amongst the regulars : Boris Vian, Jean Cocteau, the legendary jazz musician players Miles Davis and Louis Amstrong, Juliette Gréco, Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret … And also Juliette Greco*, the muse of the Saint Germain des Prés 50s.

Le Tabou en et BlancIn 1948, the cafe changed its style and became a closed Jazz club. The intellectuals left Le Tabou and chose to go to a newly opened club : Le Club Saint Germain (rue Saint Benoit). But “Le Tabou” remained a very popular Jazz club.

In the 80’s, and until the end of the Le Tabou was still a iconic club where people used to go dancing, but on different styles of music (often disco). A club where I used to go. The Tabou closed its doors in the late 90s.

It has now reverted to its original name, Café Laurent and hosts regular jazz evenings. The cellar in the Hotel D’Aubusson is now a room dedicated to seminars

What  did Le Tabou look like ?

Le Tabou was a cellar club downstairs bar. The entrance door to Le Tabou opened directly on Rue Dauphine. Upstairs, there was a cloakroom, toilets and a small bar. Down the stairs, was the cellar club, a beautiful vaulted cellar. There was a tiny stage at the far end, a dance floor and a bar at the other end.

Who is Juliette Gréco ?

Juliette Gréco, a French singer became a symbol of French intellectuals after WWII : the muse of the existentialists (she invent the word. Juliette Gréco is still very popular. 

My advice

  • Le Cafe Laurent is a confortable bar with a wonderful service and welcoming.
  • This is the place to come and enjoy some live jazz music and have a cocktail (cocktails with champagne and many others)
  • The evening you go to Café Laurent, you could take a walk  Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood, an historic, classic and quite sophisticated part of Paris. A charming part of the city.
  • For a private visit of Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood with Ann Jeanne in Paris, a native parisian, please contact me for more details

Practical informationsCarte repérage Café Laurent

  • Café Laurent / Hôtel d’Aubusson – 33 rue Dauphine – Paris 6 – 01 43 29 43 43
  • Opened everyday from 9am to midnight. Métro stop : Odéon, Mabillon ou Pont-Neuf
  • Live Jazz : every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. From 6pm. Music starts at 9.30 pm. Free entry (You just have to order a drink)
  • Drinks from 10 euros.

 

Café Le Flore

A famous and charming cafe… Probably the most famous and charming cafe in Paris. Though a touristic cafe too, Le Flore is a cafe where you’ll find Parisians, alone or with friends. Spending time discussing, watching the passers by. The Art Deco interior of this café, all-red seating, mahogany and mirrors, has changed little since the war.

Le Flore is located on the left bank of the river Seine, in Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood, nearby the Saint Germain des Prés church, one of the oldest Paris’ church. 

Le Flore offers tes, coffees, hot chocolates, alcoholic drinks and juices, snacks and full meals

A  bit of History :

Le Flore was opened in the 1880s

In the 1950s, french intellectuals used to come and stay there, talking about new philosophical ideas. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir developed their philosophy of existentialism here.

In the 30’s, the gathering place for the surrealist, the publishers, the artists and directors.

After the WWII, Le Flore was the headquarter for the existentialists : Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Boris Vian and writers and artists such as Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, Brigitte Bardot, Françoise Sagan, Romain Gary…

Nowadays, Le Flore is still a popular location for celebrities. Many artists, writers, intellectuals, politics use to come to “Le Flore”.  Since 1994 the “Prix de Flore”, a literary prize is awarded annually at the Café de Flore.

Practical details : 

Le Flore – 172 boulevard Saint-Germain – Paris 6 (at the corner of Boulevard St Germain and rue Saint Benoit)  Metro Stop : Saint Germain des Prés (line 4)

Below : a 40 secondes video about “Le Flore” (I am not on this video, nor filming it)

My advice : 

  • If you prefer to sit outside, choose the Saint Benoit street side of “Le Flore”, more “Parisian” and quiet.
  • You can buy Le Flore crockery if you wish to (cups,  saucers, glasses… etc with the words in green “Café de Flore”). Just ask a waiter who will show you the display case ). A nice gift to bring back home for your friends or family…. or yourself (!)
  • Nearby : “Les 2 magots”(the Flore’s sister), located in front of Saint Germain des Prés’s church. In “Les 2 magots” you can ask for a Pierre Hermé mille feuille which is gorgeous.