Hemingway's Paris: The Lost Generation Walk
In the 1920s, a generation of American and British writers and artists poured into Paris, drawn by the cheap franc, the freedom, and Gertrude Stein's famous salon. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce and Man Ray all lived within walking distance of each other on the Left Bank. This half-day walk visits their actual addresses, favourite bars and gathering places—much of which looks remarkably unchanged.
- 1
Shakespeare and Company — The Literary Heart
The bookshop at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie is a reconstruction (the original was at 12 Rue de l'Odéon), but it maintains the same spirit as Sylvia Beach's original, which first published James Joyce's Ulysses in 1922. The present shop was founded in 1951 by George Whitman, who allowed broke writers to sleep among the stacks in exchange for work. Today it's still a living literary community with readings, events and a café next door. Browse the anarchically organised shelves and check the event board.
- 2
27 Rue de Fleurus — Gertrude Stein's Salon
Walk west to the apartment where Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas held the most important literary and artistic salon of the 20th century. Their walls were covered with Picasso, Matisse and Cézanne (Stein was among the first collectors of Cubism). Hemingway writes about visiting here in A Moveable Feast—learning to write, being taught to edit, arguing about talent. The building still stands; there's no plaque but the address is part of literary pilgrimage history.
- 3
74 Rue Cardinal Lemoine — Hemingway's First Paris Apartment
Walk east across the 5th arrondissement to the building where Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley lived from 1921 to 1923. This is where he wrote the early short stories that became In Our Time. Up the hill behind it is the Place de la Contrescarpe, a small square with cafés where Hemingway describes eating and drinking with friends—it looks almost exactly as he described it. There's a commemorative plaque on the building.
- 4
La Closerie des Lilas — Where Hemingway Wrote
This elegant brasserie at 171 Boulevard du Montparnasse was Hemingway's favourite working café in the 1920s—he came almost every morning to write and revise. He rewrote The Sun Also Rises here. The terrace tables and the zinc bar at the back are the original. Ask the waiter to show you the brass plaque on the bar with Hemingway's name. The café is still excellent—have a drink at the bar where he sat.
- 5
Le Select / Le Dôme / La Rotonde — The Montparnasse Trio
Three legendary cafés cluster together at the Carrefour du Montparnasse, two minutes' walk from La Closerie. Le Select (opened 1925) was the first Parisian café to stay open all night—Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Hart Crane were regulars. Le Dôme was where German expressionists gathered. La Rotonde was Picasso, Modigliani and Lenin. The cafés are still operating and busy. Order a glass of wine, sit outside, and think about who occupied these exact chairs.
- 6
Cimetière du Montparnasse — Final Resting Place
Ten minutes' walk south brings you to the cemetery where several members of the Lost Generation chose to be buried. Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre lie together in plot 20. Samuel Beckett is in division 18. Susan Sontag is near the entrance. A free map at the gate shows all notable graves. The cemetery is peaceful, shaded and one of Paris's most thoughtful places to end a literary walk.