On the Hunt for Hemingway

By Michael Westra

On December 22, 1921, a young Ernest Hemingway and his new bride, Hadley, arrived in Paris. He was 22, she was eight years his senior. He was penniless, she had a small inheritance. Ernest would call Paris his home, on and off, for the next six years. When he departed in 1928, he had acquired a new wife, become a successful novelist, and developed a style that redefined modern literature.

He had also managed, through blind luck and fortuitous timing, to live through one of the seminal decades of the 20th century in the city that was the epicenter for artists, writers and thinkers who would shape much of the rest of the century. His posthumous memoir of that era, A Moveable Feast, remains today the handbook for seekers of that “Lost Generation”.

Several months ago, it dawned on me that the centenary of Hemingway’s arrival in Paris was fast approaching. We’re always looking for a reason to return to the City of Light, so it didn’t take much to convince my angel wife, Debbie, to celebrate the occasion on a scavenger hunt of Ernest’s early Parisian haunts. The fact that dining and drinking venues figured prominently in Hemingway’s Paris was an added plus for me, and dozens of marvelous shops and boutiques made Debbie’s decision an easy one. So, with iPhone camera in hand and referencing his Moveable Feast recollections, we spent 8 days doing a poor man’s photo essay on the subject.

The articles and books already written on this topic are legion, but it was something yours truly had never done, though over the past four decades I had made piecemeal pilgrimages to various cafés, bars and Parisian backdrops associated with Papa Hemingway. This venture needed to be a more organized, more journalistic effort; something to enhance my professional Paris credentials.  At least that Is what the IRS will be told should I be questioned about “expenses” incurred on the trip.

Rather than a chronological tour retracing exact routes made by Hemingway, ours was an out-of-sequence flanerie, an eight day stroll about the city, alternating between Left and Right Banks. This somewhat random method provided an enjoyable blend of research and leisure time. It worked quite nicely for us and it is how most tourists will experience these sites in the course of their own Paris wanderings.

The Left Bank:

For starters, how better to channel the spirit of Mr. Hemingway than to lodge in the same hotel (And same bedroom) that he and Hadley occupied back in 1921? That hotel, the Hotel d’Angleterre, still lists chambre 14 as the Hemingway Room and this was our home for the week leading up to the December 22nd Centennial.

 

“Angleterre”, in French, means England. In the 18th Century this building was the British Embassy. It figured prominently in the signing of the Treaty of Paris; the document that granted independence to the fledgling United States on America.
Room 14; the Hemingway Room.
Room 14; the Hemingway Room. – Our headquarters for the Hemingway Hunt.

The d’Angleterre’s  Left Bank location on historic rue Jacob and proximity to the iconic cafes, Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, could not be better. The Oldest church in Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, from which the entire quarter take its name, is also just a block or so away. This neighborhood is quintessential Left Bank Paris at its best.

Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots – arguably the two most famous sidewalk cafés in Paris, and perhaps the World
Les Deux Magots was the setting for a scene in Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, and in A Moveable Feast he records having drinks there with James Joyce.

LE PRÉ AUX CLERCS: A half block East of our hotel, the neighborhood bistro, Le Pré aux Clercs, is still in operation.  Ernest and Hadley dined there on more than one occasion in their first few weeks in Paris. In 1922 a steak dinner for two could be had there for less than $1 US Dollar. Such was the the post-WWI exchange rate. It was one of the big drawing cards that made Americans flock to Paris in the 20’s. In those years starving artists could starve in style.

 

MICHAUD’S: Another nearby spot made famous in a chapter from A Moveable Feast, is on the corner of rue Jacob and rue des Saints-Pères. It is the former site of a popular 1920’s restaurant, Michaud’s. Ernest recounts a memorable meal there with F. Scott Fitzgerald. According to Hemingway, Fitzgerald expressed fears of physical inadequacy in the bedroom caused by comments from his high strung  and progressively crazy wife, Zelda. To allay Fitzgerald’s concerns, Hemingway escorted him to the men’s room, inspected Scott’s member and declared it to be “Adequate”.

The place has changed hands many times over the years and is now a nondescript eatery called Comptoir Des Saints Peres. The present owner still gets drop-in visits from Hemingway fans asking to see the men’s room. A true photojournalist might have ventured in to capture a shot of this legendary lavatory, but Debbie and I decided to forego the experience.

In the 1920’s this corner was the site of Michaud’s restaurant. It was here that Hemingway judged F. Scott Fitzgerald to be adequately endowed after an inspection in the men’s’ room.

BRASSERIE LIPP: Across the Street from Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, Lipp is a Parisian institution, even without its Hemingway connection. It is a frequent dining destinations on our trips to Paris. In keeping with our Hemingway theme, on our recent lunch visit I requested the same dish described by Hemingway in chapter eight of A Moveable Feast: Cervelas. This is a variety of sausage, not unlike a thick frankfurter, split lengthwise and covered with a special mustard sauce. Some steamed potatoes drizzled with oil, a liter of beer, and VOILÀ ! – it is 1923 once again.

LIPP has counted politicians, actors, and an array of writers and artists among its clientele. Below is a Cervelas sausage in mustard sauce described by Hemingway a century ago in A Moveable Feast – it is still served to this day.

 

LODGINGS: Ernest and Hadley stayed only a few weeks at Hotel d’Angleterre until they found their first apartment in a working-class neighborhood of the Latin Quarter, near the Pantheon. Tiny, cramped and with no toilet or hot water, its primary attribute was affordability. This was the “Starving Writer” phase of Ernest’s existence. They remained here until they returned to Canada in August, 1923 for the birth of their son, John (AKA Bumby)

The Hemingway’s first apartment at 74 rue du Cardinal Lemoine, a 3rd floor, two room walkup with no running water, a few blocks east of the Pantheon.
The plaque commemorating Hemingway’s stay at 74 rue du Cardinal Lemoine. Translation: From January 1922 to August 1923 on the 3rd floor of this building, with Hadley, his wife, lived the American writer Ernest HEMINGWAY 1899 – 1961   The quarter, which he loved above all others, was the veritable birthplace of his work and of the uncluttered style which characterized it. This American in Paris maintained familiar relations with his neighbors, notably the owner of the adjoining dance hall. “This was the Paris of our youth, a time when we were very poor and very happy.” – Ernest Hemingway (A Moveable Feast)

The Cardinal Lemoine apartment was too tiny and cramped for writing so Ernest rented a room around the corner at 39 rue Descartes. On cold days he would work in this 4th-floor garret. In good weather he would work at local cafés where the cost of a cup of coffee was the only rent.

39 rue Descartes. Ernest rented a room on the 4th-floor to work. Some modern-day Hemingway scholars and sleuths doubt his claim to have worked here, along with several other claims made by the imaginative writer throughout his life. But decades of Hemingway lore proclaim this to be part of his Paris experience so we include it here.
A plaque at 39 rue Descartes reminds us that the famous French poet, Paul Verlaine, died in this house in 1896. The plaque below it erroneously claims it was Ernest’s residence from 1921 to 1925

MORE LODGINGS: Upon their return from Canada in January 1924, the couple and their infant son relocated to 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, just south of the Luxembourg Gardens and near the social whirl of Blvd. Montparnasse. This apartment, above a saw mill, has long since been demolished. A block of modern buildings now occupies the site. We deemed it unworthy of a photograph. That notwithstanding, the time spent at this location is one of the most important periods in the Hemingway story. His first successful novel, The Sun Also Rises, was largely written down the street at Hem’s favorite café, La Closerie des Lilas.

Hemingway’s preferred café, La Closerie des Lilas (The Lilac Enclosure). Below: A brass plate marks the spot at the Closerie bar that was supposedly his favorite seat. One must assume this was the spot he frequented AFTER the success of The Sun Also Rises, for the bar is not the place he would have worked, preferring instead a table on the enclosed terrace. And prior to his book’s success it is unlikely he could afford to hang out in the bar area. But why tamper too much with legends and lore ?

CLOSERIE DES LILAS: Hemingway preferred to work here because it was near his apartment, and because it was far enough away from the four famous & bustling MONTPARNO cafés down the Blvd Montparnasse. Here he would not be disturbed by the throngs of tourists and shiftless would-be artists and writers whom he held in low regard. Unlike many young expat writers, Hemingway treated writing like a job and concentrated diligently on it.

A MONTPARNASSE CRAWL: The intersection of Blvd. Montparnasse and Blvd. Raspail was the center of 1920’s Parisian social and intellectual life. The four cafés mentioned here occupied this corner and would have been well known to Hemingway, as well as every other artist, writer and flaneur of the Lost Generation. We made a pleasurable dining circuit of these places one night during the quest for Hemingway haunts. After a champagne aperitif at the Closerie des Lilas, we headed for La Rotonde, followed by dessert and a nightcap at Le Select, with a nod along the way to Le Dôme and La Coupole.

Hemingway tells us in The Sun Also Rises, “No matter what café in Montparnasse you ask a taxi driver to bring you to from the right bank of the river, they always take you to the Rotonde.” Starving artists like Picasso and Modigliani would hock their paintings here for a dinner, so that La Rotonde was often decorated with works that would someday grace great museums and private collections. Copies of Modigliani’s works are still to be seen around the restaurant. Our fish and oyster dinner was excellent but we saved room for dessert at Le Select.

 

When Hemmingway arrived in Paris, Le Dôme was the epicenter of Montparnasse life. It was particularly popular with English and American tourists, so much so that it was referred to among locals as ‘The Anglo-American Café”. In recent years it has morphed into an upscale Michelin seafood restaurant so we passed it in search of the aura of the 1920’s at Le Select. Below: Le Dôme  in its 1920’s heyday.

 

La Coupole was the last of the famous four to open (1927) but it quickly became the place to see and be seen. Within its cavernous dining room one was likely to encounter Josephine Baker, Dali, Picasso, Hemingway, Man Ray, and a celebrity list of personages that remains unequaled to this day. We peeked inside for just a moment before continuing across the street to Le Select.

 

Le Select is the least glamorous of the Montparno cafés but remains the truest to its 1920’s persona. It was the first café in Paris to remain open all night which made it popular with night owls like Henry Miller, and Hemingway occasionally had breakfast here. In modern times actress Scarlet Johansson is reputed to be a fan of the Select’s famous Roast Chicken.

MORE MISCELANEOUS HAUNTS: A couple more noteworthy locales deserve mention among Hemingway’s Left Bank hangouts in those early days. First, the Bouquinist (Booksellers) stalls that line the Seine, between the Pont de Sully and the Pont Neuf, where Hemingway would take a break from writing for a stroll. The green Bouquinist boxes still look much the same today.

Debbie and friend, Sonia, peruse the Bouquinist stalls near Notre Dame on a recent visit. (Note the now-missing cathedral spire is still visible in this picture, indicating the photo was taken just prior to the calamitous fire that destroyed the steeple in April 2019.)

LUXEMBOURG GARDENS: Another bit of Hemingway lore deals with his claim to have trapped pigeons in the Luxembourg Gardens, to be smuggled home in Bumby’s pram and consumed to augment his meager diet. Whether true or not, the story is a prominent bead in the Hemingway Rosary.

He was most certainly a frequent visitor to these gardens due to their proximity to his apartment and two of is favorite destinations: the apartment of Gertrude Stein, and Sylvia Beach’s book shop; Shakespeare and Company. Both locations are obscure today but for a small plaque above each. Stein’s lists her years of residence there, and at the former Shakespeare and Company a tablet commemorates the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses at this address.

Left Bank tranquility – The Luxembourg Gardens, frequented by Hemingway and the park of choice for countless Parisians and tourists. Debbie and I make it a regular part of our Paris visits, whether to simply relax or to share a picnic lunch and a bottle of wine beside the Medici Fountain or beneath the statue of Sainte Geneviève .

 

A THIRD APARTMENT: After his marriage to Hadley fell apart due to an affair with Pauline Pfeiffer, Ernest and Pauline moved into this upscale apartment on the top floor of 6 rue Férue, near the Luxembourg Gardens. Pauline came from money (Her rich uncle fronted the rent for the apartment) and Ernest was at last earning a respectable income as a writer, so they could afford classier digs. In more recent times the property was purchased by film star Johnny Depp.

Rue Férue: a charming cobblestone lane that leads from the church of Saint Sulpice to the Luxembourg Gardens.

Right Bank:

Hemingway spent most of his time in those early years on the Left Bank, but still left his mark on many Right Bank spots. His bank was here, near the Opera, and of course there was a lot of drinking to be done on this side of the river as well. On return trips to Paris in later years, as his fame and wealth increased, Ernest spent more time on the more posh and expensive Right Bank.

CAFÉ DE LA PAIX: This iconic and pricy restaurant located next door to the Paris Opera was where Ernest and Hadley decided to celebrate their first Christmas supper in Paris. The final bill was substantially more than expected and Ernest had to run back to the Hotel d’Angleterre (A considerable distance on foot) for more cash while Hadley nervously stalled the waiter.

Recently restored to it Second Empire grandeur, the Café de la Paix exudes all the elegance of late 19th-century Paris. In those days it was said that if one sat on the terrace of Café de la Paix long enough, one would see “Everybody who was Anybody” from both sides of the Atlantic and the Continent. Today, if you are lucky enough to be a guest at the adjoining Hotel Intercontinental Le Grand, you’ll experience the most luxurious breakfast buffet in Paris, served here in the café

HOTEL RITZ: Hemingway had a long association with the fabled Ritz Hotel. The most famous story occurred in August of 1944. Paris was being liberated by the advancing Allies and Hemingway, then a war correspondent, got ahead of the main allied force and raced through Paris in a Jeep with a small continent of GI’s. After dropping off a case of grenades to Sylvia Beach on Rue de l’Odéon, he raced to the Ritz and personally “liberated” the bar. Once secured, he promptly ordered 51 Martinis for himself and his thirsty cohorts (One source lists the number at 73, another claims it was 91). Several days of debauchery followed.

In 1956 the management of the Ritz delivered a trunk to Hemingway that had been left in the hotel’s basement thirty years earlier. Besides some personal belongings and manuscripts, Ernest came across a collection of notes he had kept during his early years in the 1920’s. Those notes became the basis for a book, published posthumously, that eventually took the title of A Moveable Feast.

 

HARRY’S NEW YORK BAR: Volumes have been written about this legendary watering hole. Opened on Thanksgiving Day 1911, Harry’s has played host to the greats and not-so-greats of the past 110 years. Between World Wars it hosted Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and George Gershwin who, according to legend, composed An American in Paris on the basement piano. Later it welcomed the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Rita Hayworth, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and the Duke of Windsor. Harry’s was also a sportsman’s hangout, frequented by the racing set and denizens of the boxing world (Primo Carnera’s boxing gloves hang above the bar). This would be a natural attraction to Hemingway who was a proficient amateur boxer. Harry MacElhone, the bar’s owner, occasionally acted as Ernest’s corner man.

HARRY’S NEW YORK BAR: When the wave of Prohibition Era Americans flocked to Paris in The 20’s, they were coached to give their taxi driver Harry’s address with the phonetic pronunciation: SANK ROO DOE NOO (Cinq, Rue Daunou). You can still see this in the front window. Also note that although this photo is current, the bar’s age on the window  (108) is inaccurate. It should be 110 years. Perhaps the Covid closures and mandates of the past two years have generated more pressing challenges than updating the window?
Several classic cocktails are said to have been invented at Harry’s. Debbie’s favorite is the Bloody Mary. I am more partial to the Boulevardier (When not sipping the Gin Martini pictured here). CHEERS, TOUT LE MONDE !

Our search for the Paris of young Ernest Hemingway drew to a close with a better understanding of the Lost Generation era, of the challenges faced by a struggling young writer in that milieu, and a sentimental appreciation for what Ernest felt when he penned these words in A Moveable Feast:

“…this is how Paris was in the early days 

when we were very poor and very happy.”

ADDRESSES:

Ernest Hemingway, Paris, circa 1924

Left Bank

Hotel d’Angleterre – 44 rue Jacob, 75006

Café de Flore -172 Bd Saint-Germain, 75006

Les Deux Magots – 6 Pl. Saint-Germain des Prés, 75006

Le Pre aux Clercs – 30 rue Bonaparte, 75006

Former site of Michaud’s – 29 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006

Brasserie Lipp – 151 Bd Saint-Germain, 75006

First Apartment, 74 rue de Cardinal Lemoine, 75005

Rented room, 39 rue Descartes, 75005

Second Apartment, 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, 75006

La Closerie des Lilas – 171 Bd du Montparnasse, 75006

La Rotonde – 105 Bd du Montparnasse, 75006

Le Dôme – 108 Bd du Montparnasse, 75014

La Coupole – 102 Bd du Montparnasse, 75014

Le Select – 99 Bd du Montparnasse, 75006

Bouquinist stalls along the Seine

Luxembourg Gardens – 75006

Third Apartment, 6 rue Férou, 75006

Gertrude Stein’s Apartment – 27 rue de Fleurus, 75006

Original Shakespeare & Company – 12 rue de l’Odéon, 75006

Right Bank

Café de la Paix – 5 Pl. de l’Opéra, 75009

Ritz Hotel – 15 Pl. Vendôme, 75001

Harry’s New York Bar – 5 rue Daunou, 75002 

 

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4 thoughts on “On the Hunt for Hemingway”

  • Suzanne Baird January 19, 2022 at 9:24 am

    Absolutely fascinating! You are a terrific writer, makes we miss Paris!

    • Michael Westra April 15, 2022 at 9:54 am

      Thanks Suzanne, looking forward to another Paris trip with you sometime.

  • Billie Ford February 3, 2022 at 9:51 am

    I live at 14 Rue de L’Odeon and was familiar with the original Shakespeare &Co location. They have since moved next to the Seine. Hemingway also frequented Polidor restaurant which had been closed even before this pandemic started but is now open and their food is very good. The movie “Midnight in Paris” filmed the scene when our young writer first meets Hemingway in the restaurant. A very historical quartier in many respects.

    • Michael Westra April 15, 2022 at 9:53 am

      Dear Billie, I envy your wonderful address – You are correct, I perhaps should have included Polidor, it was frequened by Hemingway and a host of other writers and artists in those days, pricipally because i was affordable for struggling young artists, “Midnight in Paris” is a wonderful film on many levels. I watch it at least once each year.

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