Faulkner on American Writers in Paris Tour

On Rue Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement

sits the Hotel Luxembourg Parc,

(just across from the Luxembourg gardens)

a 4-star hotel

which was once

Le Grand Hotel des Principautes.

In 1925,

as Le Grand Hotel des Principautes,

it was the home of William Faulkner 

for four months. 

According to one French blog,

he didn't mix much with The Lost Generation,

preferring instead the company of the park's

children and workers.

And though the hotel has been renovated,

the entrance moved from rue Servandoni to Vaugirard,

and the name changed,

it still holds a plaque

stating 

'Faulkner was here'

in autumn of 1925.

Oh to have seen these streets in 

the fall of '25.

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

The Stein Salon~ 27, rue de Fleurus

This weekend (July 27) marked the date of the passing of Gertrude Stein in 1946. 

And it was here at 27, rue de Fleurus near the Luxembourg Gardens

that she lived with her brother, Leo, who was the impetus behind their shared collection of art

from some of the best 20th century painters. 

As a very young woman,

Stein had attended the Saturday night salons of Baltimore's Cone sisters, Claribel and Etta,

wealthy socialites and collectors of modern French art,  

and here at 27 rue de Fleurus, where she and her brother lived together 

from 1903 to 1914, Stein began her own literary salon.

On Saturday nights here in Paris,

one could expect to see the paintings of

 Bonnard, Picasso, Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec among others. 

As well, one could hold conversation with regulars like

Picasso, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Lewis, Joyce, Pound, Wilder and Matisse. 

Alice B. Toklas moved in and became Gertrude's lifelong partner in 1910.

She also became the hostess for Gertrude's literary salons,

keeping the women guests in the kitchen 

because Gertrude refused to have them in the same room with the men, 

where she spent her time. 

 While Leo was the more discerning art critic and buyer

(though it's said that Gertrude later took credit),

Henry McBride, Art Critic of the New York Sun, was quoted as saying that Gertrude

"collected geniuses rather than masterpieces. She recognized them a long way off." 

Unfortunately, when Leo and Gertrude decided to part company

in terms of their co-habitation,

that included their contact with each other. 

When Leo left in 1914 and they split their collection, 

they did not see each other again for 30 years, 

and then briefly meeting accidentally on the street. 

They never spoke again.

As always when I decide on a post topic

(often according to my Paris photo collection),

I learn something new about my subject. 

Among the many comments about Gertrude Stein's writing

(her brother called it 'an abomination'),

some deem her inept in her ability

while others consider her apparent inability to communicate a deficiency
"to deal effectively with language, so that she made her greatest weakness
into her most remarkable strength."

What higher praise for an artist!?

For more American Writers in Paris Tour posts,
Click Here, Here,  and Here. 

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen) 

Info details thanks to Wiki

Last Part of American Writers Tour in Paris~

And here we are again on the last segment of our

American Writers in Paris Tour.

I had to include this door just because I loved it

(even though the shot is a bit wonky) 

and doors are my thing!

Heading south on Rue Bonaparte

at #36 is the Hotel St. Germain des Pres

where Janet Flanner (pen name 'Genet') lived for 50 years.

Writing from here, Flanner served as

 The New Yorker Magazine's Parisian correspondent, 

sending in her 'Letter from Paris' from 1925-1975. 

When in New York, she ran with the members of the 

Algonquin Round Table

(a varied group of New York wits who met for lunch daily

for nearly ten years at the Algonquin Hotel).

When in Paris,

she was a member of the Lost Generation

becoming good friends with Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.  

Though briefly married, 

Flanner met and fell in love with Solita Solano in 1918

and while they lived together for over 50 years,

they were not monogamous. 

Henry Miller also lived in this building,

on the top floor,

in 1930.

The attendant was kind enough to let me

step inside and snap a few photos.

While I'm sure it's a shade different

from its former days,

still fun to see what it looks like now. 

Continuing along Rue Bonaparte to St. Germain-des-Pres,

a few blocks down turn right onto Rue de Seine.

On the corner, which has become, Rue du Tournon, sits #20

where Booth Tarkington lived from 1905-1908,

the Pulitzer Prize winning author of 

The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams 

and one of the very few to have won the Pulitzer for fiction more than once. 

While there is so much more to see, our tour ends here.
But I highly recommend clicking on the website here for more.

It was thoroughly enjoyable to walk it 

and delightful to share with you. 

Thanks for joining me.

(Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen)

American Writers in Paris Tour continued...

As you remember, we left off on our writer's tour last time

on a gorgeous late spring (summer-like) day.

I loved the look of this Salon de The 

along the way with its 

flower boxes and

trailing ivy. 

And this unique way of serving ice cream

to warm tourists. 

Leaving Gertrude Stein and Rue Christine

and heading west on small streets to Rue Bonaparte,

I then turned right onto L'Hotel des Beaux Arts.

Here, at 13, L'Hotel des Beaux Arts

the tour states that Thomas Wolfe lived here for a year in 1925

(though another chronology of his life would put him here at another time). 

On either side of the front door are plaques,

one dedicated to Jorge Luis Borges

(according to the plaque, the Argentine writer 

who lived here during frequent visits to Paris

from 1977 to 1985). 

The other a plaque announcing that 

Oscar Wilde died in this building on

November 30, 1900. 

Sources say he died destitute in Paris

of cerebral meningitis,

the cause disputed by family and doctors. 

He was buried at Cimetiere de Bagneux but was 

moved to Pere Lachaise in 1909.

His epitaph a verse from his poem,

The Ballad of Reading Gaol:

"And alien tears will fill for him

Pity's long-broken urn,

For his mourners will be outcast men,

And outcasts always mourn."

We'll continue our tour next time

and until then, you can see more of it yourself

here:

American Writers in Paris Tour

(Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Writer's Tour near Pont Neuf~ Walks in Paris

Recently I took a Writer's Tour/Walk in Paris

following online directions to several late writer's home addresses. 

But before I began, taking full advantage of late spring's perfect weather,

I took my little baguette sandwich from a nearby stand

and (joined the crowds) for my own little 

Picnic Partay for One! 

I parked myself on a bench in the shade 

in this sweet little park just adjacent to the Pont Neuf

(which, of course, I don't ever recall seeing before). 

It was the perfect place to begin an afternoon

to myself in Paris. The Chef had business to attend to 

so it was just me and a few dead writers. 

After I finished my sandwich,

I followed the directions to the last home of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.

At Rue Dauphine at the end of the Pont Neuf,

go just two blocks up to Rue Christine and make a left. 

According to this online source,

it was here at 5, rue Christine that Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas lived

(after they left the more famous rue de Fleurus address and with a few absences)

 until Stein's death in a Neuilly sur Seine hospital (a suburb of Paris) in 1946.

Toklas stayed on until 1964.

(Unfortunately the only car on the entire block

had to be a huge white van parked directly in front of their door,

limiting my photo capabilities of their address.)

In the mesmerizing glow of warm sunshine and Gertrude Stein's ghost,

it took me awhile to make myself leave the block

so I took a few more photos as I haunted the street's treasures. 

 I found an interesting shadow pattern inside one entry...

...and the lovely courtyard of a hotel at the other end of the block.

Just a few doors down from 5, rue Christine, this restaurant 

left me wondering if it had also been a food establishment during their years here.

Maybe they popped in on warm afternoons like this one for an aperitif before dinner. 

And maybe they stayed on for a plat de poisson or a souris d'agneau 

before walking the few steps back to their own door, their books and their art. 

I finally made it off the block

to continue on the tour to a few more artist's addresses.

Next week we'll continue our Walk in Paris with a few more pictures
of my one day of the 8-day 'American Writers in Paris' Tour.

And if you wish to see the full tour, 

Click Here. 

(Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen)