Two Cafés near Saint Germain des Prés
When I think of Paris, it is of the 6th arrondissement, more specifically the area around Saint Germain des Prés. It is the area of Paris where I feel most at home. In my mind’s eye I can see the tower of Saint Germain des Prés, the busy traffic on the boulevard Saint Germain, and the cafés near the cathedral. They are the famous literary cafés, Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots.
The Café de Flore was popular with artists from the First World War, when it was the hang-out of Apollinaire and Breton, but it’s most famous for its existentialists, including Simone de Beauvoir and John-Paul Sartre, who all but slept in here during World War II. Their apartment was only a block away, but they didn’t have heating and so to de Flore it was. Sartre wrote: "We installed ourselves completely: from 9 to 12 am, we worked, then we had lunch, and at 2pm we came back and spoke with friends we had met, until 8 pm. After having dinner, we received people with whom we had fixed an appointment. This could seem strange to you, but at this Café, we were at home". It’s been the haunt of actors, directors, politicians, publishers, designers, and more. Even now, your neighbor might be Jack Nicholson, Isabella Rossellini, Sophia Coppola, or Johnny Depp.The artistic heritage of Les Deux Magots is no less rich—Picasso, Prévert, even Sartre and de Beauvoir. It’s a heritage they keep alive with their annual Prix Des Deux Magots. This year’s prize, the 71st and worth 7700 euros, was presented on January 27th to Adrian Goetz for his novel La Dormeuse de Naples. Both cafés were also a regular stop for Hemingway, when he walked from his apartment in the 5th arrondissement, stopping at Saint Sulpice and making his way up the rue Bonaparte.
My husband and I were originally drawn to the cafés by their history, but that’s not the only way we see them today. When we are in Paris, we have breakfast daily at the Café de Flore. In the early morning, it’s a neighborhood café with the best croissants in Paris, a place where regulars stop when they’re walking their dogs, and the waiters stand at their post near the door, greeting them. We go early, and it’s very quiet, not the bustling place it is later in the day. Patrons sit with their newspaper and café noir. We talk quietly so as not to disturb the calm atmosphere.
Sometimes we’re the first ones there, and we choose a table for two on the terrace, facing Boulevard Saint Germain. Flaky, buttery croissants are already piled high on trays and set on the tables. We each select deux croissants from our tray and order café noir and thé au lait to go with them. It’s our usual breakfast when we’re in Paris. The waiters are efficient and friendly but reserved, greeting us with a polite, "Bonjour." We don’t try to engage them in a conversation… they’re very busy. They quickly bring us our coffee and tea, moving the tray of croissants to the empty table next to us, so that everything fits on our tiny table. This is done with a flourish, and when they’re finished, "Et voila!" We sit in the Flore, watching the action for a while, and thus fortified, we head off on our adventures.
In the afternoon, after running all over Paris, we like to return to our hotel for a break and to re-group. Sometimes, we stop at Les Deux Magots, separated from Café de Flore by La Hune bookstore. Les Deux Magots, named for the two Chinese wooden statues that hang inside, is today a bustling café with a mix of locals and tourists. On our first trip to Paris, we ate our first meal there. It’s become a tradition to eat our first meal there on every trip, as soon as we’ve checked our bags at the hotel. We always try to sit on the terrace, with a view of the Saint Germain des Prés Cathedral across the square. From our seat, we can see the entrance to the cathedral and the lovely red bud tree behind the bus stop on the rue Bonaparte.Les Deux Magots is also great for people watching, and the food is good. We enjoy their sandwiches, salads, and Croque Madames (open faced, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches topped with an egg) accompanied by deux pressions, two glasses of Kronenbourg 1664 on draft. Often, we stop at Les Deux Magots for a nightcap before we go back to our hotel late at night. The waiters, like the waiters at the Café de Flore, are dressed in traditional black and white uniforms, though the ones at Les Deux Magots wear long sleeved, black jackets, while the ones at the Flore wear white shirts with black vests.
Though we do stop in other cafés when we’re visiting different areas of Paris, the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots are, to us, the most memorable. The waiters in their traditional uniforms are a joy to watch. Both cafés are conveniently located near our hotel (see my article on the Hotel Crystal) and serve as our neighborhood cafés, fortifying us for the rigors of sightseeing and helping us to relax, when we return to our home base.
For those who’d like to take a piece of Paris home, both Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots sell souvenirs, ranging from posters to teaspoons to coffee. I couldn’t resist Café de Flore’s teapot for one, with matching cup, saucer, and creamer. (Deux Magots website offers online shopping; de Flore is in the process of setting that up.)
They’ve also spawned successful CDs, so you can take home not only the taste of these two wonderful places, but the sounds as well. Try Café De Flore: Rendez-Vous a Saint-Germain-des-Pres, or Saint Germain des Pres Café: The Finest Electro-Jazz Compilation. For those who like electronica, you can find a track dedicated to Café de Flore on Hôtel Costes Quartre, the fourth instalment of Stéphane Pompougnac’s wildly popular series (mixed from his playing list at the trendy Right Bank hotel). The track is exuberant and fresh, much like a spring afternoon on the terrace, and ends with a waiter calling, "Un éclair, s’il vous plait!" over the chatter of café goers.
Café de Flore
172, boulevard Saint Germain
Paris 75006
Metro: Saint Germain des Prés
Telephone: +33 1 45 48 55 26
Fax: +33 1 45 44 35 39
Hours: 7h -- 01h30 Daily
Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
172, boulevard Saint Germain
Paris 75006
Metro: Saint Germain des Prés
Telephone: +33 1 45 48 55 26
Fax: +33 1 45 44 35 39
Hours: 7h -- 01h30 Daily
Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
Les Deux Magots
6, place Saint Germain des Prés
Paris 75006
Metro: Saint Germain des Prés
Telephone: +33 1 45 48 55 25
Fax: +33 1 45 49 31 29
Hours: 8h -- 02h Daily
Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
6, place Saint Germain des Prés
Paris 75006
Metro: Saint Germain des Prés
Telephone: +33 1 45 48 55 25
Fax: +33 1 45 49 31 29
Hours: 8h -- 02h Daily
Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
Sandy Howell and her husband went to Paris for the first time in 2001, thinking that would be it--a once-in-a-lifetime trip--but they’ve returned twice since then. Paris was everything she hoped it would be and more. Sandy does the travel planning, but her husband loves Paris almost as much as she does.
