Francophile Viv Groskop lends an ear to some of the City of Light’s greatest stories
Paris can easily claim to be one of the true literary cities of the world, perhaps the most literary. This is the birthplace of Voltaire, Proust and Simone de Beauvoir. During the late-19th and early-20th centuries the city had one of the most exciting and glamorous art scenes of any capital, with hangouts such as Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore boasting customer lists that read like the dream dinner-party lineup – or perhaps the dinner party from hell, depending on your point of view – with the names Verlaine, Rimbaud, Hemingway, Camus, Picasso and, later, Sartre all on the on the list.
You don’t have to make much of an effort to bump up against literary characters in Paris: the evidence is everywhere, as is a host of independent bookshops, including a great selection offering English-translated literature (of which Shakespeare and Company, another legendary writers’ hangout, is the best known).
It would be possible to devote an entire trip to Paris’s literary museums. The Maison de Balzac in Rue Raynouard is a favourite; the garden has a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower. The Maison de Victor Hugo is an essential stop on Place des Vosges. And the Musée de la Vie Romantique, on Rue Chaptal and closely linked to George Sand, is breathtakingly beautiful. I’m not sure how cheering it would be to visit Marcel Proust’s actual bedroom, where he spent the last few years of his life tending to his sensitive lungs, but it has been lovingly recreated in the Musée Carnavalet.
If you’re on a short trip, the one must-see is the Père Lachaise cemetery, the resting place of Proust, the poet Apollinaire, the great playwright Molière and American author Gertrude Stein. It’s also a site of pilgrimage for those visiting the graves of Oscar Wilde, Édith Piaf, Frédéric Chopin, Maria Callas and Jim Morrison of the Doors (his followers gather with hip flasks and bottles of red wine to toast his memory). Make sure you use the entrance near Gambetta Métro, as then you can walk downhill rather than uphill as you explore.
For a wander around Paris that really gives a flavour of its literary heritage, the Latin Quarter has got to be the place to start. It’s worth visiting (or staying at) L’Hotel in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Oscar Wilde’s last home in Paris. He never paid his final bill, and it is still displayed in room 16, in which he lamented: “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go.” L’Hotel is one of the most beautifully preserved properties in the city, and has an amazingly atmospheric cocktail bar that opens on to a stunning courtyard.
Close by is Cluny-La Sorbonne Métro station, and it’s around this area that lots of literary landmarks are clustered, including the Pantheon, which houses the tombs of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola and Alexandre Dumas. Not far from the Pantheon is 74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, Hemingway’s address in Paris in 1922 and 1923. He used to drink at Café des Amateurs, now called Café Delmas. From here it’s a short walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg, the famous site of the meeting between Marius and Cosette in Hugo’s Les Misérables.
The best shortcut to soaking up the literary flavour of Paris? A meal at Polidor, the restaurant in the sixth arrondissement favoured by André Gide, Jack Kerouac and Henry Miller. Diners sit at long, communal tables next to Polidor’s trademark mustard pots and salt cellars. If you’re alone, it’s the best place to be, with a pleasing audiobook to keep you company.
Listening list
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, Naxos
Although outshone in recent years by Les Misérables, largely thanks to a lavish Hollywood remake with Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is Hugo’s real masterpiece and his ode to Paris and its architecture. (He wrote the novel to showcase the cathedral of Notre-Dame.) Set in 1482 during the reign of Louis XI, the novel follows Quasimodo, a hunchback tasked with kidnapping the gypsy Esmeralda for his master, Archdeacon Claude Frollo. When the plan goes wrong, Esmeralda nonetheless shows Quasimodo a moment of human kindness that he will never forget.
The Red and the Black by Stendhal, Naxos
This classic, narrated by audiobook legend Bill Homewood (a Shakespearean actor with a ridiculously mellifluous voice), is often overlooked. Published in 1830, it tells the story of Julien Sorel, a provincial young man determined to rise above his humble beginnings. He realises that unless he behaves in a ruthless and calculating way, there is no place for him in French society, especially not one ruled over by the Church. Known as one of the earliest psychological novels, Stendhal’s tour de force shows the deterioration of a man’s character as he grapples with hypocrisy.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Naxos
Flaubert insisted that the flighty young woman bored in her marriage and desperate to escape provincial life at the heart of what is commonly regarded as the great 19th-century French novel represented something bigger than herself. “Madame Bovary, c’est moi,” he said of his most famous character. Emma Bovary marries a rather tragic country doctor, Charles, and finds her life unbearably dull. She embarks on a series of romantic and consumerist escapades to attempt to alleviate her misery. Juliet Stevenson’s narration is Oscar-worthy and the pacing is superb: vivid, dramatic and occasionally spine-tingling.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, Audible
Who doesn’t want to hear Dominic West as the lascivious and corrupting Vicomte de Valmont (the character played by John Malkovich in the film)? Choderlos de Laclos’s addictive epistolary novel was published in 1782 and caused a scandal at the time. It is a sharp critique of the morals and behaviour of the aristocracy. Two older former lovers, Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil use two naive young women as pawns in their metaphorical emotional chess match. This two-hour audio version is taken from the Donmar production starring Elaine Cassidy and Janet McTeer. It’s unmissable.
100 Greatest Poems: Paul Verlaine, Victor Hugo, Baudelaire, Astorg
A fantastic three-and-a-half hour introduction to French poetry, featuring extracts from Victor Hugo’s Contemplations and Autumn Leaves, the lyrical work of Paul Verlaine and Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire. Hugo was to become better known for his fiction, but the poetry he wrote in his late teens earned him a pension from Louis XVIII. Verlaine, a close friend of Rimbaud, had a messy life, but was loved by the French public and crowned “Prince of Poets” in 1894, while Baudelaire’s reputation for romantic gothic poetry is unparalleled; a great selection of his classics are featured here.
Moderato Cantabile by Marguerite Duras, Éditions Thélème
Narrated beautifully (in French) by Pauline Huruguen, who specialises in reading modern French authors, this is a treat. Marguerite Duras’s best-known works are her novel, The Lover (which won the Prix Goncourt in 1984), and her screenplay for Hiroshima Mon Amour (nominated for an Oscar in 1961). Moderato Cantabile was her entry into French literary society, and sold more than half a million copies. An unusual and evocative novel, and one of the first examples of the sparing, suggestive style of the “nouveau roman”, it builds up a picture of the life of Anne Desbaresdes, whose cosy, middle-class existence falls apart when she witnesses a murder.
Paris After the Liberation: 1944-1949 by Antony Beevor and Artemis Cooper, Penguin
For some historical background on Paris before the heady days of the Left Bank and the 1960s, turn to this fantastic study of French life, which details the chaos that followed the war up to 1949. This masterful history is brought to life by narrator Sean Barrett. It conjures up images of Paris from within living memory that are extraordinarily vivid. With liberation come joy and relief, but also a raft of recrimination and blame. The city is hungry and there are constant fuel shortages. Sobering and entertaining.
Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan, des femmes
If you want to practise your French or just hear something extraordinarily beautiful while you are walking around Paris, listen to this incredible abridged audio version of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel. Bonjour Tristesse caused an overnight sensation when it was published, its author being only 18. Seventeen-year-old Cécile is spending the summer in the south of France and trying to figure out how to navigate life with her philandering father. When one of his friends arrives, the family’s fragile equilibrium is destroyed. Catherine Deneuve’s voice is sublime.
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, CSA Word
This autobiographical work traces Orwell’s steps as he tramps around the two capitals. While working as a drudge in Paris kitchens, Orwell drifts into an underworld, where he documents how society regards the poor and miserable. Although he is a tourist in this situation (and doing it to prove a political point), this is a poignant and important work that has stood the test of time. You would hope the sanitary conditions of hotel life and restaurant food have moved on since the book’s publication in 1933, however.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, Hachette
Sedaris is one of US’s best satirists and a fantastic public speaker. This, then, is a double pleasure: his work, narrated by him. Some of the recordings here are live, others were done in the studio. The book contains a mix of stories about Sedaris’s life, but it mostly centres on his attempts to learn French and the ridicule he faces at the hands of the French, especially on the Paris Métro. A (sometimes reluctant) Francophile, he’s the ultimate snarky insider guide to Paris. He is also utterly brutal – and hilarious – on the behaviour of Americans in France.
Viv Groskop is the author of the forthcoming Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature
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