We were close to the end. I could feel the inevitability of our flight as it loomed in the near future. But we still had so much to see and do!
We started this day with a walk to the Latin Quarter where we were to meet Emmanuel for his Hidden Gems tour of the Quarter. There was a light rain falling and it was early enough that the city seemed to be just awakening from its slumber.
You can read about the fascinating history of Paris’s famous bouguinistes here at WIKI.
Another landmark we were constantly walking past on our way to and from other places was Notre-Dame.
We met Emmanuel at the Odeon Theatre in the edge of the Latin Quarter.
Not quite a part of our tour, but spotted nonetheless… Emily in Paris shooting locations! Yes, we have watched this series. For the location! Location is everything…
This was our fourth and final EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS TOUR. Emmanuel has a Facebook group you can join here: EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS. The best way to contact Emmanuel is through his Facebook PAGE HERE. On his Facebook page, just click on the MESSAGE button near the top to get in touch with Emmanuel directly. You can book months in advance and you pay on the day of the tour.
Like all his other tours, Emmanuel’s Latin Quarter Tour was incredible. We saw many hidden gems and famous iconic places.
Take Emmanuel’s Tour to learn all about all the secrets of the Latin Quarter that he’s curated for it. Despite the rain, we had a wonderful time!
After the tour, we had a time-slot booked for the new Gertrude Stein/Pablo Picasso exhibit at the Musée du Luxembourg. It was an excellent exhibit, but extremely short. It only took about twenty minutes to see all of it. I most loved the gender focused pieces.
Our day was to end in Montparnasse, at the top of the tower in the famous Ciel de Paris restaurant with the incredible views of the city. So, after Luxembourg, we slowly made our way in that direction.
We had not really planned on La Closerie de Lilas this trip, but it was always there… waiting. It was my 3rd trip to Paris and La Closerie still felt like a pilgrimage spot I had to visit at least once during every trip. We were walking right past it! It was at the doorstep of the Montparnasse neighbourhood… just waiting for us.
First, we walked up through Luxembourg Gardens.
What’s a little rain when you’re walking about in one of the most beautiful cities in the world?!
After the Gardens, there’s the big fountain…
The fountain then leads to the statue of Marechal Ney. Hemingway mentions this statue in A Moveable Feast, his not fully true (but maybe true in his eyes as seen through the passage of time and bias) biography of his 1920s time in Paris. The statue is one of the last things between the walker and La Closerie des Lilas.
Now, when I think about La Closerie des Lilas… I always think of Hemingway sitting at one of its tables scribbling in a notebook while sipping something warm on a cold fall day. But this was a mega-literary hangout! Fitzgerald, Verlaine, Apollinaire, Beckett, Man Ray, Sartre, Baudelaire, Cezanne, Modigliani, Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola, André Gide… these are just a few of the many literary patrons who have sought refuge from the streets of Paris inside the comfort of La Closerie des Lilas. They carried on conversations there, wrote their opuses there, made plans there, flirted there, got drunk there, talked their revolutions there. It is a place with a long history with literature. It’s a mecca for the literary pilgrim.
Did we stop in for oysters and beer? You betcha!
In one of the photos above, you can see the brass nameplate that marks Hemingway’s seat at the bar. Our own table marked the seats of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.
After our pit stop in Closerie des Lilas, we still had plenty of time to explore Montparnasse before supper in the tower.
I love the history of Parisian cemeteries! And I had never been to the one in Montparnasse!
We used Google Maps inside the cemetery walls to be directed from one grave to another. It’s such a great way to visit the tombstones on your list…
I read many a Guy de Maupassant stories in my teens. One of the greatest short story writers!
After the cemetery, we were still rather early for our dinner reservation at Ciel de Paris…but we were in the neighbourhood. This is one of those blocks of time we landed in where we had to wait around because even though we booked a full jam-packed day, there were empty slots of time with nothing to do but wait.
We toured the Montparnasse neighbourhood and saw some of Paris’s most famous restaurants.
All of the above restaurants were popular places among the famous of the 1920s and beyond.
Ciel de Paris was one of the things we were looking most forward to. The food promised to be incredible, yes, but it was the view we were dying to see. We reserved a window seat with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower.
After MUCH loitering in the neighbourhood, it was finally time for us to go!
I understand the bittersweet feeling Parisians have toward Tour Montparnasse. It’s a gorgeous highrise, but an eyesore in a city that prides itself on being low to the ground.
And here was our promised view!
Somewhere between our first glass of wine and our dessert, the city came to life in the darkness…
The holiday was almost over. Two glorious weeks in Paris and its environs! So spectacular. And what a way to see the city, all lit up and from above it. If you’re able to book a spot at Ciel de Paris, it is SO worth it! The food is excellent, and the view is to die for! Pro Tip: Always choose a view OF the Eiffel Tower over a view FROM the Eiffel Tower.
So ends another glorious day in the City of Light. The Metro took us back to the hotel in no time. The next day was a free day and our last day! We had plans to see Montmartre on our own, and to wander the streets to say goodbye to it all!
KEVIN CRAIG 