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Saturday, March 19, 2011

My Hemingway Years (3)

The first order of business after arriving in Paris was to go to the Latin Quarter, where Hemingway had hung out, and find a place to stay. I hoped for something with a view. I came upon the Hotel D'Albert, took a room, which turned out to be on the fourth or fifth floor, overlooking the Seine and The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, where the hunchback of Notre Dame lived. I was very happy looking out the window at the tops of other buildings, the river, and the cathedral, and felt I could not have found a better room.

The Hotel D'Albert was an old hotel. There was a common bathroom shower down the hall from my room, which I found quaint, if not a little unexpected. But, I was in Paris, in Hemingway country, and that was all that mattered. For five days I would live the Hemingway experience, and I never felt better or more at home.

Notre Dame from behind, 1970

5 comments:

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

What a cool way to see Paris: following in the footsteps of Hemingway. If you like mysteries, Cara Black has a great series based in Paris, (Murder at the Rue Morgue, Murder at..., etc.) and each adventure throws in a lot of literary and art history of Paris.

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

Thanks for the Cara Black suggestion. I'll have to give her books a try.

Jolene Perry said...

I'm writing a book that takes place in Paris. It's been a while since I've been there. Really wish I could take a "research" trip...

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

It's been 40 years since I was there.

Tanya Reimer said...

Five days! It's never long enough. Sounds like fun, though. Bet you got some incredible experiences out of the trip. And 40 years ago? The way you describe it is so vivid, it could have been yesterday. Funny how some memories stick with us like that, eh?