Literary Left Bank: Home of Gertrude Stein

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Paris was teeming with writers and philosophers in the early 20th century, including many expatriates from England and the United States who were drawn to the City of Light’s bohemian atmosphere, cheap rents and free-flowing wine. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Arthur Koestler, Lawrence Durrell and many others made Paris—especially the Latin Quarter and Saint Germain des Pres neighborhoods on the city’s Left Bank—their home. But a strong coterie of female writers, editors, publishers and booksellers also thrived on the Left Bank. Perhaps the most famous of these were Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. And visitors to the Left Bank can see where the pair lived and worked at 27 Rue de Fleurus. Continue Reading →

Book a Stay Where Oscar Wilde Spent His Final Days

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Paris is a treasure trove for lovers of literature. The City of Light has been home—permanent or temporary—to novelists, playwrights and poets for centuries, including some of the best-known scribes of all time: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Balzac, Victor Hugo and many, many more. And tourists can visit museums, homes, cafes and clubs linked with many of them. But one particular writer has a particular draw for many visitors to Paris: Oscar Wilde. And while lovers of other authors can dine where their heroes once ate, drink at the bars they frequented and view the buildings the called home, Wilde fans are offered a particular City of Light treat: They can book a stay in the hotel room where Wilde spent his final years—and where he died—in drunken exile. Continue Reading →