at night
Friday: May 21
Harry's New York Bar /
Les Deux Magots
A fun time today. We'll vist a world famous bar, perhaps the most famous bar in the world, and two very famous cafes. Harry's at "sank roo doe noo" is actually relatively small. Downstairs is more restaurant/club and there is entertainment. Like all things in Paris, it's expensive - the good news is you probably won't get drunk.
The two cafe's are next to each other. They are in the prestigious Saint-Germain-des-Prés area on the left bank. Many famous persons have visited these cafes for their intellectual bantering. Today, it still occurs, but mostly they are tourist traps charging high prices for mediocre food and drink. I will say though, the coffee is almost always good.
I
bet you thought you knew who the “Harry” in Harry’s New York Bar was. Well I did
and I was wrong. But I know the bar and it was time for a beer. So off I
went...it’s near the Opera on a side street. Join me....I’ll buy!
Located at 5, Rue Daunou, between the Avenue de l'Opéra and
the Rue de la Paix in Paris, France, this is where the famous saying “sank roo
doe noo” came from, to help Americans in giving directons to the bar.
The bar was acquired by former American star jockey
Tod Sloan in 1911, who converted it from a bistro and renamed it the "New York
Bar." Sloan had gone partners with a New Yorker named Clancy (no one seems to
know his first name) who owned a bar in Manhattan. That bar was dismantled and
shipped to Paris. Sloan then hired Harry McElhone, a barman from Dundee,
Scotland, to run the place. At the time, American tourists and members of the
artistic and literary communities were beginning to show up in Paris in
ever-increasing numbers and Sloan hoped to capitalize on his fame and make the
place a spot where expatriates would feel at home. His bar did become a popular
spot for members of the American Field Service Ambulance Corps during World War
I. However, financial problems from Sloan's overspending on a lavish personal
lifestyle forced him to sell the bar, and in 1923 it was acquired by McElhone,
its former barman, who added his name to the bar, and who would be responsible
for making it into a legendary Parisian landmark and one of the most famous bars
in the world.
Over the years, Harry's New York Bar was frequented by a number of famous
American expatriates and international celebrities such as Knute Rockne,
Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Bill Tilden, Coco Chanel, Jack Dempsey, Primo
Carnera, Ramon Novarro, Aly Khan, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, and even the
Duke of Windsor occasionally showed up. The "Ivories" Piano Bar at Harry's is
where George Gershwin composed An American in Paris. Harry's New York Bar is the
birthplace of classic cocktails such as the Bloody Mary and The Monkey Gland.
Click on the picture to see a larger view.
at night
during day
during day
Click on the picture to see a larger view
Am I the only one who wondered why they would name a cafe after fly larvae? OK, I can't spell but I still wondered.
Les Deux Magots is a famous[1] café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris,
France. It once had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and
intellectual élite of the city. It is now a popular tourist destination. Its
historical reputation is derived from the patronage of Surrealist artists,
intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and young
writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. Other patrons included Albert Camus and Pablo
Picasso.
The Deux Magots literary prize has been awarded to a French novel every year
since 1933.
The café's name comes from the two wooden statues of Chinese commercial agents (magots)
that adorn one of the pillars.
Its rival - Café de Flore - is just next door.
Click on the picture to see a larger view
Click on the picture to see a larger view
The Café de Flore, at the corner of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the Rue St.
Benoit, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, has long been celebrated for its
intellectual clientele.
The classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany and mirrors has
changed little since World War II. Like its main rival, Les Deux Magots, it has
hosted most of the French intellectuals during the post-war years. It is said
that Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir would meet here and discuss their
philosophy of existentialism over a drink.
It was seen in the TV special Garfield's Feline Fantasies as Cafe DuFleur.
The Prix de Flore, a literary prize inaugurated by Frédéric Beigbeder in 1994,
is awarded annually at the Café de Flore.
Click on the picture to see a larger view
Click on the picture to see a larger view