Café de Flore: Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir's cafe

Parisian coffee culture didn’t start with Café de Flore, but it’s hard to find a single address that sums it up better. The small corner of the street between Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue Saint-Benoît, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés , transformed over the course of the 20th century from a neighborhood café to the address where some of the defining chapters of modern French philosophy and literature were written. It’s not just a famous address – it’s a real cultural reference point.

This article is part of a series I've dedicated to the historic cafes of Paris , in which we dive deep into each one individually. This time, the spotlight is on Flore: what the cafe looks like today, what's the history behind it, how to get there, and what to order (without committing to an entire menu, let alone the bill).

Located in the heart of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district , at the corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue Saint-Benoît, on the Left Bank of Paris, Café de Flore is one of the addresses most associated with twentieth-century literary Paris: not a culinary institution, but a cultural reference point where the mere act of sitting at a table became, to a considerable extent, an intellectual statement.

history

The café opened at the end of the 19th century (probably in 1887), during the Third Republic. Its name is derived from the figure of Flora, the goddess of flowers and spring from Roman mythology, whose statue once stood in the area. From its beginnings, the place attracted a variety of intellectuals from the upper and lower classes of Parisian society: writers, editors and intellectuals; but its great fame was built mainly during the 20th century.

At the beginning of the century, the place was associated with various literary and political circles. Guillaume Apollinaire, one of the central figures of modernist poetry in France, made it a kind of permanent office; poets, editors and avant-garde figures moved around it. Later, the Flore became associated with the worlds of Dada and Surrealism (a term coined by Apollinaire), especially with names like André Breton, Louis Aragon and Philippe Soupeau. As significant as it was in its beginnings, the period that turned the place into an international legend was the 1940s and 1950s, when Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir made it the unofficial center of existentialism. From here, the image of the Parisian café spread not only as a place to drink, but as an institution where movements of thought were born.

Character and atmosphere

The atmosphere of Café de Flore is built on an interesting tension: on the one hand, it is a very elegant, almost archetypal café – green awning, red seats, mirrors, small tables and classic French service. On the other hand, its history is not only aristocratic, but also bohemian, polemical and literary.

In its heyday, the café was not a place for quiet solitude, but a stronghold of discourse and discussion. Its history is linked to people who wrote, spoke, argued, met students, editors, lovers, rivals, and readers. Those who sat there did not just consume coffee; they participated in a cultural scene. In this respect, the Flore embodies well the Parisian intellectual in his old sense: a person who thinks in public, writes in public, and conducts his ideological life as part of an ongoing urban theater.

Famous personalities

The figures most closely identified with the place are Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, but they were only the most famous, glittering facade within a much broader framework. Before that, as mentioned, the café was associated with Guillaume Apollinaire, André Breton, Louis Aragon, and the literary avant-garde movements of the early 20th century.

Later, it was also frequented by Albert Camus, Ramon Cano, Boris Vian, Marguerite Duras, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Juliette Greco, as well as figures from the world of cinema, fashion, and photography. The Flore did not belong to a single school, however important. This is part of the secret of its power: it was a point of interface between philosophy, literature, painting, journalism, politics, fashion, and nightlife. It was a cafe for writers, but also for those who wanted to be seen in the presence of writers.

Parisian scene

The central episode in the history of the place is its transformation into a kind of daily office for Sartre and de Beauvoir. During and after the German occupation, when the apartments were cold and sometimes uncomfortable for prolonged work, the café provided heating, a table, coffee, newspapers, and most importantly – a social arena. Sartre and de Beauvoir sat there for long hours. De Beauvoir worked on her writing, Sartre met students, admirers, actors, editors, and political friends.

Ideas born in the German library of Husserl and Heidegger took on a Parisian form here: less academic, more public, more dramatic. Existentialism became not just a philosophical method but a lifestyle – with a fixed table, cigarettes, coffee, open novels, politics and conversations into the night.

Books, memoirs and stories

Café de Flore appears repeatedly in memoirs and writings about Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It is present in the story of postwar Paris, in biographical literature on Sartre and de Beauvoir, and in the mythology of the Left Bank as a space where intellectual life is not disconnected from public life.

It is difficult to understand the legend of philosophical Paris without imagining the Flore as a permanent backdrop: a small table, a cup of coffee, a stack of papers, and the feeling that every private conversation is intertwined with the wings of history. There is also an important narrative tradition surrounding Apollinaire and the Surrealists – the café is seen as one of the places where modernist poetry emerged from the page into public discourse.

Additional characters

Alongside the main names, it is also worth mentioning André Malraux, Jacques Prévert, Jean Cocteau, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway, Françoise Sagan, Yves Saint-Laurent, Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg and others. Some were more regular guests, others were transient or identified with the period when the place became a must-see for the cultural elite.

The cafe today

Café de Flore is still in business, but it lives in the tension between a real institution and a mythological site. It is open daily, does not take reservations, and attracts tourists, Parisians, fashionistas, journalists, writers, the curious, and visitors who come mainly for the historical aura. The prices are high and at times the experience feels more ceremonial than intimate; but that is part of the point. You don't come to Flore to discover a secret café, but to sit inside a self-aware historical legend.

The design maintains a conservative Parisian line: small tables, a very recognizable facade, and crowded seating. During busy hours, the place can be touristy and noisy, so the most successful visit is usually in the morning or in the afternoon, when you can sit by the window or outside.

How to get there?

The most convenient way is by metro, to Saint-Germain-des-Prés station on line 4. From there it is a very short walk. Another option is Mabillon station on line 10, suitable for those coming from the Left Bank or the Latin Quarter. From Notre-Dame or Île de la Cité, it is a pleasant 15-20 minute walk along the Left Bank.

The visit combines well with the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church, the nearby Les Deux Magots , Rue Bonaparte, the Saint-Sulpice Church, and a stroll through the galleries and bookstores of the district.

What to order?

The most classic order is actually the simplest: coffee, hot chocolate, croissant or a light breakfast, sitting outside or by the window. If you want a dish more associated with the place, you should consider Le Welsh Rarebit – toast with cheddar and beer, in a relatively rich and heavy version. A lighter and more traditional option is Croque Monsieur Spécial Flore. For those who prefer familiar French cuisine, there is also French onion soup, quiche Lorraine, beef tartare, duck confit, cheeses and desserts such as crème brûlée or tarte tatin.

The practical recommendation: Don't arrive very hungry and don't measure the place by the price-quantity ratio. The Flore is a place where you also pay for the location, the history, and the ceremony. The right visit is to order one good dish or coffee and dessert, sit down without rushing, and let your imagination do the rest of the work.

Questions and answers about Café de Flore

Café de Flore is just one stop – albeit a central one – on our journey through the mythical cafes of Paris. For all the other cafes, the history behind them and what to order at each one, you can return to the main article on the historic cafes of Paris.