Proust's Paris: Following the Beauty of the Belle Epoque

בCarnival Museum There is currently a wonderful exhibition on Marcel Proust on display in Paris (until April 10, 2022), and of course I went to see it! This article was inspired by this exhibition and you will also find some photos from there (not too many, in any case, so as not to spoil it for those planning to visit Paris soon).

But before we begin Let me give you a little tip.: This is an extraordinary exhibition, rich in documents and information. In addition, it should be taken into account that the museum in which it is displayed, the Museum of the History of Paris, also contains a huge wealth of items. Therefore, it is highly recommended to dedicate at least two full days to a visit there, if you really want to see and understand everything.

Fortunately, admission to the permanent exhibition is free and you only need to pay for the ticket for the temporary exhibition. Therefore, it is recommended to come one day just for the temporary exhibition and come the next day for free to the permanent exhibition. So you don't have to pay for a ticket twice to visit there for two days. Tickets must be ordered fromThe museum's website.

And now let's move on to Marcel Proust:

For those who are unfamiliar with this important figure of French literature, who was active between the late 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, I will tell you who he is here. In addition, at the end of the article, I will give you a list of places in Paris associated with him, because if there is a typical “Parisian” figure in French literature – it is Proust!

The Life Story of Marcel Proust – Parisian Writer

Everyone who grew up in France read his books: studied them in elementary school, middle school, and high school literature majors, and then at university in French literature studies or any other department in the Faculty of Humanities.

So where do we begin our journey following Frost?

The date is July 10, 1871 and the place is Paris. Eiffel Tower Not yet. (It would be built between 1887 and 1889.) We had just emerged from 72 days of terrible uprising in Paris known as the “Commune.” Baron Haussmann’s massive renovations to transform Paris had just been completed – after twenty years of demolishing and rebuilding buildings, streets and avenues – to build the Paris we all know today.

On this day, Marcel Proust was born.

We are in Auteuil, in the village of Auteuil, more precisely, in the aristocratic west of the city which has now become16th District The very chic of Paris. The Trocadero (the large expanse from which you can admire the Eiffel Tower) is at the end of the rue Jeanne de la Fontaine where the Proust family lived at the time. The Trocadero (palace) was then under construction to appear as one of the most important architectural works of the Universal Exhibition of 1878.

Proust's life would be marked by health problems. He suffered from severe asthma, which would plague him throughout his life and which he attributed to the very violent and chaotic period in Paris during which his mother was pregnant with him. As a child, during a family outing in the Bois de Boulogne, he suffered a violent asthma attack that knocked him unconscious. His father managed to revive him, but the fear of sudden death would become a recurring motif throughout his life.

Marcel Proust was greatly loved by his parents, and received an excellent bourgeois education in the best schools in Paris.

He spent his entire childhood between Parc Monceau, the gardens of the Bois de Boulogne and the gardens of theChamps ElyseesAfter graduating from high school, Frost studied atSorbonne, where he obtained a degree in literature in 1895. Even after graduating, Proust remained in Paris and lived there almost his entire life.

Proust could be found mainly on the Right Bank: between Boulevard Haussman and Boulevard Malesherbes, Rue Hamelin and the very fashionable restaurants of Rue Royale, overlooking the Place de la Concorde From the Madeleine Church – such as the La Rue restaurant, which no longer exists, and the Maxim restaurant, which has now become a museum.

While a student, Proust frequented the most fashionable music halls and cabarets of the time, including La Scala and the Folies Bergère – where artists such as Josephine Baker and many others later performed. His love of theatre, music and writing led him to write several articles and reviews for a small Parisian newspaper.

The artists he discovered, and the shows he participated in, will all appear later in “In Search of Lost Time” in the guise of different characters.

Proust gradually became famous, and was later invited to the capital's fashionable literary salons. Notable among them was that of Madame Strauss, born Genevieve Halévy, who would become his close friend. She was the inspiration for the character of the Duchesse de Guermantes in In Search of Lost Time.

Proust lived and enjoyed to the fullest the beautiful Paris that Baron Haussmann left us and was a good friend of some of the people who created some of the most famous features of the Belle Époque:

• César Ritz (1850-1918) owner of theThe famous hotel on Place Vendome.
• Architect Hector Guimard (1867-1942), the man who designed the famous entrances toMetro stations But also the large department stores: Le Bon Marché, Galeries Lafayette, The Samaritan and more.
• Gabriel Davioud (1824-1881), who brought us the bottle green benches, Parisian street furniture and also some famous monuments such as the fountain at the beginning of Boulevard Saint-Michel.
• Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890) the famous English philanthropist who brought us the Wallace Fountains The famous
• more and more…

The material well-being he enjoyed spared him the need to work, and so he had enough time to devote himself to the bustling social life of Paris at that time. He observed this world, fascinated, and this observation inspired him to describe/document the Parisian microcosm in which he lived.

Proust meets many of these characters during endless philosophical discussions in the literary salons of Paris' high society, which hosts the intellectual elite of the France In its urban mansions (a.k.a. Hôtels particuliers), you will find barons, duchesses, businessmen and politicians. All of them were an inspiration to Proust.

In 1919, the second volume of the novel “In the Shadow of the Flowering Maidens” won the Prix Goncourt (France’s most important literary award). This award would quickly become the subject of fierce controversy: Proust, unlike the writer he was competing against, did not serve in the French army during World War I for health reasons, and enjoyed great wealth that allowed him to write in peace.

Public opinion was outraged by what seemed to be the judges’ preference for one of “their own” over a more “popular” writer. However, despite all this (and perhaps precisely because of the scandal), Proust’s work was a great success and became a kind of important documentary about France during the Belle Époque.

However, beyond dealing with the daily life of high society in the late 19th century, Proust's work also deals with quite a few other topics, such as nostalgia, life and death, the writer's sexuality, homosexuality (in the volume "Sodom and Gomorrah"), and jealousy.

From his desperate love for Albertine will be born the volume “Albertine is gone”… and from his volume “The Prisoner”, we will remember this sentence:

We only love what we pursue, something unattainable, we only love what is impossible.

Proust had no children. He died at home on November 18, 1922, at the age of 51, exhausted by his health and recurring asthma attacks.

His main legacy is, of course, “In Search of Lost Time.” This novel would be translated into more than 50 languages, becoming the most widely read French work in the world. Later – with the development of the film industry – it would be adapted into nearly a dozen films inspired by it.

And if all this were not enough, one of the volumes of this work (“La Partie de Garmant”) became a successful play, and was performed many times by the “Comédie Française” theater troupe, located inPalais Royal.

Today, 100 years after his death, you will find streets, avenues, libraries and schools named after Marcel Proust in many cities in France. In Paris, the Avenue Marcel Proust is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, not far from the home of another great French writer, Balzac, behind the Parc de Passy gardens.

And if you want to follow in Proust's footsteps in Paris, you can find in the next part of the article some of the places that are inextricably linked to the writer and his work.

Places in Paris associated with Proust

Those who want to travel through Paris in the footsteps of Proust will concentrate mainly on the right bank of the Seine, although here and there you will also find places related to Proust and his work on the left bank and even on the Île Saint-Louis.

Houses where Frost lived

The house where Frost was born

Address: 96 rue Jean de la Fontaine

This is a street famous for the beautiful buildings found on it, so it's no surprise that it's a favorite on the architecture tours I take.

The apartment where Proust spent most of his childhood

Address: 9 Boulevard Malesherbes

Proust spent most of his childhood in this apartment, along with his brother Robert. Since this apartment is not far from Parc Monceau, it became an important part of his childhood (more on Parc Monceau later).

It is also worth mentioning two churches that are located not far away, and are connected in one way or another to Proust. The first is Madeleine Church (Église de la Madeleine), whose cookie, named after the saint who gave her name to the church, played an important role in the first volume of “In Search of Lost Time.”

By the way, the term “Proust’s Madeleine” has become a colloquial term, describing an object that evokes a very significant emotional trigger for someone and reminds them of something from their childhood. That’s why it’s very common to ask: “So? So what’s your Proust Madeleine?”

The apartment where the writer lived with his parents in his adulthood

Address: 45 rue de Courcelles

Here Proust lived with his parents until their deaths (the father died in 1903 and the mother in 1905).

The house where he lived most of his life and wrote “In Search of Lost Time”

Address: 102 Blvd Haussmann

The author lived here from 1906 to 1919, where he wrote a significant portion of his novel “In Search of Lost Time.” Proust, who was very sensitive to noise, lived in an apartment whose walls he covered with cork in order to block out street noise and enjoy excellent acoustics.

He rented the apartment from his aunt, but in 1919 she sold the building to a French bank, and Proust was forced to look for another apartment. The bank's offices are still in the building today.

The apartment where Frost died

Address: 44 rue de l'Amiral Hamelin

This is where Proust lived for his last three years, and here he died as a result of the asthma he suffered from all his life. Today it is housed in a hotel building. Elysees Union Three-star, containing a small interior garden and located about a ten-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower.

Frost's grave

In 1972, the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics occurred and the Mossad launched an operation to eliminate all those who participated in the massacre. One of the terrorists eliminated was Dr. Mahmoud Al-Mashari, who lived in Paris and was buried near Proust.

Frost's tombstone has been renovated, of course, but if you look closely at the back, you can still find the marks of the explosion.

Places where Proust studied

Lycée Condorcet

Address: 8 Rue du Havre

This is one of the most prestigious schools in Paris and it was here that Proust began studying at the age of 11. Other famous students who studied there at other times were the philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941), the poet Paul Verlaine (Paul Verlaine 1844-1896) and the composer Francis Poulenc (1899-1963).

Despite his failing health, Proust excelled in his literary studies and even won a prize in his final year of studies.

Faculty of Humanities of the Sorbonne University

Address: 21, rue de l'école de médecine

Here, as I wrote earlier, Proust studied literature. French And he even excelled in his studies.

Gardens where Proust liked to spend his childhood and youth

Monceau Park

Address: 35 Boulevard de Courcelles

לMonceau Park Proust would come to play as a young boy (his mother would put hot potatoes in his coat pocket to keep his hands warm) and it was here that he fell in love with Antoinette Faure, the daughter of the future president of France. Felix Four, who taught him how to make caramel.

The gardens of the Champs Elysees

Address: 10 Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Here, too, Proust loved to play as a child. One of the characters that was deeply etched in his memory was the woman in charge of the public toilets there, whom he called “the Marquise” because of her proud gait. Speaking of the public toilets there – here, according to the third volume of his novel (“On the Side of Guermantes”), the author’s grandmother had a stroke while sitting on the toilet.

Literary salons where Proust was a member

Madame Lemar's Literary Salon

Address First: 35 rue de Monceau

Second address: 134 Boulevard Haussmann

Madame Lemar also had a literary salon, which was open every Tuesday between April and June, and where all the "who's who" of Paris gathered, starting with the nobility, such as the members of the La Rochefoucauld family or Brissac (Brissac) and the intellectual elite of Paris.

By the way, Madame Lemer had a dog named Loute that she loved very much. She believed that it was an intellectual dog that understood not only everything that was said to it but also art. That is why when we opened Eiffel Tower (built by Marcel Proust's good friend, aka Gustave Eiffel) She took him with her, so that he could enjoy the building's special architecture.

The salon of Princess Mathilde, cousin of Napoleon III

Address: 20 rue de Berri

During the Second Empire, her house on Rue Courcelles (the same street where Proust would later live) became an important literary salon that hosted the high society of her time, and during that period she even employed Theophile Gautier, the famous poet and writer, as her librarian.

After the fall of the Second Empire, Princess Mathilde, along with the entire Bonaparte family, went into exile. However, she quickly returned to Paris and took up residence at 20 Rue Berri in the 1886th arrondissement. Princess Mathilde remained a favorite of Parisian high society until her death, which allowed her to remain in Paris after XNUMX, when a law was passed expelling the Bonaparte family from France.

The young Proust, of course, knew Princess Mathilde, and she said the famous sentence about her uncle Napoleon I: "Without him, I would be selling oranges today in Ajaccio (the capital of Corsica, the island from which the Bonaparte family came to France)."

Countess Potoka's living room

Address: 27 avenue de Friedland

Countess Emmanuela Potocka (1852-1930) was born Emmanuela Maria Carolina Pignatelli di Cerchiara into an Italian noble family from Naples. She married the Polish Count Potocki (Felix-Nicolas Potocki 1845-1921) and opened a famous literary salon in Paris, immortalized in a painting by Jean Brue.

This salon hosted the intellectual elite of Paris, such as the famous writer Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893).

Marcel Proust stayed at her literary salon in the 16th arrondissement after she divorced her husband and published an article about her in the newspaper Le Figaro in 1904 in which he wrote, among other things:

...She has ancient beauty, Florentine grace, French manners and a Parisian spirit.

Today her mansion has become the headquarters of the Paris Chamber of Commerce andIle de France.

Restaurants and cafes where Marcel Proust sat

Pre Catelan

Address: Boulogne Forest

This is a luxury restaurant that opened in 1905 in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne, and was a source of attraction for all the who's who of the late Belle Époque. Today, it houses a restaurant with three Michelin stars.

The Catalunya Gardens inspired the gardens of the town of Combray, which stars in “In Search of Lost Time.” If you want to walk there, you’ll have to travel to the town of ILLIERS, which was the inspiration for Proust’s fictional town, and following the book’s success, added the name Combray to its name, becoming Illiers-Combray.

The Cafe of Peace

Address: 5 place de l'Opéra

This café opened in 1862 and over the years became one of the most famous cafés in Paris thanks to the famous intellectuals who frequented it, including Frost, Tchaikovsky andEmile Zola.

The restaurant Lapérouse

Address: 51 Quai des Grands Augustins

This restaurant, which opened in 1766 and still exists today, was loved not only by Proust (which is why it stars in “In Search of Lost Time”) but also by other famous writers and intellectuals, including Victor Hugo.

Brasserie Weber

Address: 21 rue Royale

The restaurant no longer exists, but if you are looking for historic brasseries that have stood the test of time, I recommend you read the article. A nostalgic journey among the most valuable brasseries in Paris.

La Maison Dorée

Address: 20 boulevard des Italiens

This luxury restaurant was founded in 1839 by restaurateur Louis Verdier and later run by his sons. It quickly became one of the most successful in Paris thanks to chef Casimir Moisson, and all of Paris' high society flocked to the place.

Speaking of high society, the restaurant was divided into two: one faced the boulevard, where anyone with a penny in their pocket could sit, while the other part faced Lafitte Street and contained a series of private rooms where the Parisian nobility ate.

The restaurant closed in the early 20th century, but it stars in Proust's book as the place where Charles Swann comes to look for the courtesan Odette de Crécy – and after failing to find her, he falls in love with her.

Today this beautiful building belongs to one of Paris' largest banks, BNP Paribas.