Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-04-02
AMERICAN STUDENTS IN PARIS. MAKE
CLUB OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CAFE

L YIN / MAI IL
I clings to the old inn and its glorious
! history through all the vicissttudes oil
time. Whoever gains the heritage OF
the latter when he is no more vii
be rich, not in gold, but in memories
| b. u X y
HoW many strange and memory
haunted inns exist in this part
Of Paris which, like the Bolee des
EtudIants, are little known to the
layman! And strange it is to think
what traces of men, whose names
have lived in history as opponents OF
the letters and arts of France Still
exist IN the obscure taverns OF the
capital. In these places. material
might be collected for long biog-
raphies to supplement what we al
| ready know of our favorite writer's
and painters. For the tavern. ever
since the days of Francois Vilion' mas
always been the meeting place OF
the poet and the artist. who enjoy
the freedom and laisser-aller ohered
by the environment, as well as the
special vintage for which each haunt
Is noted.
Who among the habitants of the
"Quartier" does not know the little
dilapidated cafe on a back street
whose Burgundy cannot be surpassed
in France? And who has stayed In
Paris one week without having tasted
the miraculous 'liquer de Mirabelles'
from the Vosges for which certain
unpretentious cabaret on the boule-
wards Is famous?
And the Bolee des Etudiants. dark
and dreary as 1t looks to those who
do not know it's glorious history. is
renowned for its genuine sweet Nor
mandy cider. and the good cheer dis
pensed by the genial Pere Hubert,
which the geniuses of France did not
disdain. and to which embryo gen.
fuses flock to be bathed In the light
shed by the former in the dark cor
ners Of their clubhouse
This idea of the cafe as clubhouse
is, in fact, the prevailing one in
France. The cafe Is not considered
| merely as a place for drinking or
carousing, but as sort OF bachelor
club, where married and unmarried
! men may gather of an evening over
a bottle of good wine and while away
| the time in conversation, game OF
chess, checkers. "jucquet" or cards.
One may have ones mail addressed
to the cafe frequented, and write
he TO
And on a Sunday afternoon one may
bring the wife and children and lis
ten to concerts given by first prize
winners of the CONSERVATORY
Many believe that since the war, the
Latin Quarter had really become
thing of the past, gone as completely
as the city of Pompeii or some CID
Egyptian civilization, so that nothins
remains for us but to go digging
about among the ruins for symbols
and relics of the life that was. The
belief seems to have been accepted
nv many of those who had belonged
Ia this vanished city. Whether II lie
the gray and bent waiter VINO mas
carried coffee and books" t. success
siye generations-the only variation
being in the number Of centimes de-
manded-or the artist, or poet, or
doctor, or lawyer who began his
career sustained by that coffee, the
feeling seems to be the same. They
will tell long tales, colorful and fas-
cinating tales, of the Left Bank Oh
the Seine" but they are not compar-
i ing the past with the present. for in
| their eyes there is no comparison.
But there is surely much more in
| that section than a memory, bit OF
| fresco in one place and painting or
two. a rickety door and broken
payement and a famous old table
across which words have passed that
| were worth observation-disclosures this
, may be all that remains unchanged
II the old spirit of the place has been
lost-then there is something new
that has come to take it's place, and
there is still work done In the day
time and ideas exchanged over the
glasses late into the night between
the Seine and Montparnasse.
| AT the Cafe de la Source the waiter
of sixteen years standing will
| shake his head negatively and sadly
when he is asked IL everything is
| obout the same. He becomes retro
spective, and can see only a group
Of care-free happy-go-lucky students
in typical pegtop trousers and brim-
med hats, singing and noisy and
happy.
| There is a more noticeable change
| In the Closerie des Lilas, though 1t
Is outwardly much the same as in
I the days when 1t was respected as q
gathering place Of the poets and
writer's of the Quarter. There are
the same old trees and doubtless the
same tables on the terrace at the far
end Of the Bour Mich as were there
before the war when Paul Fort
prince Of Poets" was a familiar
figure. But among the men who now
come there is q sign that times have
changed and the gods of literature
have given way-to Bacchus perhaps
! Further down the boulevard, at the
Taverne du Pantheon. similar
change has taken place. "Mais ce ne
so,t noe dassont mas des etudiantS u