Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots Café – Two Famous Parisian Cafés
Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots Café are two famous cafés both in the Saint Germain area in the Left Bank of Paris. The cafés are top on the list of many people’s Paris itineraries and we’ll take a closer look at these two iconic Paris cafés and why they are famous.
What are your best travel memories? Does sampling the local produce and eating out dominate your travels? For some it is the food itself and its presentation that is paramount, for others it is the ambience or history surrounding the location that appeals to them.
I love it best when I’m with friends eating good hearty food in a location with historical significance. And that’s why I love both Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots.
Café de Flore
Café de Flore is one of the oldest and the most prestigious coffee houses in Paris. You will find it on the corner of Boulevard Saint Germain and Rue Saint Benoet, in Saint Germain des Pres in the 6th arrondissement and it’s well known for its famous past clientele.
The café was opened in the 1880s, during the French Third Republic. The name is taken from a sculpture of Flora, the goddess of flowers and the season of spring in Roman mythology.
Famous Patrons of Café de Flore
Authors Joris-Karl Huysmans and Remy de Gourmont were two of the first well-known regulars. In the late 19th century, Charles Maurras wrote his book ‘Au signe de Flore’ on the café’s first floor. It is also where in 1899 the journal Revue d’Action Francaise was founded. This journal supported the French far right political movement known as Action Francaise.
The café became a popular hub of famous writers and philosophers. Georges Bataille, Robert Desnos, Leon-Paul Fargue, Raymond Queneau were all regulars, as was Pablo Picasso. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was known to be a frequent patron of Cafe de Floré during his years in France in the 1920s.
The classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany and mirrors hasn’t really changed since World War II.
Like its main rival (Les Deux Magots), Cafe de Flore has hosted most of the French intellectuals during the post-war years. In his essay “A Tale of Two Cafes” and his book Paris to the Moon, American writer Adam Gopnik mused over the possible explanations of why the Flore had become, by the late 1990s, much more fashionable and popular than Les Deux Magots, despite the fact that the latter cafe was associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and other famous thinkers of the 1940s and 1950s.
How cool that these cafés have been rivals for so long and that essays and books have even been written about it!
Annual Literary Prize Prix de Flore
The Prix de Flore, a literary prize inaugurated by Frederic Beigbeder in 1994, is awarded annually at the Café de Flore. Le Flore Award was established one day in May 1994 around one of the tables in order to crown a writer that displayed “promising” talent. The selection criteria is originality, modernity and youth.
The jury claims to characterise themselves by its independence, its freedom and its insolence. The prize is awarded in November at a party at the Café de Flore.
Café de Flore offers a wide menu range, from teas, coffees, hot chocolates, to alcoholic drinks and juices; from snacks to full meals, including toast and croissants, omelettes, salads, soups and desserts. The nearest underground station is Saint Germain des Pres, on line 4 of the Paris Metro.
The coffeehouse still remains a popular hang-out spot for celebrities and its status attracts numerous tourists, who like me, want to add visiting the café to their travel experiences. Have a look at the menu for the Café de Flore, Paris.
Les Deux Magots Café
Les Deux Magots café is also located in the Saint Germain des Pres area of Paris, France. It once had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual elite of the city. It is now a popular tourist destination also.
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, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, Bertolt Brecht and the American writers, James Baldwin, Chester Himes, Charles Sutherland, and Richard Wright.
The Deux Magots literary prize has been awarded to a French novel every year since 1933.
Les Deux Magots appears in The Chariot Makers (by Steve Matchett), in which the author describes Les Deux Magots as “the first cafe in the quarter to be blessed by the morning sun. Its clientele pay a healthy premium for drinking there, so maybe it’s only fitting they should be the first to catch the warmth of the new day.”
How Did Les Deux Magots Café Get Its Name?
Are you wondering about the unusual name? Well, the name originally belonged to a fabric and novelty shop at nearby 23 Rue de Buci. The shop sold silk lingerie and took its name from a popular play featuring at the time (that is the 1800s) entitled Les Deux Magots de la Chine. Its two statues represent Chinese “mandarins,” or “magicians” who gaze serenely over the room and keep an eye on things.
So this is how the cultural landmark cafe of Saint Germain des Pres got its name, after these two oriental gentlemen statues. “Magot” literally means, “stocky figurine from the Far East.” In 1873 the business transferred to its current location in the Place Saint Germain des Pres and in 1884 the business changed to a café and liquor store while keeping the name.
Auguste Boulay bought the business in 1914, when it was on the brink of bankruptcy, for 400,000 francs. The present manager, Catherine Mathivat, is his great-great-granddaughter. What a wonderful history to have the same family still operating the business.
Les Deux Magots café has similar drinks and food on offer as its rival and the nearest underground station for this cafe is also Saint Germain des Pres, on line 4 of the Paris Metro. Check out the menu of Les Deux Magots cafe.
Related Articles on the Saint Germain Area
What To Do in 24 Hours in Paris in The Latin Quarter and Saint Germain – Fabulous ideas and options for spending time in the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris
5 Reasons To Stay At Hotel de Saint Germain, Paris – What to see and do in the 6th arrondissement and why staying at Hotel de Saint Germain is a good option
20 Inspiring Quotes About Paris – A collection of famous and inspiring quotes you’ll love
Where to Stay in Paris – My Personal Recommendations – I share where I stay in Paris, why I choose these hotels, and what you can do nearby
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