AOL Travel Ideas

Literary Hot Spots: Paris

Alice Shapiro — 2011-01-03T14:00:00+00:00

Paris abounds with literary figures past and present. When you visit, take some time to share the places made famous in works ranging from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series to Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast." Many cafes and establishments that have literary events are closed from July to September, so be sure to call for program information.

Nicolas Flamel's Home
In "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" the character Albus Dumbledore is described as Head master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Fashioning him after real-life alchemist Nicolas Flamel, J.K. Rowling writes: "Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of Dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel." Although Flamel, a successful scrivener noted for his multiple interpretations on modern day alchemy, is reported to have died in 1418, it is speculated that he is still alive. Flamel designed his own tombstone which is now preserved at the Musee de Cluny. Visit Flamel's home which, according to the story, may have been Flamel and Dumbledore's meeting place. It still stands and is the oldest stone house in the city.
51, rue de Montmorency 75003 Paris

Francois-Mitterand Library
Felix Feneon's "Novels in Three Lines," translated with introduction by Luc Sante, is a gruesome but brilliant collection of Haiku-type blurbs inspired by hard facts from the French newspaper "Le Petit Journal." Some of the illustrations that served as covers for this daily paper are housed in the collection at The Bibliotheque Nationale's Francois-Mitterrand Library. Feneon, 1861-1944, was responsible for publishing the first French translation of James Joyce ("Dedale," 1924) and he edited Rimbaud's "Illuminations." Along with Feneon's ephemera, you will find cultural events at the Francois-Mitterrand Library including virtual exhibitions about Jean-Paul Sartre, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola and Marcel Proust
10, Quai Francois-Mauriac 75706 Paris

Paris Metro Station
"In a Station of the Metro" is a poem by the controversial expatriate poet and critic Ezra Pound. It is reprinted in several of his books including "The Collected Poems of Ezra Pound" and was written in Haiku style. It's an early Modernist poem because it attempts to break from the pentameter, uses visual spacing as poetic device and contains no verbs. It consists of only fourteen words. "The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough." Pound was intensely emotional after seeing the distinctive décor in the tunnel of the Metro, which has tiles spelling the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a fundamental document of the French Revolution, and he was inspired to write this poem.
Metro Station Place de la Concorde, Line 12, 1st Arrondissement

Opera-Comique
In Honore de Balzac's most important novel "Old Goriot," Balzac describes the situation of a naive law student named Eugene de Rastignac, one of his three main characters in this book: "At this stage in his career a student is on fire with enthusiasm for moonshine which appears magnificent to him.... He adjusts his cravat and poses for the benefit of the women in the first galleries at the Opera-Comique." Visit the legendary comic opera which offers many entertaining spectacles such as "Cinderella to Vaudevilles" which will be performed at the Cendrillon festival in March 2011 and is good fare for a young audience.
5, rue Favart 75002 Paris

Paris Travel Guide

Best Paris Restaurants

Best Paris Nightlife

Café de la Mairie
Several notable Beatnik writers of the 1950s resided at The Beat Hotel (9 rue Git-le-Coer), including Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and all frequented the cafés near Notre Dame. One bistro mentioned in Ferlinghetti's poem "Café Notre Dame," from his book "European Poems and Transitions," was a real place that most likely hosted all these luminaries who met for conversation and solitary scribbling. Directly across the street from St. Sulpice Church, and the only small café on the square, it is a good place to hang out and enjoy the reasonably priced but limited menu that includes a delicious café crème and tasty pastries.
8, Place Saint-Sulpice 75006 Paris

Palais du Louvre
Marcel Proust, the most perceptive fashion writer of all time, said "I shall build my book, I dare not say audaciously, like a cathedral, but simply like a dress..." and his descriptions of what his characters wore are an integral part of his stories. Paris, of course, has been the international capital of style for the past 300 years. Visit The Louvre to see their exhibition of clothing of La Belle Epoque. In Proust's novel "Swann's Way," when speaking about the character Odette de Crecy (Swann's love who appears in others works as his wife), he writes: "...and in spite of her being one of the best-dressed women in Paris) so much did the corsage, jutting out as though over an imaginary stomach and ending in a sharp point, beneath which bulged out the balloon of her double skirts, give a woman the appearance of being composed of different sections badly fitted together;..."
107-111, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris

Shakespeare and Company
In "A Moveable Feast," a set of memoirs of Ernest Hemingway's days in Paris during the 1920s, he says of Sylvia Beach, owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore: "No one that I ever knew was nicer to me." The original shop, located at 2, rue de l'Odeon in 1921, became a meeting place for American writers living in Paris between the wars and was often a place to crash. Sylvia published James Joyce's "Ulysses" when no other publisher would, even though it almost bankrupted her. The shop closed in 1941 with the Nazi occupation, but a plaque remains on the wall at that address. In 1951, American George Whitman opened another Shakespeare and Company that now holds Sunday teas, poetry readings and writers' meetings. If you are writing a book he might invite you to stay in his little "Tumbleweed Hotel" in exchange for daily chores.
37, rue de la Bucherie 75005 Paris

Café de Flore
The most famous café in the world, Café de Flore, was said to host Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir where they would meet and discuss their philosophy of existentialism over a drink. Kate Muir, a New York Times columnist and one-time Paris resident, scooped this famous couple out of their legendary place in the 6th Arrondissement to appear in her novel "Left Bank" at the PlayWorld theme park, USA, in miniature replica form. Muir writes: "And indeed there, in the window of the pint-size Café Flore, are Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir dolls, with notebooks, drinking coffee from toy cups, again and again."
172, Boulevard St-Germaine 75006 Paris

Hotel de Ville (City Hall)
"Panic seized him. He returned to the boulevards and slumped on a bench. Some policemen woke him up, thinking he had 'been on the spree'... After that, imagining that it was still too early to go home, he wandered about in the vicinity of the Hotel de Ville until a quarter past eight." This passage is from Gustave Flaubert's last and most influential novel "Sentimental Education." He is referencing the neo-Renaissance-style City Hall, which is decorated in the pompous Ille Empire style with ballrooms and stained glass windows, works of art, sculpture and furniture. The building houses events and outdoor activities that include a skating rink in winter.
29, rue de Rivoli 75004 Paris

The Eiffel Tower
Jean Cocteau's "Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel" (The Newlyweds of Eiffel Tower), which played in 1921 at the theatre des Champs Elysees, was a surrealist manifesto. In poet Apollinaire's "Calligrammes" (1918), he arranged words on the page to form patterns resembling objects: "a drunken man, a watch, the Eiffel Tower." Such eccentric use of typography was thought to be unusual. Many artists and writers of the time decried the Eiffel Tower as a gigantic structure not fitting the Paris "low" architectural vision. Among these critics was Paul Verlaine who called the Tower "this belfy skeleton." The Eiffel Tower, now considered synonymous with ingenuity, progress, and beauty, was built as an attraction without practical function for the Paris World's Fair. In 1889 it received 2 million visitors. Today it receives twice as many visitors as The Louvre, and considerably more than Paris's largest movie house.
5 avenue Anatole France, Champ de Mars 75007 Paris

A native New Yorker and friend of Paris, Alice Shapiro's poems have appeared in various online and print journals. Her first book of poetry, "Cracked: Timeless Topics of Nature, Courage, and Endurance," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Read her blog on Red Room.

More Articles You Might Like

Top 10 Local Attractions in Paris [AOL Travel]

Lonely Planet's Top 10 Countries for 2011 [Lonely Planet]

National Geographic's 20 Best Trips of 2011 [National Geographic]

Urban Adventurer Explores the Secret Underbelly of New York City (Amazing Video) [Huffington Post]

How to Protect Your Dignity From the TSA [Forbes]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Adventure Activities in New York City -- Try if You Dare

Alice Shapiro — 2010-09-08T13:37:00+00:00

Getty Images

Women and men have been flocking to New York City to experience the thrill of stardom for decades. From Broadway to Harlem, this is the city where no one jeers at creativity. Originality is the lifeblood and lure of the most thrilling city in the world. You don't need an agent and you don't need talent, just an adventurous spirit.

Whether you are a local or a visitor, you'll find an adventure activity in New York that's sure to provide a thrill. You never know, you could end up in showbiz!

1. Act out

Nowadays, "character actors" are definitely in, especially if you're a gecko. Back in New York, I joined an ensemble theatre group and went on stage. I got a few laughs, but acting lessons would have helped. If you're feeling daring and long for the thrill of the stage but need a little instruction first, try Meisner Technique, private coaching in a relaxed, supportive environment with Alan Gordon. Classes take place at The Players Theatre or on Skype. The cost is $125 per hour and auditors are always welcome. Afterwards, pick up Backstage Magazine and knock 'em dead on an audition!

The Players Theatre
115 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012
917-566-2223

New York Travel Guide

Best New York Restaurants

Best New York Nightlife

2. Key the moog

Pink Floyd had a great influence on my life and left me wishing I had been able to play a synthesizer. In NYC, you can! At Sweetsounds Studios, anyone can record vocals on top of instrumentals, play a synthesizer and walk away with a record! Sweetsounds producer Dinesh Boaz recommends reserving two to four hours for basic tracking and mixing at $50 per hour. Give yourself time to prepare (and work up the nerve for this daring endeavor) by booking sessions up to two weeks in advance. Feeling extra adventurous? Record in hand, ask a DJ to play your selection to a frenzied crowd of New York clubbers who may applaud your masterpiece.

Sweetsounds Studio
602 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10009
800-716-2088

3. Slam a poem

Participating in a poetry reading might seem a bit tame to be considered an adventure activity in New York, but there's nothing scarier than baring the most intimate details of your poetic soul in front of a crowded room of strangers. Make it easier on yourself and take a seminar or workshop at Poets House. With classes starting at $10 ($7 for seniors and members), Poets House offers a wealth of resources to get you on your way to a Pulitzer. While you're there, check out "The Change Interviews" audio of Pushcart Prize nominees/winners in the Axe Houghton Multimedia Archives. Once you are ready to share your poems, attend a Poetry session in the Branches open mic night or go to a poetry slam. If you're in town, you can also try the free Poems in the Park series in August and September, although your poem must be about the West Harlem Piers Park or nature.

Poets House
10 River Terrace
New York, NY 10282
212-431-7920
Hours: Tue-Fri 11AM-7PM, Sat 11AM-6PM

4. Take a culinary chance

While in Harlem, do not miss out on Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem. Founded by the "Queen of Soulfood," Sylvia Woods, this restaurant features adventurous menu items such as chitlins (pig intestines) and oxtail. Other scrumptious items include the Harlem style waffle and fried chicken, black eyed peas, okra and tomato gumbo and peach cobbler.

Sylvia's Restaurant
328 Lenox Avenue
New York, NY 10027
212-996-2669
Hours: Mon-Sat 8AM-10:30OPM, Sun 11AM-8PM

5. Wing it (without barbecue sauce)

The funniest thing I've ever said was... Well, I don't think I've ever said anything funny. My brother is the comedian in the family. If you're one of the bravest of the brave, The PIT (Peoples Improv Theater) is for you. The theater's busy schedule of free shows, jams and other fun activities encourages you to stand up for three minutes and make people laugh until they cry. To ease onto the stage, take one of the drop-in classes at the theater's Simple Studios. If you're just not up for improvising, try Super Free Wednesdays, when the PIT House Teams provide free improv entertainment from 7PM-11PM.

The Peoples Improv Theatre
154 West 29th Street
New York, NY 10001
212-563-7488

6. Let your lungs lead

To this day, I'm still not sure how I made it into high school chorus. I am positive I would be a "No, dawg, sorry" contestant on American Idol. If you want to improve your chances, take a private voice lesson with Jordan Wentworth, a vocal instructor who recently coached an American Idol contestant on live television! She coaches all styles including opera, musical theatre, contemporary, R&B, jazz, rock and classical for $80 per hour. All ages are welcome on Skype and in her studio. Call ahead for an appointment or inquire about cancellations when you have a spontaneous urge to warble. Then, I suggest you take Ms. Wentworth's sage advice: "If you feel you are at a professional level, you can offer to perform at a local restaurant in return for dinner." Leave your credit cards at home and bring your sheet music and sign it for the maitre d'! I suggest the East Village's Sidewalk Café, where open mic nights begin at 7:30PM on Mondays.

Jordan Wentworth Studio
220 West 98th Street
New York, NY 10025
646-285-7926

There are thousands of theatrical, vocal and culinary adventure activities in New York for the daring visitor or local. Gather up the nerve and break a leg!

A native New Yorker, Alice Shapiro's poems have appeared in various online and print journals. Her first book of poetry, Cracked: Timeless Topics of Nature, Courage, and Endurance, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Read her blog on Red Room'.

Can't Get Enough? Discover More of New York

Overview: New York Travel Guide

Getting Around: New York Itineraries | New York Transportation | Best Time to Visit New York

Editor's Picks: Best New York Hotels | Best New York Shopping | Best New York Restaurants | Best New York Nightlife

See All: Best New York Things To Do | Best New York Hotels | New York Photos | New York Videos

More New York Articles From Our Partners

Live It Up: 24 Hours in 10 Great Cities [Lonely Planet]

Free Things to Do in New York [National Geographic]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments