An Exercise in Nostalgia – Paris in the 1920s
When we visit Paris, we always stay at the same hotel – the Citadines in the 14ème arrondissement. This section of the city is part of Montparnasse, a section most known for what it used to be. Today it is a mixture of residential and commercial centered around the transportation hub of Gare Montparnasse, the city’s only skyscraper, Tour Montparnasse, and the most beautiful cemetery you will ever see.
Yet 100 years ago, Montparnasse (not to be confused with Montmartre in the north of the city) was the center of the city’s nightlife for the “Lost Generation.” Think American expats like Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Josephine Baker, or artists like Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Zadkine, and Marc Chagall. Imagine dark, lively, sexy, jazzy nightclubs at the height of the Roaring 20s (Les Années Folles).
Today’s Montparnasse has echoes of that era in the area, especially along Boulevard du Montparnasse as it approaches the Vavin metro stop. Large movie theaters and fast food places create a lively atmosphere near the train station but as you approach Boulevard Raspail there are a series of brasseries the deliberately evoke the glamour of Les Années Folles – La Dôme, La Rotonde, La Coupole, Lèon de Bruxelles, Le Select, Le Relain de l’Entrecôte, and Les Bar à Huîtres de Montparnasse.
Except that instead of reminding us of the tawdry, sexy, slightly debauched glamour of Les Années Folles, these brasseries all concentrate on the glamour to evoke a languorous art noveau paradise, which is curiously enough, focused on fresh seafood and an elaborate graciousness (as opposed to the jazz, absinthe, or prostitution of the time).
We’ve always made a point of having at least one lunch in this section of Montparnasse every time we visit Paris. Our first venture was to Les Bar à Huîtres de Montparnasse, but our last visit there was somewhat disappointing. We had our eyes on La Dôme but it always seemed to be closed for renovation or a special event or something. Next door to La Dôme is La Coupole so we chose to go there last October.
The interior is simply amazing. Black tuxedoed servers greet you and guide you through the art nouveau interior, overstuffed with mirrors, decorative columns, light fixtures, and artwork in a style that is supposed to be over the top and evocative of another era. The service is very formal, and the entire experience is designed an isolated evocative world insulated from the rush and bother of the city just outside the door.
Like most of the brasseries in the area, the culinary specialty is seafood and more specifically, shellfish. I had a very good onion soup as an appetizer and my true love had a delicious crab cake and a delightful grilled dorade but that is not the specialty of La Coupole (or La Dôme or Les Bar à Huîtres de Montparnasse or some of the others).
The specialty is a multi-tiered silver serving plate covered with shaved ice which is in turn covered with a multitude of shellfish – oysters, clams, mussels, whelks, conch, shrimp, langoustines, pieces of crab, and who knows what else. The serving mountain comes accompanied with a little dry ice for visual effect and a variety of implements to extract the meat from all the different types of shells in which it is encased. It actually takes quite a bit of work to finish this off but if you like shellfish, it is completely worth it.
Effectively, La Couple (and the other brasseries in the neighborhood) have selectively drawn from Montparnasse’s past glories to create a marvelously nostalgic experience. Even if it isn’t authentic, as long as the right image is maintained it remains fun.
My true love and I have been doing this long enough that we’ve created our own ritual. We’re not attempting to recreate F. Scott Fitzgerald’s expat nightlife experience, but the joy of digging out whelks in a completely ostentatious art nouveau restaurant while being attentively served by a waiter in a tuxedo.
Vive la nostalgie!