What They Said About Paris
Place de Furstemberg
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
Ernest Hemingway
“You can’t escape the past in Paris, and yet what’s so wonderful about it is that the past and present intermingle so intangibly that it doesn’t seem to burden.”
Allen Ginsberg
“France has the only two things toward which we drift as we get older — intelligence and good manners.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Paris is always a good idea.”
Audrey Hepburn, in the film Sabrina
“Paris is a hard place to leave, even when it rains incessantly and one coughs continually from the dampness.”
Willa Cather
“ I stayed three weeks in Paris, fell in love with the city, and decided that I was born to live in Paris.”
Ed Bradley
Paris seems to bring out the poet in us. Can you think of any other quotable quotes about the city?
Jan del Monte, blogging from the rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris, France
© 2009 Jan del Monte
∞
The list of quotes could be quite long! I could perhaps only add my personal experience of not being born here, but to just love the place! How could you not?
Ah, yes, Peter. I can’t argue that one. How lucky we are to be here!
When I dies, forget heaven, send me to Paris!
Hello Jan. I have been busy and of course I am sure you have heard about our shocking bushfires. Its very smokey here tonight. we live about a 25 min drive from one of the really burnt out towns. Its been so hot and no rain which makes things so hard for the firefighters.
OK – all I could find is this –
In an old house in Paris
that was covered in vines
Lived twelve little girls
In two straight lines.
They left the house at half-past nine
In two straight lines, in rain or shine.
The smallest one was MADELINE.
Madeline’s Christmas
Ludwig Bemelmans
1956
Madeline had a pug and I had two dogs – one a pug and one a pug x and sadly both died a week between eachother a fortnight after christmas. I have never lost two dogs so close together. it was very sad. I have always had dogs and so Steve and I decided to get a puppy and he keeps me busy . He is not Oscar or Rosie but he is a beauty! Kenzo is named after the Japanese designer who lives in Paris – so “Kenzo” is a shih tzu x maltese and much loved. He is 9 weeks and too cute!
“Paris is the city in which one loves to live. Sometimes I think
this is because it is the only city in the world where you can step out of a railway station—the Gare D’Orsay—and see, simultaneously, the chief enchantments: the Seine with its bridges and bookstalls, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Tuileries Gardens, the Place de la Concorde, the beginning of the Champs Elysees—nearly everything except the Luxembourg Gardens and the Palais Royal. But what other city offers as much as you leave a train?” -Margaret Anderson
In Paris, everybody wants to be an actor; nobody is content to be a spectator.”
– Jean Cocteau
You guys are great! Keep ‘em coming.
ladyjicky, I’m so sorry to hear about your dogs. I know how awful it is to lose one, much less two in such a short period. Congratulations on Kenzo. My friend, Michele, had a black cat named Kenzo who was a real soulmate. A shih-tzu-Maltese mix has to be adorable.
I had completely forgotten about Madeline. My father bought the book for me when I was six years old, because we had been in Paris together a year or so before.
cigalechanta, don’t worry. I’ve seen it attributed to several people, but rumor has it that, “When good Americans die, they go to Paris.” Sounds reasonable to me.
anniemousette, I know Cocteau was never content to sit back and be a spectator.
“For that would be, amid the roses and raptures, to go right on writing about Paris all day, all night, and so into the dawn…”
Marcel Aymé [from "Paris que j'aime"]
And so I write on about my secret garden that is Paris que j’aime…www.parigigi.wordpress.com
Another beautiful quote, parigigi. As we all know, I think Paris is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
There is just something about Paris. Either you love it or you don’t, and those who don’t are missing out! The first time I went to Paris there was a smell in the air and a vibe I got deep in my soul that told me that this was a special place!! I still get that same feeling every time I go!! Sort of like I’m back home. Can’t wait to go back next month and visit with Jan and toast my beautiful Mom who was with me on that first trip to Paris about 10 years ago! We both had a great feeling about the city. I plan to do lots of writing this trip and really let the city take over my pen. A little wine, a little fresh air, a little scent of Paris… what could be better?