Day 24: Hanging with Hemingway

Today I visited Saint-Germain-des-Pres with my french class. SGP is in the 6th arrondisement and was the cultural center during the years after the second world war during the 1940's. This is where the American writers and French artists and singers of that era used to go to jazz clubs and cafes and produce some of the greatest works of art in history.
We started the tour in one of the most historical locations in all of Paris, le Procope. Le Procope is the first cafe in all of Paris and probably in the whole world too. Procopio was an Italian who decided to bring cafe to Paris and share the italian treat with the king of France. He also decided that it was a good business opportunity to open a store where he could sell this cafe (which could be called a cafe). All of the rich Parisians rushed to buy this drink which allowed them to stay up all night during parties and shows. Procopio's cafe became even more popular when the king's theater was built just across the street and all of the great playwrights and actors would frequent the cafe. In all everyone from Voltaire and Rousseau and the other philosophers of that time to Benjamin Franklin to Chopin visited this cafe for their cafe. It was in this cafe that gelato was first introduced to France. Le Procope was also the location at which the guillotine was invented. I also saw in the cafe Marie-Antoinette's last letter before being killed which was a letter to her children. It was amazing to be around so much history and to touch things that could have been touched by such influential people.
After Le Precope we walked around SGP and visited the Musee de Eugene Delacroix. Eugene Delacroix was a painter in the 1800's and his house and studio were amazing because it was such a peaceful part of Paris. In his garden you couldn't hear any of the noisy city.
After the museum we continued to tour and ended up on la rue Jacobe where we saw the exact spot where Benjamin Franklin and others signed the Treaty of Independence which officially ended the Revolutionary War in America and made America a free country. It was such a trip to be standing right where American history was changed.
We then arrived at the Eglise (church, egg-leeze) de Saint Germain des Pres which was absolutely gorgeous. It was smaller than Notre-Dame but in my opinion it was much prettier and the stained glass was breathtaking.
We then all separated as a class and I decided to eat my lunch at a cafe called Les Deux Magots because it was where Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Simone de Beauvoir and countless other intellectuals used to frequent. This was the weirdest for me because there are literally pictures of Hemingway eating where I ate. Since I was by myself I ordered my citron presse (sit-ron press-ay) and croque-monsier (crock miss-your) and sat reading Gatsby le magnifique which I bought a while ago nd haven't had the chance to start. It was so peaceful and it was so Parisian that I was dying. The citron presse was amazing since it was basically just the juice of a lemon with water and sugar on the side and I got to make my own lemonade based on how strong or sweet I wanted it. My croque monsieur was also great albeit a bit expensive (it ain't cheap hanging out with Hemingway).
I ended my adventure in SGP by buying two macarons from the famous la Duree and eating them in the park outside the church while reading my book. This was so peaceful until the inevitable pigeon and creepy homeless guy invasion which happens anytime you sit somewhere for too long in Paris. Since I have close to no tolerance for things that freak me out, I had to leave as soon as they came too close thus ending my peaceful snack. Tonight I might go grab some burritos at the little mexican place in the Latin quarter haven't really decided yet.