This is the front door of our hotel, the Hotel Crystal on Rue Saint Benoit

The location was perfect, just off of Boulevard de Saint Germain on the Left Bank, right between the Café de Flore and les Deux Magots, 2 cafes where Hemingway, Sartre, & Simone de Beauvoir used to hang out. Since the cafes are famous, they are way too expensive for anything more than a cup of coffee.

Each morning Brenda & I would walk another block & go to a less well-known, more reasonably priced cafe for coffee (cafe au lait) & watch people walking by smoking. Everyone smokes in Paris, even children and dogs.

Here is picture from the other side of Saint Germain showing the Café de Flore and les Deux Magots. Our hotel is on the street running between them. The Café les Deux Magots is where Jake Barnes meets lady Brett in The Sun Also Rises.

The famous Brasserie Lipp, another Hemingway haunt, across the street from Café de Flore on Saint Germain. Brasserie Lipp is where Hemingway lovingly recalls eating potato salad in A Movable Feast.

Brenda and I would frequent this little tavern just down from the Lipp for a glass of wine or beer in the evenings. This is where we saw about 500 rollerbladers tearing down Saint Germaine at 11:30 on a cold Sunday night.

The Boulevard Saint Germain is named for the ancient church of Saint Germain which is located about a block and a half from the Hotel Crystal toward the Latin Quarter.