Ernest Hemingway on what happens when a place is deemed “untouched”

“We ate dinner at Madame Lecomte’s restaurant on the far side of the island. It was crowded with Americans and we had to stand up and wait for a place. Some one had put it in the American Women’s Club list as a quaint restaurant on the Paris quais as yet untouched by Americans, so we had to wait forty-five minutes for a table.”
–Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)

Posted by Rolf Potts | Comments (3)  | March 9, 2005
Category: Travel Quote of the Day


3 Responses to “Ernest Hemingway on what happens when a place is deemed “untouched””

  1. Casey Says:
    March 10th, 2005 at 8:11 am

    I wonder how many bars have survived or prospered due to guidebook claims that “Ernest Hemingway once drank here.” Would Le Coupole, Harry’s Bar, La Floridita, La Bodeguita del Medio, Captain Tony’s, et al still be pouring without Papa? They certainly wouldn’t be as crowded with Americans. And, despite the comment above, would the famously egoistic Hemingway really be upset by the phenomenon?

  2. Rolf Says:
    March 10th, 2005 at 12:19 pm

    I’m sure Hemingway would appreciate the acclaim — though I suspect he wouldn’t be caught dead in any of those bars, on the basis of the tourist demographic alone.

  3. michael shapiro Says:
    March 16th, 2005 at 2:56 pm

    This brings to mind the famous Yogi Berra quote: “It’s so crowded no one goes there anymore.”