Posted by QuickReadAbout.com Staff in Lets begin by wandering down rue Mazarine from the Odon square. Bingo? We almost immediately come on Le Procope, where a plaque affirms it is the oldest caf in the world.
It opened in 1686, mainly to offer coffee. This beverages fashion had been recently imported from Austria – the Viennese got their caffeine zonks from the Turks during a lull in the Ottoman siege of their city ca. 1623.
Voltaire and… God
The Caf Procope was an early favorite rendez-vous of actors from the Comdie Franaise – the national theatrical company, then situated nearby- and later, during the turbulent pre-Revolutionary mid-18th century, of Encylopaedists (such as Diderot and DAlembert) and other non-conformist thinkers, who had this was still during the reign of Louis XV to be careful with what they spouted in public.
Voltaire recounts that one day, he and a host of like-minded philosophers wanted to discuss a very thorny issue around a cup of coffee at Le Procope: does God exist? They coded God into Monsieur Nant (Mister Nothing) and the wrangling went on for several hours.
At a nearby table sat a gentleman who had time to read his newspaper several times over. Then, out of patience, he stood up and came over to the philosophers. Excuse me, Messieurs, you have been discussing Monsieur Nant. Could you please relieve my curiosity and tell me who he is? According to Voltaire, the answer was shot back with no delay: Yes, of course! He is a police spy DO YOU KNOW HIM?
There is a problem with the Le Procopes claim, however. The owner, Mr. Procope, born in Palermo under the name Procoppio dei Cotelli, had already worked as a waiter at another Parisian caf before launching his own! The first in the world? Sorry… Unless were talking about the earliest still extant.
But then there are other candidates.
Treasures of Paris islands
Another site to visit is Ile St-Louis, an island on the river Seine, which was built basically between 1613 and 1700.
Our first find is Les Anysetiers du Roy (The Kings aniseed liqueur makers), a restaurant located at No. 61 rue St-Louis-en-lIsle. Our second find is Le Franc-Pinot, a well-known jazz club located at No. 1 Quai de Bourbon.
Both are indeed Procope contemporaries, and have been serving eats and drinks since they were founded in the 17th century.
A thought nags the tavern researcher, however: none before the 17th century??? Impossible!!
Fifteenth century poet Franois Villon did indeed dedicate tout aux tavernes et aux filles (everything to taverns and girls.). And a listing of taverners dating from 1457 A.D. counts some 200 full-time professionals and another hundred occasionals.
A famous tavern of the time was the Pomme de Pin (Pinecone), on Ile de la Cit (the second island in the center of Paris). It survived until the mid-1800s when Paris Prefect Haussmann razed it to make more room for the Htel Dieu hospital adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral.
Remnants of the 19th Century
Hmm… Ancient Ile de la Cit looks a good place for more fieldwork.
Systematic research reveals that todays taverns around Notre Dame all date from the 19th century period of Haussmanns urban cleanup.
Ah, but wait. Lets take a look down an authentically quaint sidestreet on Ile de la Cit, rue de la Colombe (The Dove street).
We come at No. 4 upon the Rserve de Quasimodo, a wineshop-cum-eatery located in the old building already described in my piece titled What And Where Is The Oldest House in Paris?
The Rserve de Quasimodo pretty much ignores (although not scorning) the tourist hordes around nearby Notre Dame Cathedral. Noon and night it serves scrumptious and affordable traditional French fares, accompanied by vintner-supplied wines. And it offers regular evening supper shows enlivened by oral culture (Old Paris Stories, Tales from Brittany), magicians, a pocket theater group, etc.
Prior to that, in 1950, it was bought by Austro-American illustrator Ludwig Bemelmens, best known for his cartoons in The New Yorker and his Madeline childrens album series.
A photo from 1869 proves the place was then a wine-bar and wineshop.
A Foiled Suicide
Skipping back a century-and-a-half from then, right around 1719, we come to a legend about Cartouche, whose hangout here was the St Nicolas Tavern, a predecessor of todays Rserve de Quasimodo. Cartouche was the ring-leader of a pickpocket gang thats documented, since he was executed in 1721.
The legend: Cartouche and gang were working the popular and crowded Pont-Neuf bridge one day in 1719, when all of a sudden a well-dressed gentleman leapt up onto the Bridges parapet.
Hang on, there, Sir, Cartouche is said to have shouted, pulling the fellow back down from a clear suicide attempt. Whats this all about? The gentlemans response: Im an honest man, indeed an honorable man, and /sniff/ I owe several people much money that Ill never be able to reimburse…The only honorable way out is to jump into the Seine. Cartouche: Now, now, you just give me a list of your creditors and the sums due.
The gentleman bandit invited said creditors to the St Nicholas Tavern at No. 4 rue de la Colombe, wined and dined them abundantly, paid off the suicide candidates debts (obtaining receipts, of course) and ordered more and more wine. Then he pulled out his pocket watch, said Sorry, gentlemen, Ive got an appointment, and disappeared.
More librations ensued among the creditors, only too pleased to celebrate their unexpected windfall. When they staggered out onto rue de la Colombe, guess who was awaiting them. Yes, indeed: Cartouches gang, who quickly divested them of the debt reimbursements.
And The Winner Is….
The St. Nicholas Tavern itself pre-dates Le Procope by a wide margin.
The tavern got its name from the patron saint to whom local clergymen had erected a statue in replacement of an earlier pagan statue nicknamed The Man with Doves.
The statue of St. Nicholas was torn down in 1792 during the French revolution. It used to be affixed above the door of No. 4 rue de la Colombe.
The tavern itself is attested here in… 1240.
We got our winner.