La Coupole

La Coupole in Montparnasse already looks impressive from the outside, but what happened inside is legendary. Since its opening in 1927, this Art Déco brasserie has been the meeting place for artists and writers. Picasso, Chagall and Hemingway drank here alongside Josephine Baker and Jean Cocteau.

During the day, you could read newspapers from around the world; in the evening, conversations about art, politics and love flowed around the large central bar. In the basement, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir danced late into the night to jazz and rumba.

In the years that followed, stars like Marlene Dietrich and Ava Gardner also came here. Every tile, pillar and lamp still breathes that creative energy – a living monument to vibrant Paris.