This Must Be the Place


Walking ten feet or so ahead of me was Flossie, both of us on our way from the Dome to the Dingo. As Flossie came abreast of the bar entrance a handsome Rolls-Royce drove up to the curb  and from it stepped two lavishly dressed ladies

For a moment they hesitated. They looked at the Dingo questioningly. They peered in the windows between the curtains.

Flossie, seeing them, looked her contempt. As she passed into the bar she tossed a single phrase over her shoulder, “You bitch!”

Where upon the lady so addressed nudged her companion anxiously. “Come on, Helen,” she said, “This must be the place!” - from This Must Be the Place, by Jimmie "The Barman" Charters.

As most of you know I am a huge Hemingway fan and pride myself on reading almost everything he has written, including magazine articles, letters and even books written by his niece and brother.

I was browsing some books awhile back and discovered an interesting piece of literature written by Jimmie “The Barman” Charters who was a world famous bartender back in the twenties and thirties in Paris when the expatriates, including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein and many other characters made the rounds of the Paris bars and cafes  “The Must Be the Place’, is a very interesting piece of work, actually more of a journal or memories of “The Barman” featuring all the different establishments where he worked.   

Hemming way graciously wrote the introduction to this book as he and Jimmie were very well acquainted as you may have guessed.

Now if you are about to stop reading this is not a book review (although well worth reading if you are a fan of this culture) I was browsing the pictures in the book when I came upon this one;

Cafe Le Dome - mid twenties
The picture looked oh so familiar, however I could not place it and stared at it for some time then continued reading. After an hour or so I put down the book and  stood up to grab another cocktail and when I came back into the room I looked at the wall behind where I was sitting and was dumbfounded by the picture we had on the wall behind me.

Cafe Le Dome - 2008
This was a picture we had taken when we were in Paris and Central Patti had hung on the wall with a few others from the trip. We both had a good laugh and I actually thought how cool it was that we had sat and had dinner and cocktails in the same place my favorite author used to frequent.

Cheers
The Professor

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