One of many bars at The Ritz, Paris, Bar Hemingway takes its name from the author Ernest Hemingway, a regular patron of the bar. The Ritz hotel has several bars, the Ritz Bar, Bar Vendome, the Pool Bar, and Bar Hemingway. Each attempts to deliver a slightly different mood from another with many patrons having their favorites.
The bar is notable for being the favorite of a number of great writers and musicians over the years. Cole Porter was reported to have spent up to 9 hours a day at the Hemingway bar and is said to have composed “Begin the Beguine” at the bar. F. Scott Fitzgerald had a favorite seat at the bar and was known for being visibly displeased
if he found anyone else sitting in his seat. Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway were known for sitting and talking in the bar for hours, making it the epicentre of their life in Paris.
Although in more modern times the bar has had to undergo a number of renovations, it has been restored to its original state, including the original wood panelling, which was reported to have been particularly expensive to achieve. Currently it is said that the bar is now too expensive for writers, even popular ones, to visit, and is mostly now the epicentre of wealthy Parisian life, particularly during the summer months when patrons can expect to have a live piano player and enjoy drinking outside in the cooler summer evenings on the bar’s terrace.
