No couple embodied the Jazz Age more completely than F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. From Parisian cafés to Riviera villas, they turned France into both a stage and a sanctuary for their tempestuous lives. It was here that The Great Gatsby was revised, Zelda took up ballet with feverish ambition, and their circle of expatriate friends — Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter — redefined modern culture.
To walk in their footsteps today is to step into a landscape where art, decadence, and heartbreak still hang in the air. Here’s how to follow them — where they stayed, dined, drove, and dreamed — reimagined for a contemporary traveler.
Paris: The Left Bank and Beyond
Paris was both canvas and crucible for the Fitzgeralds. They took rooms at the Hôtel Lutetia on Boulevard Raspail, where the glamour of the Left Bank was a short walk away. Today, you can still stay there — an Art Deco landmark that has been restored to its Jazz Age splendor.
- Stay: Hôtel Lutetia
- Drink: Fitzgerald was a habitué of Harry’s New York Bar (harrysbar.fr), where cocktails like the Bloody Mary and Sidecar were perfected.
- Dine: Try Brasserie Lipp (brasserielipp.fr), a Saint-Germain classic where Fitzgeralds’ contemporaries debated art and politics over choucroute and Riesling.
- See: The Musée de Montmartre (museedemontmartre.fr) preserves the bohemian world Zelda adored; for Scott, cross the Seine to the Musée Carnavalet (carnavalet.paris.fr) for Paris as he knew it.
Shopping? Zelda favored high style — she was photographed in Paris in beaded gowns and cloche hats. Today, browse Galeries Lafayette (galerieslafayette.com) or the curated vintage shops of the Marais.
The Riviera: Glamour by the Sea
By the mid-1920s, the Fitzgeralds were summering on the Côte d’Azur — long before “the Riviera” became shorthand for celebrity excess. They rented villas in Juan-les-Pins and Cap d’Antibes, where Scott drafted Tender Is the Night. Zelda swam in the Mediterranean, danced until dawn, and the couple became fixtures of the French seaside’s wild new social scene.
- Stay: The legendary Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc (oetkercollection.com), where the Fitzgeralds mingled with artists and aristocrats, remains the Riviera’s most glamorous address.
- Dine: Le Bistrot du Port, Antibes (lebistrotduport.fr) offers seafood fresh from the harbor — the kind Zelda might have devoured after a swim.
- Drink: Cocktails at Belles Rives Hotel (bellesrives.com), once the Fitzgeralds’ villa rental, now a boutique hotel preserving their legacy.
- See: Stroll the Cap d’Antibes coastal trail, where the Fitzgeralds drove their open-top Bugatti, the sea air tangling Zelda’s hair.
Provence: Escape and Experiment
The Fitzgeralds also sought the quiet of Provence, retreating from Parisian intensity. Their stays were often shorter and less chronicled, but the spirit of lavender fields and Roman ruins offered Zelda inspiration for painting and Scott a respite from parties.
- Stay: La Bastide de Gordes (airelles.com), a Provençal palace with views stretching across the Luberon.
- Dine: L’Oustau de Baumanière in Les Baux (baumaniere.com) — a Michelin-starred sanctuary where French tradition meets Riviera lightness.
- See: The Roman amphitheatre at Arles (arles-tourisme.com), a city also beloved by Van Gogh, echoes with the sense of a classical past that fascinated Scott.
Driving the Fitzgerald Way
The Fitzgeralds adored automobiles — open-top Bugattis, Citroëns, and their notorious “wild rides” along Riviera roads. For a modern echo, rent a vintage car from Rent A Classic Car in Nice, and retrace their drives along the Corniche roads, where the Mediterranean flashes between cliffs and sky.
The Circle They Kept
The Fitzgeralds’ France was not just about places, but people. Their Paris was Hemingway reading drafts aloud, Gertrude Stein pronouncing on art, Cole Porter debuting a new song at a piano. To reimagine that spirit today, you might:
- Visit Shakespeare & Company (shakespeareandcompany.com), a living link to the Anglo-American literary scene.
- Hear jazz at Le Duc des Lombards (ducdeslombards.com), where echoes of Porter and Gershwin live on.
- Book a table at Clown Bar (clownbar.fr), a haunt of modern artists — the kind of scene Scott and Zelda would have adored.
A Living Myth
To follow Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in France is to walk a line between romance and ruin. Their stays were dazzling but often fraught: the cocktails masking quarrels, the villas echoing with both laughter and despair. And yet, the places they touched retain a glamour that transcends their personal tragedies.
To sip a martini at Eden-Roc, to stroll the Left Bank at dusk, to watch the Riviera turn pink with evening light — is to step into their story, and to glimpse, however briefly, the intoxication of the Jazz Age dream.
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