French Friday: Saint-Étienne-du-Mont | Purple Doors + Magic Steps

“This is unbelievable! Look at this! There's no city like this in the world. There never was…Imagine this town in the '20s. Paris in the '20s, in the rain. The artists and writers…” - Gil Pender, Midnight in Paris

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Imagine sitting on these steps when the clock strikes midnight…

Imagine sitting on these steps when the clock strikes midnight…

You look down this street to see a vintage Peugeot approaching. The car pulls over to invite you into Paris of the 1920s — Hemingway, Scott and Zelda, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, Josephine Baker, Man Ray…

You look down this street to see a vintage Peugeot approaching. The car pulls over to invite you into Paris of the 1920s — Hemingway, Scott and Zelda, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, Josephine Baker, Man Ray…

Completed in 1626, the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is located around the corner from the Panthéon on the top of la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement. In addition to the magical steps, the church contains the tombs of St. Blaise…

Completed in 1626, the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is located around the corner from the Panthéon on the top of la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement. In addition to the magical steps, the church contains the tombs of St. Blaise, Jean Racine, and Jean-Paul Marat.

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The church is mentioned in Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast: "I walked past the Lycée Henri Quatre and the ancient church of St-Etienne-du-Mont and the windswept Place du Panthéon." Seems like Woody Allen did his homework!

The church is mentioned in Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast: "I walked past the Lycée Henri Quatre and the ancient church of St-Etienne-du-Mont and the windswept Place du Panthéon." Seems like Woody Allen did his homework!

This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.