ooh La La! Napster in Paris, at the Hemingway Bar, Ritz, Paris.

Hemingway Bar. Birthplace of the Bloody Mary,
and still a place of legends.

Recently, Napster was invited to participate in Cecily Bradshaw's Ritz Paris Hemingway Bar project. It was an honour. The adventure began with an email from Cecily, which we happily share here:

"I recently learned something fascinating about Paris that I want to share with you!

In a tribute to its literary history, The Hemingway Bar at the Ritz serves as a mailbox for aspiring authors, journalists, and poets.

Apparently, they collect correspondence in a glass display case behind the bar. When in Paris, you can drop in and collect your mail.

Being a huge Hemingway fan, this appeals to me tremendously.


Robert and I will be travelling to Paris this April from the 3rd to the 8th. I am hoping that you will take the time to send me an artistic (or even plain!) postcard or letter.

I thought it would be fun to make this a “mini-project” with the end result being a book created from the correspondence."

Now, Napster is all about the creative process, and was delighted to participate. Besides, he rather fancies himself as a Parisian artiste...  with his ragged ears, and now with a missing front tooth, he is channeling some of those tortured but brilliant artists and authors...

Off went one of his art cards to Cecily, c/o the Hemingway Bar. We just received the follow up letter from Cecily, updating us on her experience.



"A gigantic thanks to you, the over 60 people and pets, who sent mail to me (and Robert too!) at the Ritz Bar in Paris.
It was almost overwhelming to receive such a great volume of interesting, inspiring, and amusing items.
To give you an idea about the variety, it included suggestions of great places to visit in Paris, stories of the sender's memories of Paris, original artwork and photography (including from a cat who paints with his tail!), travel postcards, passages from favourite books and poems, Hemingway quotes, clever photos of Mr. Dickens (our dog) to make us miss him more than we were already doing, quotes about horses, cards written in french, a wooden airplane postcard that really flies, a vintage Sports Illustrated cover featuring Ernest Hemingway, and many, many well wishes for an enjoyable stay in Paris.

It was wonderfully thrilling to stay at such an historic hotel. Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald were but two of the many famous patrons. From my lifetime, Princess Diana's visit to the Ritz, ending in tragedy, is forever fixed in memory. Hard to believe that was August 1997...

Happily, Robert and I now have our very own "Ritz story" made very unique and memorable by each of your contributions. We never did discover the name of the violinist, in the suite next door, who serenaded us in the afternoons...and at 2 o'clock in the morning. We will also never forget paying 11 euro for a Diet Coke from the minibar or 30 euro for a martini at the Hemingway Bar. Mon Dieu!!

Thank you all once again for your kindness and I will keep in touch as to the future of "our" little collection. I hope to honour it in a significant way."

Life is an adventure, it's all about the trip. Cheers to you Cecily! We hope Napster's art added a little something special to this very memorable occasion.  What a great project, and what fun it gave you on your Paris trip!