Aux Deux Magots wasn't always the renowned café it is today, a meeting place for writers, artists, and tourists. At the beginning of the 19th ^century , it was a novelty shop that opened its doors in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where Parisian women stocked up on fabrics and other finery. But the competition The department store business was tough, and the place was transformed into an office, then a wine warehouse. All these activities declined, until, in 1914, the place became the café so integral to Saint-Germain-des-Prés life. Since then, nothing has changed, from the red banquettes to the two neo-Chinese statues – the famous two Magots – which have seen countless legends pass through, from Louis Aragon to Jean-Paul Sartre, from Ernest Hemingway to Pablo Picasso.

President of the Prix des Deux Magots for almost half a century, Jean-Paul Caracalla takes us into the romantic history of this mythical place.