La Closerie des Lilas

 France > Ile-de-France > Paris > Paris

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The Closerie des Lilas is a café and restaurant in the Montparnasse district of Paris. Since its opening in 1883, it has attracted countless famous artists and writers, these included Émelie Zola, Claude Monet, Guillaume Apollinaire, Lenin, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Jean-Paul Sartre and, in his younger years, Mick Jagger and Johnny Depp. The name means as much as "yard of lilacs" (originally lilac bushes were planted here), at the time the establishment was next to a ballroom ("Bal Bullier", closed today), whose visitors met here before or after the dance. Today the Closerie des Lilas is still equipped with the interior decor of the 1920s.