70 bis, entrée des artistes

by Patrick Modiano, Christian Mazzalai

"Il n’existe pas, pour le Montparnasse d’il y a deux cents ans, l’équivalent des pages si émouvantes et si élégiaques que Gérard de Nerval a consacrées au Montmartre des années 1840. Alors il faut rêver à ce que pouvait être à la même époque la rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, qui s’était appelée jadis le “Chemin Herbu”."

Ce livre est un récit-enquête consacré à une adresse oubliée de Montparnasse, du temps où le quartier était encore un village et un foyer d’artistes.
Grâce à des archives, photographies et petites annonces retrouvées par Christian Mazzalai, Patrick Modiano fait revivre "La Boîte à Thé" et les ateliers du 70 bis rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs qui virent défiler, du second Empire à l’après-guerre, artistes peintres, écrivains, poètes, hommes et femmes, illustres ou inconnus, venus d’Amérique, du Japon ou d’ailleurs pour tenter leur chance à Paris.

Genres: Art

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 2, 2025

About the author

Patrick Modiano is a French-language author and playwright and winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature.

He is a winner of the 1972 Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française, and the 1978 Prix Goncourt for his novel "Rue des boutiques obscures".

Modiano's parents met in occupied Paris during World War II and began a clandestine relationship. Modiano's childhood took place in a unique atmosphere: with an absent father -- of which he heard troubled stories of dealings with the Vichy regime -- and a Flemish-actress mother who frequently toured. His younger brother's sudden death also greatly influenced his writings.

While he was at Henri-IV lycee, he took geometry lessons from writer Raymond Queneau, who was a friend of Modiano's mother. He entered the Sorbonne, but did not complete his studies.

Queneau, the author of "Zazie dans le métro", introduced Modiano to the literary world via a cocktail party given by publishing house Éditions Gallimard. Modiano published his first novel, "La Place de l’Étoile", with Gallimard in 1968, after having read the manuscript to Raymond Queneau. Starting that year, he did nothing but write.

On September 12, 1970, Modiano married Dominique Zerhfuss. "I have a catastrophic souvenir of the day of our marriage. It rained. A real nightmare. Our groomsmen were Queneau, who had mentored Patrick since his adolescence, and Malraux, a friend of my father. They started to argue about Dubuffet, and it was like we were watching a tennis match! That said, it would have been funny to have some photos, but the only person who had a camera forgot to bring a roll of film. There is only one photo remaining of us, from behind and under an umbrella!" (Interview with Elle, 6 October 2003). From their marriage came two girls, Zina (1974) and Marie (1978).

Modiano has mentioned on Oct 9, 2014, during an interview with La Grande Librairie, that one of the books which had a great impact on his writing life was 'Le cœur est un chasseur solitaire' (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), the first novel published by Carson McCullers in 1940.

(Arabic: باتريك موديانو)

Reviews

[Ulysse · Rating 5 out of 5]

We don’t often think of the places we live in
As belonging to other people
Either before we moved in or after
Long after we’ve turned to dust

Paris is great for that because no matter
Where you are the spot you’re standing on
Was once briefly occupied by a dead artist or crook
(Sometimes both—they’re not mutually exclusive)

70 bis Notre-Dame-des-Champs
Is such a spot—amazing really how many
Famous people have come and gone
From that address—think Chelsea Hotel but twice as old

I myself have walked by so many times
Not knowing that everyone from George Sand
To Théophile Gautier—from R.L. Stevenson
To Hedy Lamarr—were associated with it

A nexus of the avant-garde—so many eccentrics
Exfoliating inside its four walls
And now Modiano and the guitarist from Phoenix
Have collaborated on a book about this place

I don’t want to say too much other than
I loved every page of this book
It made me think how generations come and go
Each with its load of brilliant minds

Its broken hearts—its love-stained furniture
(Strange how beds outlive the lovers that sleep in them!)
Are we not like the leaves—those clichéd leaves
Falling from the great chestnuts along the Seine

All different shapes and sizes but essentially the same
Variations on a theme of life
The trip down a dance and a twirl
A line here—a brushstroke there—a melody

A gap-toothed comb—a war medal
A faded photograph—an obsolete laptop
A memory stick in a cardboard box
Tax forms and utility bills—little things we leave behind?

Are we the things we leave behind?

This book also reminded me
That time keeps sprinkling dust
On our stacks of unread books
And that somebody’s gonna to have to haul
Those books somewhere
Or read them
After we’re gone

[Vio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Focus sur un lieu et sur toustes les artistes qui y passent en 1,5 siècle. Très (trop ?) simple et factuel, mais chouette pour qui aime la cartographie parisienne, la vibe saint-germain-des-prés et les biographies d'artistes. Il m'a donné envie de wiki-checker la vie de plein de femmes dont les œuvres ont l'air incr.

[Hélène Espérou · Rating 4 out of 5]

« Modianissime »… évocation accompagnée de photos des artistes, écrivains ou journalistes qui se sont succédés dans les ateliers du 70 bis rue Notre dame des Champs.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une collaboration images et textes qui nous renvoie dans le Monde de Montparnasse avant les magasins, les enseignes hurlantes et bien sûr la Tour.
Au hasard des pages et des photos rentrent en scène certains des fantômes de mon panthéon personnel: Foujita, Modigliani, Joyce, Caresse Cosby et Gurdjieff pour n’en citer que quelques-uns. Un régal suranné!

[Charles Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a novel but a collection of artists and writers who’ve stayed at a particular address in Montparnasse. Lots of elements of a Modiano novel, with lists of almost familiar names and lost connections.

[Clémence]

Je ne comprends pas l'intérêt de ce livre. Les biographies sont à peine effleurées.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

c'est un peu fâde... mais je suis sûr que les auteurs se sont donnés du bon temps. mais le lecteur ...
fâde.... Garçon, vous n'auriez pas quelque chose de plus corsé? avec un belle histoire en plus, si possible? merçi.

[Ugo Loumé · Rating 4 out of 5]

l'espion melancolique du passé

[Johanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un projet de vanité facile à lire. Quelques informations intéressantes mais sans plus. Déduit une étoile pour l'obsession avec le "singe Jacques".