SubscribeHôtel Central
It was from the Hôtel Central that Miller would date two of the most momentous events of his life in Paris. One was the beginning of his love affair with Anaïs Nin. The other was his decision to begin writing a book that would become Tropic of Cancer.
On the twenty-fourth of August, 1931, Miller announced to his friend Emil Schnellock from the Hôtel Central: “I start tomorrow on the Paris book: first person, uncensored, formless—fuck everything!”
Miller’s affair with Nin began on March 8, 1932, following a night of passionate conversation at the Café Viking. From the café, Nin accompanied Miller back to room 40 at the Hôtel Central where they made love for the first time.
The Hôtel Central was home to Miller on several occasions in the early thirties. Here he shared the hospitality of Alfred Perlès who rescued him one night on the terrasse of the Dôme café by providing a place for Miller to sleep in his room. When funds permitted, Perlès paid for Miller to have a room of his own. In What Are You Going to Do About Alf, Miller warmly recalled Perlès’ generosity:
Fred, as I used to call him then, brought me up to his room. He hid me there for several weeks. He brought me food and cigarettes. He left money for me on the mantel-piece, in his delicate way. He found me a job. He sang and danced for me when my spirits lagged. He taught me French—the little I know. In brief, he put me on my feet again. And for that I can’t forget Alf, as I call him now.
Perlès recalled that Miller “liked his room at the Hôtel Central overlooking the little triangle of the Square du Maine, a triangle formed by seven mangy trees and a few wood benches, where the beggars and sandwichmen of the quartier. would go to eat their bread-and-cheese luncheons and drink their vin ordinaire straight from the bottle.” Further out, he could observe the neighborhood prostitutes plying their trade along the boulevard Edgar Quinet.
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Today the Square du Maine is home to a statue of the Lithuanian painter Chaïm Soutine. Soutine and Miller became neighbors when Miller moved into the Villa Seurat in 1934.
Miller’s room in the hotel was next door to Perlès’ and when Perlès was unable to afford the separate room they took turns making use of Perlès’ bed. Miller slept at night while Perlès worked through the early hours of the morning at The Chicago Tribune. The two sometimes shared a meal of fried pork chops and potatoes which they cooked over an oil lamp in Perlès’ room, which is vividly described in Tropic of Cancer:
Like a squirrel cage and shithouse combined. There was hardly room on the table for the portable machine he used. It was always like that, whether he had a cunt with him or not. Always a dictionary lying open on a gilt-edged volume of Faust, always a tobacco pouch, a beret, a bottle of vin rouge, letters, manuscripts, old newspapers, water colors, teapot, dirty socks, toothpicks, Kruschen Salts, condoms, etc. In the bidet were orange peels and the remnants of a ham sandwich.
Furthermore
Miller stayed in room 38 during the summer of 1931. In the spring of 1932, following his return from Dijon, he lodged in room 40.
Visit the Hôtel Central website to view photos of the rooms and to make a reservation.
Location
1 bis, rue du Maine – See it on Google Maps
Next Stop
Continue walking around the Square du Maine on the rue Poinsot and turn left onto the boulevard Edgar Quinet. Our next stop will be on your left at number 31. 
