Belated Honeymoon in Paris

Paris, France

September 16, 1963 - October 2, 1963

John in Paris, September of 1961

Photographed by Paul McCartney

In September of 1963, the Beatles had two weeks off between tours and recording. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr opted to go to Greece with their girlfriends, Jane Asher and Maureen Cox. George Harrison went to Benton, Illinois with his brother Peter to visit their sister Louise. As for John? He decided that it was now time to take Cynthia somewhere on their belated honeymoon. They couldn't do it after they got married: John was on tour. They couldn't do it after Julian's birth: Cynthia was still recovering from birth and John used that break to go to Spain with his manager. September seemed like the right time: Julian was now on the bottle, Cynthia was fine, so honeymoon was a perfect time to go. Cynthia arranged for Julian to be with Aunt Harrie and his young Aunts, Julia and Jacqui. Nevermind Aunt Mimi… bet she was happy to have the house to herself while everyone was away. Lillian was still in Canada.

On the day of their departure, a very excited Cynthia came down with probable food poisoning and had the taxi cab driver pull over countless times. So much so that John was at the verge of cancellation. But Cynthia said No! We are going, end of story. I bet she would still go if she had been in a coma. She was not going to let this opportunity to be with her husband slip through her fingers! By the time she got on the plane and in Paris, Cynthia was fine. John and Cynthia stayed at George V Hotel. Their room was beautiful, Cynthia felt out of place… she felt it was too fancy for what she was used to. Maybe felt like she might break something expensive. She was used to small cramped up spaces that were dark and weary, rather than bright spacious room with expensive antiques. It was certainly a Wow factor, impressive and exciting. She was finally exposed to John's growing wealth. John wanted to spoil his wife. He had been to Paris an over a year before during his 21st birthday and went with Paul. I guess Paris impressed John as well: not only Cynthia but he also took Yoko Ono there for their own honeymoon in 1969. I wouldn't be surprised if John had picked Paris to live rather than New York if it wasn't for Yoko and her love for the city.

Cynthia wearing her white beret and coat John bought her in Paris during their honeymoon in New York City on February 7, 1964

John took Cynthia to the sights: the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Le Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and walked along the embankment. He bought himself a movie camera (where are those home movies?) and bought Cynthia a white beret, a gray coat, a leather skirt, and Chanel No 5. among other things.

John, Cynthia, Astrid, and Astrid's friend in Astrid's hotel bed after a night of drinking in Paris, September of 1963.

Artwork by Cynthia

About mid-way into their time in Paris, John and Cynthia arrived back to their hotel  after sightseeing and a receptionist handed them a note. It was from Astrid Kirchherr. She somehow heard that John and Cynthia were in Paris… how did she find out? The only culprit I can think of is Jürgen Vollmer. Jürgen was a Hamburg friend who moved to Paris; during John and Paul's trip to Paris, they met up together and he cut John and Paul's hair into the 'Beatle’ hairdo. John and Cynthia could have met up with Jürgen and he told Astrid when she also saw him (or by phone?). Astrid was also in Paris for a quick holiday with a girl pal. She suggested to meet up and left her number. They immediately went to their room to call and that night went out until the wee hours and drank. Then the happy foursome went to Astrid and the girl’s hotel room and drank some more- yeah… John and Cynthia weren't going to go anywhere in their state of mind; they were so drunk. They all piled into Astrid and the girl's single bed and slept it off.

At some point during the trip, Brian Epstein also joined in… uninvited. Why Brian decided to go to Paris and crash John and Cynthia's honeymoon is a mystery. I wouldn't be surprised if John and Cynthia weren't happy about it- I certainly wouldn't! However, that being said, Cynthia did not ever mentioned Brian being there in her two books or her HELLO! 6 installment magazine issues. Maybe he left them alone and only joined up for coffee and same air flight back to London.

John and Yoko in Paris during their honeymoon, 1969.

Same city where John took Cynthia for their own honeymoon in 1963

The only gripe I have is Cynthia's date confusion. She had the right month, but not how many days she was in Paris. In her first book, A Twist of Lennon, she wrote one week. In her 6 HELLO! magazine issues and her second book, John, Cynthia wrote 3 days. However, in every chronologically date books out there, it's said 17 days in Paris. So, that's what I am going with- 17 days of honeymooning.