If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.
The remark describes Paris as an experience that continues to influence a person long after they have left. The image of a “moveable feast” suggests that the city’s pleasures, memories and lessons can be carried elsewhere rather than remaining tied to one location. Living there while young is presented as especially formative because experiences from that period can become part of a person’s lasting sense of identity.
The idea also reflects the retrospective character of A Moveable Feast, in which Hemingway recalls his early years as a writer in 1920s Paris. His memories encompass work, friendship, marriage, poverty, food and literary life, giving the city significance beyond its physical setting. The quotation therefore connects happiness with memory and place: a valued period cannot literally be recovered, but its influence can remain present throughout later life.