{A Pocket Guide to Paris}

A Miscellany

May 05, 2024

To know Paris is to know a great deal.

-Henry Miller

Of course, I am just scratching the surface…and this list reflects my favorites and my particular interests. What am I missing - I would love to know! What are your favorite spots in Paris? Your favorite books or movies?

{A Few Books set in Paris}

Note: These are just a few books I have enjoyed out of the thousands of books that have been set there.

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway

The Paris Wife, Paula McLain

{Hemingway’s book about his time in Paris, and a fictionalized account of the same.}

The Three Musketeers, Alexander Dumas

The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo

{Two classics, of course.}

The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy

{Another book about an American in Paris, this time a young woman in the 1950s.}

The Judgment of Paris, Ross King

Sacré Bleu, Christopher Moore

{The true story of the Paris art world in the 1860s, and the fictionalized story of Van Gogh’s suicide in the 1890s.}

The Private Lives of the Impressionsts and In Montmartre, Sue Roe

{Two more non-fiction books about artists in Paris.}

Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach

The Paris Bookseller, Kerri Maher

{Continuing with a theme - Sylvia Beach’s memoir about her ground-breaking bookshop, and a fictionalized account of the same.}

Time Was Soft There, Jeremy Mercer

{A memoir about the other Shaksespeare and Company, the one you can still visit today.}

{Did you know?}

That it was illegal for women to wear pants in Paris until 2013? A ban had been put into place in the aftermath of the French Revolution, in 1800. Women, if they wished to wear trousers, had to appeal to the French authorities to gain permission to “dress like a man”. Amendments were added to the law at the turn of the century, to allow for comfortable riding of bicycles and horses…but the law was not formally abolished until 2013.

{One piece of artwork not to miss if you visit}

Forget the Mona Lisa. If you can only visit one painting in Paris, make it Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe at the Musée d’Orsay…the painting that sparked a revolution at 1863’s Salon des Refusés, and ushered in the era of Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism, and everything after...

Runner up: The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Cluny Museum.

{One Random Fact}

The first motion pictures were shown to the public in December, 1895 at the Salon Indien du Grand Café, near the Opéra in Paris. The screening consisted of ten short films by the pioneering Lumière Brothers, including Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon, the short film considered to be the first motion picture. There is museum dedicated to the Lumière Brothers in their former home in Lyon, where you can watch many of their films.

{A Few Rapid-Fire Favorites}

{Prettiest Door}

I love this door, and think it must be the prettiest one in Paris. It is right around the corner from the American Library, and not far from the Eiffel Tower. It was designed in 1901 in high Art Nouveau style by the architect Jules Lavirotte.

{Favorite Paintings}

My personal favorite paintings in the city are these three by Georges Seurat. They are each only about 10” x 6”, but they are little gems. They are studies for the painting Poseurs, at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Seurat’s works are always a marvel - you hear stories of him climbing onto a ladder to paint one little dot of paint, and then climbing down, looking at the canvas from afar, and then climbing back onto the latter to paint one more little dot. And so on and so on - sometimes for years. The Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte apparently took him two years to paint. I like the relaxed looseness of these little studies. Much like the Eiffel Tower, they shimmer.

{Best Place to Buy Books}

The best place to buy books is, of course, along the banks of the Seine. Les bouquinistes have set up shop along the Seine since the 16th century. There are more than 240 bouquinistes in Paris today, selling their wares from over 900 of the strictly-regulated green boxes. Some of them sell reproduction prints and souvenir postcards, but many of them are also legitimate antiquarian and used booksellers, taking their trade very seriously.

{Prettiest Square}

I think that the prettiest square in Paris is the Places des Vosges. With red brick residences lining all four edges and manicured green lawns and trees, it is symmetrical perfection. One of these houses belonged to the author Victor Hugo, and you can tour his house free of charge. It is small but lovely - he was quite a successful author in his time. The residences have covered arcades at street level, and there are several cafes and restaurants with tables on the sidewalk. I’m not sure there’s a better place in Paris to have a café creme and a croissant.

{Best Street Lights}

Place de la Concorde. Although the ornate, art nouveau street lamps lining the Pont Alexandre III are pretty spectacular, too.

{Best Cat}

I was going to say Best Street Musician, but honestly, almost anyone can play “La Vie en Rose” on the accordian. Not all cats have the patience of a saint, though. How many times do you think he’s heard that song? (Video)