guides
Paris is an open book
The city of light has been an inspiration to many writers and poets. Here is a selection of fantastic books which provide a chance to take a stroll round Paris. Remember to pack them !
Petits poèmes en prose (Paris Spleen)
This collection of 50 poems evokes the melancholy felt by Charles Baudelaire. The poet partly produced his final prose work in the Rue de Seine, in the heart of the Latin Quarter.
Quartier Latin, métros Saint-Michel et Cluny la Sorbonne 75005 Paris
Froth on the Daydream
The famous writer and musician Boris Vian died at 6 bis Cité Véron. In this charming building, constructed from old stalls from the Moulin Rouge, you could also have met Max Ernst and Jacques Prévert. This is a great opportunity to head off to explore the working-class streets of the 18th arrondissement.
Fondation Boris Vian 6 bis cité Véron 75018 Paris
The Phantom of the Opera
Reread this great literary classic and use it to explore its setting, the splendid Opéra Garnier. You won’t be quivering with fright, as in the novel by Gaston Leroux and its movie adaptations, but with admiration before the magnificence of the building!
Opéra Garnier Angle rues Scribe et Auber 75009 Paris
0825 05 44 05
A Moveable Feast
A real love song to the French capital, this book covers Ernest Hemingway’s early years as a penniless writer. Ideal for getting an idea of Paris in the 1920s and visiting the writer’s favorite places, like the brasserie La Closerie des Lilas, where he wrote The Sun Also Rises.
171 boulevard du Montparnasse 75006 Paris
01 40 51 34 50
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
In this book, the very Parisian Simone de Beauvoir, who was born on the Boulevard Raspail, recounts the first 20 years of her life. Read it before going for a coffee and a croissant at the Café de Flore, where she was a regular with Jean-Paul Sartre.
Café de Flore 172 boulevard Saint Germain-des-Prés 75006 Paris
01 45 48 55 26Adopt literary Paris – its authors and books will take you on a tour of the capital’s inspirational locations.