Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [58]
I want to put my hand in my pocket and come up with a fistful of Métro stubs that were not required to leave the station last week and shuffle through them until I come up with the one needed for my release today. I want to stand midpoint on any bridge at any time of day, and store the sensations in every pore.
RECOMMENDED READING
As Terrance Gelenter notes on his Web site Paris Through Expatriate Eyes (paris-expat.com), “If Helen of Troy was the face that launched a thousand ships, then Paris is the city that launched tens of thousands of books.” Believe it or not, this list was edited—there are some (very good) titles I decided to save for my blog—but it simply isn’t possible for me to shorten this list of recommendations any further.
Living in Paris, José Alvarez with photography by Christian Sarramon and Nicolas Bruant (Flammarion, 2006). Originally published in French as L’Art de vivre à Paris, this is one of those rare coffee-table books that is filled with great photos and substantive text. It’s one of my very favorite books, and the eighteen-page visitor’s guide at the back of the book is excellent.
Paris, Julian Green (Marion Boyars, 2000). A wonderful, brilliant little book printed in both French (on the left-hand pages) and English (on the right-hand pages). Green (his first name is usually spelled Julien) was born in Paris in 1900 and died there in 1998, and he left only during World War II. He thus knew the city more intimately and far longer than many others. This is his very personal love poem to Paris, which begins with an inviting opening line: “I have often dreamed of writing a book about Paris that would be like one of those lazy, aimless strolls on which you find none of the things you are looking for but many that you were not looking for.” Having the French text side by side with the English presents a unique language-learning opportunity. Twenty-four of Green’s own black-and-white photos are included.
Paris: The Biography of a City, Colin Jones (Viking, 2005). In his introduction, Jones notes that one Piganiol de la Force, author of an early visitor’s guide in 1765, stated that “one would be very wrong if, seeing the vast number of books devoted to the history of Paris … one imagined that there was nothing more to be said.” The vast number of books about Paris is indeed staggering, but Jones sets out to encompass the city’s history in a single volume anyway, what he refers to as an “impossible” history of Paris. He’s done quite an admirable job—though, at nearly five hundred pages, this is not for the casual reader—and he hopes that, for all its omissions, the book “will contain enough of interest to manage a Michelin Guide recommendation: vaut le détour.” I think it is a worthy detour indeed.
Paris Inside Out: The Insider’s Handbook to Life in Paris, David Applefield (Globe Pequot, 2005). Applefield arrived in Paris in 1978 “at the Gare du Nord in the somber grayness of a typical Parisian October,” and he’s still there. This is a guide geared mostly for those who plan to live in Paris, but I find it very useful even for visitors who simply want to know Paris on a deeper level. “The Author’s Credo for Survival in Paris” is of value to both short- and long-term visitors, as are a great number of other topics.
Paris en poche (in your pocket)
An entertaining and ridiculously fun book to bring along is Paris Quiz: How Well Do You Know Paris? by Dominique Lesbros (Little Bookroom, 2009). With four hundred “provocative, curious, and humorous questions” about Paris arranged from the first through twentieth arrondissements, this little paperback (it fits in a pocket or small handbag) is not only interesting but perfect for those times when you might be waiting for a train or a subway, or just have some time to kill. I find the questions incredibly addictive, and even those who think they know a lot about Paris may be surprised.
Paris: Buildings and Monuments, Michel Poisson (Harry N. Abrams,