A Book-Lover’s Guide to Paris

There was a lot of buzz in the media this summer regarding the Olympic Games taking place in Paris over July and August. From the massive renovations taking place across the city in preparation for the games, to the less-than-happy responses of local Parisians, it was a great concern for many people across Europe. Despite this preemptive unrest, the games seemed to go on without a hitch. But how did the games impact the experience of travelling to Paris afterwards?

There was a lot of buzz in the media this summer regarding the Olympic Games taking place in Paris over July and August

I visited Paris later in August, in between the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As someone who has zero interest in sports, I hadn’t really thought about how the Olympics might affect the experience of visiting – in fact, until the month before, I forgot they were happening altogether. But, upon preparing for the trip, there were some immediate upsides.

For one, I purchased a travel pass for around £35 that covered me for any and all public transport for the three days that I was there. This was listed as an ‘Olympic Travel Pass’, aimed at those visiting Paris for the Games. This gave me access to all of the famous tourist sites, as well as saving me a lot of money travelling across the city.

Because this was my first time visiting Paris, I can’t really speak to how the Games impacted the general hubbub of the city. A lot of the places that I wanted to visit are already hotspots for tourist traffic, such as the Catacombs, which were impossible to visit due to the site’s popularity. Many of the museums and galleries I was interested in, namely, The Museum of Romantic Life and Mémorial de la Shoah, were equally difficult to access, but I hope to visit when I return to the city. This is most definitely normal for Paris, and was unlikely to be massively impacted by the Games.

One of my main reasons for wanting to visit Paris was my interest in literary tourism. My adventures involved finding the bookish hotspots of the city, such as Le Deux Magots, an elegant cafe close to the Seine, known to have been a hotspot for creatives in Paris. Artists like Pablo Picasso, and writers including Ernest Hemingway and Arthur Rimbaud, are noted to have frequented there. I sat at a little table outside – perfect for people-watching in the bustling and beautiful city – and was treated to lovely desserts and famous Parisian hot chocolate by a delightful and eccentric waiter.

My next stops were to the note-worthy bookshop Shakespeare and Co. which is an amazing site for any book-lover to visit. I purchased a beautiful hardback of my favourite Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night. As well as a collection of short stories set in Paris; a rite of passage within the shop, upon purchasing your books, is to have the first page marked with the shop’s specialty stamp. Following this – and a much needed ice-cream in the adorning cafe – I walked a few streets over, to another important bookshop. The Abbey Bookshop is little bigger than a hole-in-the-wall, but amid the crammed shelves were beautiful classic volumes, in both English and French. The entire time I was there, I was searching for one of my favourite novellas – I Who Have Never Known Men – in the original French, but no luck. Nonetheless, both bookshops were amazing experiences.

My next stops were to the note-worthy bookshop Shakespeare and Co. which is an amazing site for any book-lover to visit

Another amazing experience was seeing the quayside stalls along the Seine River. I am a collector of landscape artwork, and always make a note to buy a painting or print when I visit a new place. Paris was the perfect location to do this. I bought two paintings; one, an acrylic masterpiece featuring the Eiffel Tower, and the other, an adorable watercolour of the streets of Paris. They are some of my favourite additions to my collection. These stalls also sell books and trinkets, so I bought an art print of some strawberries, as well as a stunning French hardback of Moby-Dick for my best friend.

One of the best moments of all, though, was the boat tour that I took down the Seine. This was a lovely early-evening trip, at a very inexpensive £16, that took us past all of the monuments along the river, concluding the Eiffel Tower. This is where, for the first time during the whole trip, I was reminded that the Olympic Games had just finished. I didn’t get the memo ahead of time that, among other renovations, the Olympic rings had been installed onto the Tower. While this didn’t subtract massively from this once-in-a-lifetime moment, it was a bit distracting and jarring to look at.

Overall, my trip was wonderful. I am determined to visit again, and see all of the things that I missed out on the first time around.

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