Secret Paris, timeless Paris, if you know where to look there are treasures to be discovered. There are ancient books shops, the quirky boutiques, studios and artisans workshops that are like stepping into the past. Maison Soubrier, in Rue de Reuilly, near the Sorbonne University in the heart of Paris is antiques store that’s like no other. Filled with glorious antiques, its more like a museum, except everything there is for rent…

Maison Soubrier

Maison Soubrier has been owned by the same family for over two hundred years. The firm originally produced period furniture, before moving into antique dealing. Louis Soubrier, the current owner, spent years visiting auction houses to indulge his passion for historic furnishings and beautiful objects, which he then sold to a few fortunate clients. He vividly recalls one of his all-time favourites: an imposing bronze aquamanile – a water ewer or jug, often in the shape of an animal – dating from the Renaissance, which was extremely rare and far too costly to purchase. He was given a second chance to buy it a few years later, as its age had been reassessed downward, along with its price.

A Paris secret

In recent years, the firm has focused exclusively on rentals. This extraordinary destination is a well-kept secret that’s open only to the trade, and attracts professional designers, decorators, and stylists from film, theatre, and television. Once past its portals, the visitor enters a courtyard and encounters two marble sphinxes flanking the entrance. Inside, an antique elevator panelled with original wainscoting, which dates back to 1900, moves between the three floors at a stately pace.

The unparalleled collection extends over 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2). It is meticulously organized by category, and everything on show is available for rent, from a Napoleon III-era presidential desk from the Élysée Palace, to an immense baroque mirror decorated with horns, or a copper deep-sea diver’s helmet; curiously, the most frequently borrowed piece in the catalogue is a 1920s cheval glass (full-length mirror). This accumulation of antique furniture, paintings, and objects—reminiscent of a vast cabinet of curiosities—is imbued with an indefinable scent that mingles dust, polished wood, and old documents, calling to mind the attic of a charming provincial home.

Extracted from: Timeless Paris: Ateliers, Emporiums, Savoir Faire, by Marin Montagut, Flammarion 2021, a gorgeous book about the treasure troves of Paris…

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Paris is full of secrets, of timeless treasures hidden away in plain sight. Maison Sennelier is one of them. This exquisite shop which has supplied artists for more than a century including Degas and Cezanne, Picasso and Hockney, is  in the 7th arrondissement. It’s a must visit for those who have a love of art and to step into the past…

Maison Sennelier

It is impossible to imagine a better location: Maison Sennelier is situated on the Quai Voltaire – across from the Musée du Louvre—on a site first owned by a paint merchant established in the eighteenth century. It has been owned by the same family since 1887.

Sophie Sennelier, the founder’s great-granddaughter, recalls her ancestor’s story. Trained as a chemist, Gustave Sennelier began producing colors for artists, in the form of oil paints, water-colors, and pastels. Before the invention of the grinder, he crushed the pigments himself by hand in a mortar. It was Cézanne who urged Sennelier to broaden the palette of colors he was offering. Degas also patronized this renowned establishment and purchased his famous soft pastels here. Later, Picasso, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, and Nicolas de Staël were clients. David Hockney is a regular these days.

A timeless treasure trove

The shop’s façade has remained unaltered since the nineteenth century. The interior is filled with old counters, glass cabinets, and oak furnishings that lend their charm to the cavernous treasure trove. Oil paint, specially-made honey-based watercolors, dry and soft pastels in hundreds of different tones, gouaches, acrylics, and colored inks are organized next to pencils, brushes of all sizes, notebooks, and sketch pads aplenty—more than thirty-five thousand items in all. The upstairs is devoted to paper of all sorts, produced from cotton, sisal, bamboo, and papyrus. Some types are made in France; others are imported from farther afield, including China, Mexico, Thailand, India, Egypt, Korea, and Nepal. Their grains range from fine to rough, and some are encrusted with straw, moss, rice, mother-of-pearl, or coral, like the brilliant “moon papers” from Vietnam.

Everything displayed here is an inspiration to paint or draw. A simple sketchbook and a box of watercolors are all you need to get started.

Extracted from: Timeless Paris: Ateliers, Emporiums, Savoir Faire, by Marin Montagut, Flammarion 2021, a gorgeous book about the treasure troves of Paris…

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Art deco Paris: You may well have sat behind a desk in your working life. But it’s unlikely that you’ve worked while seated at an Art Deco masterpiece of furniture. To do so these days (or to  imagine doing so) you could visit the permanent Art Deco exhibit at Paris’s Museum of Decorative Arts. Here you’ll find a fascinating room dedicated to the celebration of 1930s Art Deco modernity. All its sharp edges, sleek surfaces, highly polished metals, luxurious lacquers, dramatic intersections of verticals and horizontals and a sweeping sense of movement.

Art Deco Paris

Hausmann’s nineteenth century Paris is definitely not the first city that comes to mind when you’re thinking about obvious Art Deco influences. Although you can still find the first and one of the few Art Deco buildings in Paris, the Theatre des Champs-Elysées, on the Avenue Montaigne in the First Arrondissement. But really, Paris is half a world away from the most exuberant Art Deco city, being Napier in New Zealand. It was re-built pretty much completely in the style after a massive earthquake in the early 1930s. Miami in Florida is also a contender for the Art Deco city crown.

Despite its defiantly un-Deco look, Paris can fairly claim to be the city that seriously launched the angular and streamlined Art Deco style into the public consciousness. In 1925, Paris hosted the World’s Fair Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. That big mouthful of words was soon shortened to ‘Art Deco’ to encapsulate the expo’s dominant design and style.

1925 World Fair Paris

The expo was a massive seven-month, open-air affair, featuring a staggering 15,000 exhibitors and attracting 16 million visitors. And all this was long before the era of long-haul commercial air travel and mass tourism. Amazingly, the expo occupied a substantial continuous slice of prime Paris sites, from the Esplanade of Les Invalides across to the entrances of the Grand Palais and Petit Palais and along both banks of the Seine.

The manager’s desk that you can see today, designed by Michel Roux-Spitz, remains an astonishing expression of a challenging style that rejected the gentle sinuous and soft ‘organic’ tendrils of Art Nouveau. Instead, Art Deco embraced the materials and forms of the (then) modern industrial world across many artefacts and functions, from jewellery to locomotive engines.

A popular modernist saying of the time was that a house was a machine for living in. As we can see, this manager’s desk was a machine for working in. It is utterly functional and is stripped of any trifling decoration. Everything about the desk is dedicated to rationality and efficiency. But paradoxically, the desk is also an artefact of sheer beauty. It invites the viewer’s eye to run around every turn and detail. It is that rarest of objects: a machine that actually lifts our spirits.

You can visit the Museum of Decorative Arts in the west wing of the Palais du Louvre at 107 rue de Rivoli in the First Arrondissement of Paris.

By Brad Allan, writer and wine tasting host in Melbourne, Australia and frequent visitor to France…

Art deco buildings in Paris

If you’re a fan of art deco, there are some spectacular buildings in Paris to check out. It’s a style that was prevalent for buildings created for leisure activities – theatres, cinemas, swimming pools. The Grand Rex cinema is a great example with its fabulous facade and inside an trompe l’oeil starry sky ceiling. Le Luxor cinema is also a great example of Art Deco. The Palais de  Tokyo, the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris and the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadero all have art deco architecture. And the Palais de la Porte Dorée, built for the 1931 International Exhibition now hosts exhibitions in its art deco halls.

More on art deco in France

Villa Cavrois – an art deco jewel in Hauts-de-France

La Piscine – the art deco swimming pool turned world class museum in Roubaix

Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris

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Opera Garnier, Opera National de Paris or Palais Garnier, or more known commonly as the Paris Opera, whatever you call it, it’s generally considered to be one of the most important buildings in Paris.

Opera Garnier | the Versailles of Opera Houses

It’s actually not as old as you might think. In 1860, the city of Paris held a contest to choose a design for the new opera house. It was at a time when Paris was undergoing huge change under the direction of Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussman. Napoleon III appointed him to carry out a massive urban renewal programme in Paris. More than 170 designs were submitted and Charles Garnier, just 35 years old, was the winner. Born in rue Mouffetard, Paris, in 1825 he was formally educated but unknown. The opera house opened on 5 January 1875 and it was to make him internationally famous.

In creating Palais Garnier, he crafted the architectural style of the Second Empire. When Empress Eugénie, perplexed by the building’s lack of unity, asked him: “What is this style? This is no style, it is not Greek or Louis XVI”, Garnier replied “No, those styles are all outdated, this is Napoleon III”.

It wasn’t an easy project. During the course of its construction delays were caused by the discovery of an underground lake, a war in 1870, the Siege of Paris and fall of the Second Empire. Napoleon III died two years before the work was finished.

The Paris Opera company founded by Louis XIV in 1669 moved here, its 13th home, on 15 January 1875. It was an enormous success and became the showpiece of Haussman’s new Paris. To this day it is one of the largest theatres of the world with 1,979 seats.

Gold, glamour and glitz

Opulent, ornamental, gleaming, glamorous and glitzy – wow factor galore is what the Opera is all about both inside and out. The moment you enter its doors to the grand, mirrored foyers, designed for the rich to see and be seen, there’s no doubting that this was meant to be a statement building.

One of the most famous aspects of the building is the Grand Staircase built from white marble, with beautiful mellow lighting, sculptures and lots of gold – it’s utterly breath-taking and a theatrical setting. Though, if you visit in 2019 you might find the sight of two gold painted tractor tyres a bit bizarre. They’re part of a modern art installation by French artist Claude Lévêque to celebrate 350 years of the Paris Opera. Not all who see it are enthralled. It’s not the first time that Palais Garnier has caused controversy with its art choices.

In 1964, the ceiling of the auditorium was updated with a painting by Marc Chagall. So great was the criticism at this choice that the original painting by Eugene Lenepveu was retained underneath it.

Chagall’s secret message in the ceiling of the Paris opera house

The ceiling painted by Marc Chagall is now considered one of the wonders of Paris. Countless thousands have stood looking in awe at the incredible colours and images. Recently a secret was revealed in the painting. The Google Art Project which designs the most powerful cameras in the world and photographs major artworks around the world, captured images of Chagall’s painting. They invited Chagall’s son to review the images and he told them that his father had told him that he had painted him as a baby. But, he had never been able to see the image despite looking for many years.

The Google team zoomed in on the photos. And, incredibly, after more than 50 years the image was revealed. It was Chagall’s son, painted as a tiny baby, the son of Chagall (read more about Google’s discovery of Chagall’s secret painting).

Below it hangs an enormous, 340 light, 7-ton bronze and crystal chandelier designed by Garnier. In 1896 a counterweight, used to lift it for cleaning, fell into the audience and killed a theatre-goer. It was partly this which inspired the famous tale of the Phantom of the opera by Gaston Leroux in 1910. In fact go there today and you’ll see a door marked for the Phantom’s box!

A monumental Opera House

The stage is the largest in Europe and can hold up to 450 artists! When you visit there are often rehearsals ongoing so you can’t always get into the auditorium all the time but may have to wait to see it. In the Grand Foyer, lined with mirrors and lights is just like the Gallery of Mirrors at Versailles. It’s easy to imagine it in the 19th century, thronging with jewelled, wide gowned ladies and top-hatted gents. It was as much then, if not more so, about showing off your wealth as it was about seeing an opera.

It’s said that the opera house has 2,531 doors, 7593 keys and six miles of underground tunnels with a secret lake – where the Phantom of the Opera lives!

You can take a tour (self-guided or guided) to enjoy it in all its splendour. And, of course you can see an opera there – but book in advance, tickets sell like hot cakes!
How and where to get tickets from: There are a wide range of performances year round from ballet and opera, both classical to modern and a range of prices from 15 Euros to hundreds of Euros.
Book online at: www.operadeparis.fr
Guided tours take place in English each day at 11:00 and 14:30. Reserve online at Opéra Garnier or via tour companys like Cultival.

Fans of Escape Game might like to know you can take part in an immersive journey in the footsteps of the Phantom of the Opera, animated by actors in period costume! Book online at Opera de Paris (link above)

Discover more great things to do in Paris at: Parisinfo – the official website for the Paris Tourist Office

Read how Paris Garnier inspired the famous Opera cake
Ten things to do in Versailles

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In the shadow of the grand Paris Opera house lies a small and unique museum. The Musée de Pafum Fragonard is not one of the big museums that everyone visits, it’s not that well-known at all in fact, but it’s definitely worth seeking out.

The Musée de Parfum

The Musée de Parfum Fragonard is located in a beautiful building which in the 19^th century was the site of the Eden Theatre which hosted fairy tale ballets. It then became a centre for Parisians learning to ride the at-the-time new-fangled bicycles. In 1896 it became a store for English furniture maker Maple & Co. In 2014, Maison Fragonard, the iconic French perfume manufacture, founded in 1926, took the building over and turned it into a museum.

It’s free to enter and you can take a free guided tour which takes between 30 minutes to an hour (several languages).

You’ll discover the history of perfume and how to make it. There are glass cases containing ancient perfume bottles from the times of the ancient Egyptians to modern day. Perfume bottle collectors will absolutely adore this collection which dates back hundreds of years. There are travel cases and make up items, posters and pomanders. The “organ” of perfumes which the Master “Nose” perfumiers use to mix the raw essence is fascinating.

There’s an olfaction room, a perfume still and a perfumer’s workshop. Here you learn how to create your own personal perfume with expert guidance (cost Euros95, session lasts 1.5 hours).

The scent of orange blossom and jasmine fills the air in this lovely museum. If you love perfume, and who doesn’t, you’re going to enjoy this museum.

At the end of the tour, there’s a very smart shop where you can test the perfumes and buy.  I have to warn you though, it’s incredibly hard to resist those delicious smells!

Entry is free; open from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except January 1st, May 1st and December 25^th.

musee-parfum-paris.fragonard.com

Discover what to see and do in Paris at: Parisinfo.com

More on Paris Museums

Museum of History of Medicine, Paris – quirky and great fun!
Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Paris – a fabulous visit for fashion fans
Six of the most beautiful museums in Paris – must sees for their architectural splendour
5 Brilliant free museums in Paris – don’t be fooled into thinking if they’re free they’re not worth it, these are wonderful museums…

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Salvador Dalí loved Paris but few realize the Catalan artist resided for a time, at 7 rue Becquerel in Montmartre. Today close to his former home, there is a museum-gallery which contains hundreds of his works.

Espace Dalí museum-gallery

The Espace Dalí museum-gallery is located in the heart of the hilltop artists’ village in Montmartre. It contains the largest collection of artworks by Salvador Dalí in France. First opened in 1991, the gallery is an extraordinary chance to discover Dalí’s multifaceted work.

The collection of over 300 of Dalí’s works was put together by Italian art dealer and collector Beniamino Levi from his private collection which he started in the 70’s. La Galleria Levi in Milan featured exhibitions of heavyweights like Dubuffet, Picasso, Kandinsky and Le Corbusier, and in 1974, thanks to friendships with art dealer/collector Heinz Berggruen and Arturo Schwarz, Levi met Dalí at the Hotel Meurice where Dalí and Gala, Dalí’s wife and muse, would spend almost a month each year spanning thirty years.

Levi’s first acquisition was Œufs sur le plat sans le plat (Fried Eggs On A Plate Without The Plate 1932) and  Harpe invisible (Invisible Harp 1934) later exposed at his Milan gallery. After meetings in Paris, New York and Spain, Levi, forced to close his gallery, acquired the rights to publish twenty-nine images of some of Dalí’s most renowned paintings, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, The Persistence of Memory, Giraffe on Fire, giving Levi the rights to make bronze sculptures based on models designed by Dalí.

An incredible collection of Dalí’s artwork

From Dalí’s signature soft watches to theatrical, humorous and poetic objets and furnishings, The Maestro’s obsessions are on display, along with his fascination with science and the subconscious.

To better organize exhibitions, the central wall spins around a pillar so visitors can stroll between Dalí-esque metamorphoses and “galacidalacidesoxyribonucleicacid,” one of Dalí’s tongue-twisting neologisms for Gala, who predeceased him by seven years.

In “Conversations With Picasso,” Hungarian-born photographer/writer/artist and friend of Dalí, Brassaï writes, “Dalí met and surpassed (the surrealists’) expectations: he was the dreamed-of painter of dreams, of ecstasy, of erotic frenzy; a man in a delirium, a neurotic with all sorts of complexes, the bold and lucid explorer of the ‘irrational.’”

Dalí’s work always contained a whimsical element and the collection is the fruit of the emblematic surrealist artist’s extravagant inspiration: theatrical, erotic, dreamlike, often playful. There are sculptures, engravings and paintings, all part of the phantasmagorical universe of the man from Port Lligat.

Following several months of renovation work Espace Dalí reopened in spring 2018, the museum is a must for art and Dali fans…

ESPACE DALÍ,11 rue Poulbot, 75018 Paris; www.daliparis.com/en

Barbara Pasquet James is a U.S. lifestyle editor, speaker, and urban explorer who writes about food fashion and culture, from Paris. Find out more on her blog FocusOnParis.com

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Paris is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating cultural cities in the world. Historians say that there have been inhabitants in the area since at least 8000 BC, the Romans established a town here and it became the capital of Clovis, King of the Franks in 508 AD. In the middle ages Paris became one of the most important cities in Europe, universities were established, beautiful churches were built, it was the centre of power for the French Kings and Queens. The creation of beautiful buildings continued through the centuries. The Rennaissance was a strong influence, and in the 18th and 19th centuries stunning mansions and public buildings were erected, Haussmann left his mark and even now contemporary buildings continue to impress.

It’s not surprising then that culture has long been important in Paris and it’s no different today. We all know of the big hitters like the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum and the Eiffel Tower, the world’s most visited monument. But there are loads of smaller, less well known and fabulous cultural venues in Paris.

Cool culture

Le Centre-Quatre – 104

This quirky cultural venue in located in a former funeral parlour. No, I’m not kidding, it really is. There are resident artists, a cinema, theatre, regular exhibitions and concerts. There’s a cool café and shops too. This is definitely one of the most hip cultural spots for Parisians. Details: www.104.fr

The Palais de Tokyo

One of the most trendy spaces in Paris for modern art and the largest contemporary art centre in Europe with a vast exhibition area. The Palais de Tokyo stays open until midnight so you can get your late night art fix. There are two restaurants, Grand Verres is chic and has an excellent menu, Monsieur Blue is fabulous, especially when the terrace is open with great views of the Eiffel Tower (May to September). And, there’s even a night club at the museum called The YoYo.

Set in a Baroque 17th-century hotel in the heart of the Marais district, this is home to the largest collection of Picasso’s masterpieces anywhere in the world. Read our review: Picasso Museum

Musée Grevin

Meet celebrities and historical characters from Katy Perry to Queen Marie-Antoinette! Of course they’re made from wax as the Musée Grevin is the Paris equivalent of London’s Madame Tussauds. It’s also where you’ll discover the Hall of Mirrors, created for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, it has real wow factor.

Art with a heart

Parisians love to visit the city’s smaller museums like L’Orangerie where you’ll find Monet’s famous Nymphéas (water lilies) murals. The greenhouse-like Orangerie was built in 1852 to provide shelter for the orange trees in the Tuileries gardens.

Also popular is the little-known to visitors Musée Marmottan, which has more Monet paintings than any other museum. The building is a former hunting lodge built for a duke in the early 19th century and is architecturally gorgeous.

Musée Rodin

A permanent collection by the great sculpture and artist Rodin is on display in this  stunning private mansion. Dating from the 18th century, Rodin lived and worked here for several years. As well as the sculptor’s masterpieces, several works by his mistress and troubled muse Camille Claudel are also on display. You can see some of his major works here including The Thinker. Not too far away Camille Claudel also has a museum dedicated to her work (opened 2017). Details: MuseeRodin

Musee de la Vie Romantique

The Musée de la Vie Romantique is located in the former home of the painter Ary Scheffer in the Pigalle area, built in 1830. The ground floor is devoted to George Sand, the writer who lived in Paris. Portraits, furniture and jewellery from the 18th and 19th centuries are on display. On the first floor, Ary Scheffer’s paintings are surrounded by contemporary works. Two annual temporary exhibitions are organized as well as concerts, readings and activities for children. In the museum’s garden, the seasonal tearoom, a real haven of peace open from March to October, is a great place to relax and recharge with a drink and snack. Read our review: The Museum of Romantic Life in Paris

Wheely Culture

Get your skates on any Friday night and head to the Tour Montparnasse and head to the viewing deck, 200m high for stunning 360 degree views over the city. If you’re feeling adventurous, join Parisians on a 27-kilometer-long path which starts at the base and takes you on roads that are closed to traffic through the city. It’s an unusual way to sightsee and very Paris!

More cultural stuff on Paris

Promenade Plantée – the most unusual park in Paris
3 Brilliant English language book nooks in Paris that you’ll absolutely fall in love with
A very French Evolution in Paris’ 13th arrondissement where the modern architecture is absolutely eye-poppingly fantastic
5 Free museums in Paris you shouldn’t miss
Off the beaten track things to see in Paris including an ancient alchemist house whose owner appeared in a Harry Potter book!

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Earnest faced angels with pale pink and blue wings and voluminous frocks hover over the six musicians on a tiny stage. Solemn faced saints look down from their lofty perches. Shadows flicker across stained glass windows and sculpted walls that have stood for centuries as the sweet sound of Bach fills the air. An enraptured audience breaks into spontaneous applause as the musicians finish.

This is a concert like no other…

A true taste of culture in Paris inside one of the most ancient of churches where Kings and Queens prayed and religious relics that cost fortunes were once housed – Sainte Chapelle is a legendary building that is now also an incredible night time music venue.

The history of Sainte-Chapelle

It is quite extraordinary to be sitting in this building on the Ile de la Cite where the medieval Kings of France once lived. It’s a short walk from Notre-Dame Cathedral which was begun before the creation of Sainte Chapelle but completed afterwards.

It’s said that Sainte Chapelle took just seven years to build and was consecrated on April 26th, 1248. Its purpose was to house relics which King Louis IX (1214-1270), also known as Saint Louis, had bought. They were said to include fragments of the Crown of Thorns and of the Holy Cross.

The Church of Sainte Chapelle is bijoux and quite stunningly beautiful. There are 15 windows, each 15 metres high, the stained-glass panes depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments recounting the history of the world until the arrival of the relics in Paris. An astonishing work of art that must have been one of the wonders of its time – it still is.

Music at Sainte Chapelle

You can visit Sainte Chapelle during the day and, when the sun shines through those awesome windows, it’s like standing in a diamond encrusted jewel box.

But, for a really magical experience, there are almost nightly classical music concerts held in this ancient place. This is one of the most beautiful, historic buildings of Paris and to sit here and listen to great classical music played by passionate musicians is quite simply an encounter to cherish.

Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach and other great composers have their music played here, the acoustics are magnificent and sends shivers up your spine – it’s a magical night out.

Virtual Visit to Sainte-Chapelle

Take a virtual visit and wander at will through this gorgeous building and ogle at the stained glass up close: Photojpl.com

Sainte-Chapelle, 8 Boulevard du Palais, Ile de la Cite, Paris

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Happily, one-of-a-kind bookshops are alive, well and thriving in Paris, and everyone seems to have their favorites. More than just stop-offs to find a good read, these three are slightly off-the-radar and provide just enough zip and zing to keep me coming back.

LIBRAIRIE ALAIN BRIEUX

It is no accident that Librairie Alain Brieux is located almost around the corner from the College of Medicine Paris Descartes on rue Jacob. More than a bookshop, the librairie is a portal to the past that feels like you’ve walked onto a Harry Potter film set. Besides its formidable selection of antique medical books, it is the cabinets of curiosities and objets packing their shelves that will grab your attention: stuffed animals, skeletons and skulls, cringe-worthy scientific, medical and dental instruments, other-era globes, fossilized eggs, antique maritime brass telescopes, engravings, parlor games… In short, a place guaranteed to ignite your inner adventurier. More good news is, everything you see – save for the enormous crocodile hanging from the ceiling in the front room – is for sale. Browsing is encouraged and one does not have to be in the medical profession to appreciate this easy-to-walk-past gem.

48 rue Jacob 75006 Paris; www.alainbrieux.com; Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Line 4), Mabillon (Line 10)

 HALLE SAINT-PIERRE

Coffee, art, and seriously funky art books co-mingle in this “concept space” that used to be an enormous covered market. An unexpected oasis known to induce gasps in first time visitors, Halle Saint-Pierre is a world away from the nearby tourist hordes at the foot of Sacre Coeur. On the left as you enter is an inviting café with a health-conscious array of baked goods, light salads and quiches on the countertop at lunchtime. If you get lucky as I did one morning you’ll be kept company by macabre papier-mâché sculptures while nursing a grand crème. Wander behind the black curtain into the Musée d’Art Naïf where works by heavy hitters such as New York enfant terrible Warhol protégé Jean-Michel Basquiat might be on exhibit. The can’t-miss light-flooded bookstore with its fringe art-related titles – many in English – makes this destination truly exceptional (top photo).

2 Rue Ronsard 75018 Paris; www.hallesaintpierre.org; Metro: Anvers (Line 2)

ARTAZART

Artazart first caught my eye as I walked out of Marcel’s on the Canal Saint-Martin about a year ago. Its friendly graffiti-feel red façade across the water promised an artsy experience – and I am all about the experience – and it was. Seventeen years ago the bookshop started out selling art books only, but later design, photography, architecture, and a très originale children’s section were added to its repertoire. Their appreciation for the avant-garde began to attract alternative publishers, which translates into a trove of some of the most creative content you’ll ever leaf through. While their kids’ books are primarily in French, many feature pop-up cut-outs, which make them coveted by parents and grand-parents from all language backgrounds. Artazart’s location on the canal, smack in the middle of many fabuleux places to eat, drink, and hang, will turn a visit to this intimate librairie into an outing.

85 quai de Valmay 75010 Paris; www.artazart.com; Metro: Jacques Bonsergent (Line 5)

3 Brilliant English language book nooks in Paris that you will totally fall in love with

4 more fabulous book shops in Paris including one that’s open until 2.am and serves wine!

Barbara Pasquet James is a U.S. lifestyle editor, speaker, and urban explorer who writes about food fashion and culture, from Paris. She is known for helping launch, write and edit USA Today’s City Guide To Paris and can be contacted via her photo blog FocusOnParis.com

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Paris loves its book shops, just think of those green book boxes that line the River Seine. Known as the bouquinistes de Paris the 217 book sellers have 900 boxes between them containing 30,000 books! These open air book stalls that line the walls of the  offer the perfect opportunity for wandering and flicking through second-hand books and absorbing the history and culture of the city.

If you’re a bibliomaniac (someone with an enthusiasm for book collecting!) or bookworm – then Paris has plenty to keep you happy, including several English language book stores.

Three brilliant book nooks in Paris

Shakespeare & Company

One of the most famous and much loved English language book stops in the city luring visitors from  around the world to browse amongst the heaving book shelves. It even made an appearance in Woody Allen’s film “Midnight in Paris”. A stone’s throw from Notre Dame, a Wallace Fountain in front, a cute little café on the corner with fabulous views, I like it best at night (and it opens really late) when the fairy lights glow. Though this is not the original location for the shop in the days when Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald perused the stock, it continues to win smitten fans with its mellow, quaint look and feel, it’s awesome literary connections and fabulous choice of old and new books.

37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 5^th Arr; shakespeareandcompany.com; Metro: Saint-Michel; Open 10am – 11pm.

Smith & Son The English Bookshop in Paris

After an absence of more than 20 years, the tea room of this most English of book shops reopened in 2016 in its prime position on the corner of Rue de Rivoli and Rue Cambon, a short distance from the Louvre.

Smith & Son, formerly WHSmith & Co. opened here in 1903 and for expats in France, it’s a true taste of home, in fact it was like walking into my local branch in Bromley High Street when I recently visited! The only things that are not the same are the prices (it’s more expensive) and the sales staff have French accents though they all seem to speak excellent English. And, there’s a very nice tea room run by that most British of Tea companies, Twinings! Nip up to the first floor for a pot of tea, lunch or afternoon tea with traditional scones and jam! In the past umpteen celebrities have enjoyed tea here in this little oasis away from the busy streets outside. There’s a great selection of books, newspapers and magazines, and it’s open 362 days a year!

248 rue de Rivoli, 1st Arr; whsmith.fr; Metro: Concorde; Opens 9h30 – 19h30 Monday to Saturday, 12.30 – 19.30 Sunday.

Berkeley Books

Berkeley Books of Paris opened for business in May 2006 when three Californians who had worked together at a nearby bookstore decided to team up and open their own place. Popular with American visitors, it has a great range of used books (English language), you can swap, buy, stroke the shop’s cat and enjoy concerts, readings and exhibitions from time to time.

8, rue Casimir Delavigne 6^th Arr; Closed Mondays 12 – 8 Tuesday – Saturday, 2 – 8 Sunday; Metro: Odeon berkeleybooksofparis.org

More book stuff

4 more brilliant bookstores in Paris
The Bouquinistes de Paris – historic second hand book sellers with a UNESCO tag!
The history of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris
The discovery of a priceless Shakespeare book worth countless millions in a municipal library in rural France!

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