© Studio TTG
Does reading help you get away from it all? Explore the city of Paris through books and discover its different facets as you turn the pages.
From Victor Hugo and Emile Zola to Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Queneau, Parisian life has been and remains an endless source of inspiration for writers and artists. Through their pens and pencils, the City of Light reveals itself as a muse, providing – irrespective of the period – the context for numerous novels, poems, essays, comic books, drawings or historical accounts.
A skilful cocktail of intrigue and travel, books reveal the lesser-known facets of the city and invite readers to visit the Paris of their imaginations.
Because of the current health crisis, a lockdown has been declared until further notice and bookshops have had to remain closed. A map is available showing the bookshops that are offering click and collect, enabling them to continue to do business. Simply reserve your preferred title at the bookshop of your choice and collect it from the shop.
Selected by Librairie Galignani, Paris 1er
© Ruines de Paris Gallimard
An exquisite book by photographer Christopher Thomas, published by Prestel, featuring the light of Paris. Just what we could do with at the moment! Thomas, a regular exhibitor at Galerie XII, walked the streets of Paris in the early morning hours and captured familiar sites, from Notre Dame to Orsay, from the Tuileries Gardens to the Moulin Rouge, from the Seine to Place Vendôme. The book was published well before lockdown, but the photographer’s hauntingly beautiful portrait of the city totally resonates in the current atmosphere.
Selected by Librairie Artazart, Paris 10e
© Stéphane Gizard
On 17 March, the capital of France switched off and shut down. Not a sound, deserted streets, silent boulevards. The only sign of life the pigeons against that bright blue sky that lasted for two months. Stéphane Gizard took advantage of this period to cross and re-cross Paris on a Vespa scooter and photograph the great emptiness that magnified the city. ‘Paris Silence’ is the first book of photography to look at Paris during lockdown – a collection, to quote Paris’s mayor Anne Hidalgo, of ‘Inspirational moments (…) captured with talent and creativity’.
Parisian museums pamper kids with puzzles, video games, virtual tours, experiences and web series.
