Old-Fashioned Corners of Paris
  • Published: 15 May 2014
  • ISBN: 9781936941100
  • Imprint: NY Review Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 194
  • RRP: $35.00
Categories:

Old-Fashioned Corners of Paris

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A one-of-a-kind guidebook to the most charming corners of Old World Paris, arranged and produced with the beautiful quality Little Bookroom readers have come to expect and admire.

Here and there, if you know where to look, it still is possible to catch a glimpse of an almost-vanished Paris: a scene, an object, that somehow has miraculously survived decades, even centuries. Old-fashioned Pleasures of Paris is a small and exquisite catalog of these rarities.

Christophe Destournelles has discovered dozens of vintage “moments”: confiseries, barbershops, glove shops; a bougnat (a café that traditionally also sold coal) a bouillion (a restaurant that originally served soup); hookah lounges, movie theatres, harness races, dive bars, and underground jazz clubs. He’s found vintage photo booths, carousels, public scales, the last remaining pissoir. He’s uncovered tiny establishments that quietly carry on with obscure trades: phonograph, radio, and clock repair; hand pressing; shoe polishing. Small details that would be easy to overlook are celebrated in all their everyday glory: the illuminated subway map, the café where the napkins of regulars are kept in a nook, the once-ubiquitous little stand of hardboiled eggs that once could be found on every zinc bar. Each of these spots, however humble, is worth a visit; even the routier, a restaurant that originally served truck drivers, is a visual feast, with its yellow formica counter, red and white checked napkins, and handwritten menu, antique café chairs, and vintage signage.
 
Lovers of Paris will be thrilled to know what streets are particularly beautiful when the snow falls, the history of old telephone exchanges, and where to find old-timers playing pétanque.  This is a book for visitors—addresses and phone numbers are listed for each venue—and armchair travelers who will be transported to another place and time by the sumptuous photographs. Literary quotations throughout add another layer of romance to this book that celebrates Paris past and present.
  • Published: 15 May 2014
  • ISBN: 9781936941100
  • Imprint: NY Review Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 194
  • RRP: $35.00
Categories:

Praise for Old-Fashioned Corners of Paris

"A delight." --Le Figaro

"This book awakens memories, excites curiosity." --Télérama

Praise for Quiet Corners of Paris, photographs by Christophe Lefebure:

"To discover lesser-known quarters of the City of Light, consult Quiet Corners of Paris... This illustrated handbook takes you to often-overlooked parts of the city: its hidden villas, winding lanes, cobblestone courtyards and Renaissance fountains." --Frank Wagner, Copley News Service

"Yes, noisy, bustling Paris has its quiet corners, and this attractive book describes them in loving detail. Most of the places mentioned here are out of doors and open to the public. The places range from museum courtyards and royal gardens to 15th Century cloisters and tiny passageways to the back streets and lanes of the various neighborhoods. Some famous sites are here (Luxembourg Gardens) but so are unknown treasures such as the Irish Cultural Center, housed in a townhouse used by the Irish Catholic collegiate community since 1775, or Paris' lesser-known islands. And few places are as quiet as the city's evocative cemeteries." --The Chicago Tribune

"Many tour books promise to deliver 'secrets' and never do. This one does. Many times...More than 80 suggestions. All very high on my list of 'musts' the next time I find myself in Paris with a good book, a fresh cigar, a few hours to kill--and no desire to be anywhere near the Mona Lisa." --Headbutler

"This small New York publisher is producing some of the most innovative, beautiful and rewarding guidebooks on the market." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The Little Bookroom...wants travelers to slow down. They've carved themselves a niche in the over-crowded travel book industry by thinking small with titles that define the character of a city." --The Pittsburgh Tribune

"For pocket-sized, covetable books, turn to The Little Bookroom." --Vogue [UK]

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