Parisian’s Paris
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- ISBN13: 9781873429815
- Condition: New
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Product Description
Bill Gillham has been visiting Paris for decades. For him, the pleasure is not in revisiting the tourist sights, but rather in immersing himself in a particular quartier, learning small shops and bistros, exploring markets, parks, and local entertainment, and finding the quirks and particularities of the city’s day to day life. In this unique guidebook, Bill takes you to 17 of his favorite areas in Paris—some central, some suburban, all off the beaten track. Neglected or completely ignored by ordinary guide books, each of these locales has a purely individual, Parisian character and make superb bases for traditional sightseeing. All the information about where to stay, how to get about, where to shop and eat, which museums, parks, playgrounds to not miss and what to avoid is provided along with lush photographs that give a hint of the pleasures to be gleaned.
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We have all read a zillion guidebooks directing us to the best stuff, the special stuff, even the secret stuff in Paris, and if we’re jaded, we can hardly be blamed.
The best Paris? Special Paris? Secret Paris? Really? You reflect?
It’s a fantastic relief, therefore, to stumble upon a book about Paris that starts like this: “Paris can be a surprisingly disappointing experience.”
The problem: travelers have limited time, so they try to do too much. In search of the full picture, they see nothing.
Better, suggests Bill Gillham, an English literary and child psychologist who has made dozens of trips to Paris, to see less — that is, to make a visit that’s locally based.
How?
Choose “one of the many village-like communities that make up the city,” then venture out occasionally to the major sights.
What a radical thought. Don’t visit Paris. Live there.
Gillman’s prose is consistently tart.
“From mid-July to the end of August there is a mass exodus of persons who live in Paris when their city is agreed over to tourists who know no better.”
“One of the worst things about Paris in high summer is that the nights are not particularly cooler than the days.”
“To be avoided are single rooms, as these are permanently the worst and regularly intolerably tiny….only very excellent friends should share a room.”
“There are a number of guides to Paris shops, usually written by women who see shopping as an exclusively female occupation.”
In restaurants, “it is common practice to offer the worst tables first, especially to tourists.”
See what I mean? For once, you’re not getting an even-handed guide. But you are getting, in 227 pages, a very useful one, for Gillham’s opinions are curatorial — he wants you off the road most traveled, so you can experience the sights, shops, hotels and restaurants he thinks are worth your while. He tells you how to order in restaurants, when to have your meals, what qualifies as a decent breakfast. He points you toward the overlooked. And, of course, he pushes his favorites.
The Left Bank? So many chic areas, but “St. Sulpice is arguably the smarter place to live.” The place des Voges? Go early, before breakfast. The Ile St-Louis? “A fine place to stay, provided you get yourself out before breakfast and don’t return until late afternoon.”
A brasserie that has served bouillon every Monday since 1896. A doll museum. The best copper saucepans. A bistro “in steady decline, a process hard to halt.” Polidor: “the best-known bargain bistro in Paris, and it’s in every guidebook.” La Maision de la Mutualité: “an art deco restaurant on the first floor of a community and health center. ..an experience not to be missed.”
The best café terrace. The most appealing shopping street. One of the few places in Paris where you still find street singers. How to make a reservation — in French. Six fantastic destinations for kids.
And on, and on.
“Parisians’ Paris” — don’t place home lacking it.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I have used this wonderful, wonderful book extensively during a recent one month (too, too fleeting) stay in Paris.
The first thing one needs to know is that this is not a guidebook to Paris in the traditional sense of the word. It does not recommend point street walks or guide you to visit any of the well known touristic attractions. In fact it sort of steers you away from them, guides you to go next to them, away from them, rather than towards them. You will find yourself walking in a certain direction, then you look behind you and realize that you are moving away from the Eiffel Tower, for example.
What this book is is a very thorough listing of a large number of (uniquely Parisian) aspects of Paris that would normally escape the visitor who by definition does not know the city very well. The leader of this book, on the additional hand, knows Paris very, very well, and certainly a lot more than any of my many Parisian friends, who seem to take the city of granted and live on its surface, so to speak.
I highly appreciated the recommendations for visiting certain quartiers that are out of the well-trodden tourist path (that I seem to have walked over and over again every time that I have visited Paris in the past), the point recommendations for unusual, hidden places for breakfast, bistros and brasseries that are known only to locals, the unique, unusual shops, icecream parlors, very appealing but unknown museums, etc. None of these are easily establish unless one really knows one’s way in Paris very well.
But, for all of the above reasons, it is also not a book for a first time visitor to Paris, or at least, cannot be the only book used by a first time visitor who certainly has to see the 20 or so major attractions. In my opinion, a regular guide, such as DK Eyewitness, together with this book would make an ideal combination.
Another very vital practical point is that the book is fully packed with information, much more than one can tell from its size. This is because it mainly consists of lists upon lists of recommendations, with very fleeting synopses of explanations. Hence I would highly recommend acquiring this book well in advance of a visit to Paris, then using it to plot a trip well before going there.
What happens is that there is so much to do in Paris that preparation what to do the night before doing it takes too much valuable time. One year of dedicated walks around Paris will not suffice to take in all the spots that this book recommends (once I establish myself in a new quartier, I ongoing exploring it, I took my time in the bistros and brasseries). One will have to choose and concentrate on certain neighbourhoods, certain aspects of the city and get to know them very well.
Read the book in advance, choose on where you want to go (use google extensively for that) then use the book as a referesher during your trip. I have been to Paris many times over the past 30 years. This time, I fell in like with it. It’s a very special place. This book will help you realize how special it is. Long Live the Eiffel Tower, the sight of which at any hour of the day brings so much joy to the traveller. Delight in your trip.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This special book has more information about Paris than I have ever establish in one place. It is divided into geographical “quartiers” on right and left banks. Information on these is divided into principal sights, silent hotels, places for breakfast, public gardens, markets, food stores, neglected museums, appealing shops, bistros and brasseries. You could spend a whole day or two in each “quartier” if you wished and still have more to see. It is soft back but not “pocket size” unless you have a large pocket. Color and black and white photographs are sprinkled through this lovely book. The introduction clarifies everything and has lots of “hints” to make your visit very special – and to avoid any mistakes or misunderstandings with the locals. A real treasure.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5