No comments about Paris: Robert Doisneau Calendar (Wall Calendar).

3 comments about Paris.

1. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book full of insight, witticisms, and full-page photos of the City of Lights. The author speaks candidly and casually of the city as one would of a dear friend, including charming anecdotes of his days there. Mentions are made of the usual tourist spots: the Eiffel Tower, the Moulin Rouge, et cetera, but also little known spots and out of the way places. The myriad of pictures throughout the book only serves to heighten the sense of being there: you can almost feel the well-worn cobblestone beneath your feet as you stroll the streets, hear tourists and natives alike conversing en francais at corner cafes, smell the freshly baked bread from the boulangerie patisseries, and see the sunlight glinting off the Seine. A must-read for anyone who has been or simply dreams of visiting Paris.



2. Just got this book and have only been through it once. I'll go back again and again, because I'll probably never get to actually visit Paris. The aforementioned out-of-focus photos do exist but for my purposes they are not troubling. A couple of two-page spreads annoyingly place the center of attention right on the crease. But it still gets 5 stars from me. I love the writings, too.



3. As they say on ebay, Buy it now! I spotted this book in a display at Saks, tried to purchase it there, only to find that I had to buy the whole library and bookshelves that went with it. So instead of the $48k, I bought it at Amazon alone. I am a lover of all things Parisian and this book is just breathtaking. Assouline lives up to his reputation. The photos are incomparable to anything I could snap with my didgital camera on vacation last spring.

1 comments about A Shopper's Guide to Paris Fashion.

1. I'm impressed. As someone who often shops in Paris, I was amazed that Alicia Drake tells it like it is. Her descriptions of the merchandise at particular stores is dead-on and lively; she's not afraid to call a store overrated (& she's right!) This book makes it easy to plan a shopping trip to Paris since she goes by neighborhoods and describes each store as though you were walking down the street with her. Her recommendations also include descriptions of Parisian neighborhoods and some interesting eating options - mostly for lighter meals, with a strong emphasis on tea houses. Unlike the Born to Shop series (w/ its annoying, snobby/cloying cuteness), she discusses shops in all price ranges, in a clear writing style that allows you to decide if a particular shop is for you.

   I hope she turns this into a series.

1 comments about My Paris Sketchbook (Sketchbooks).

1. No city touches my soul like Paris. She is the queen of old world charm, of romantic ambiance, bourgeois elegance and bohemian grit. Fine art and cuisine flourish here, as do sidewalk cafes, flea markets and Parisian attitude. The Pont-Neuf, along the banks of the Seine, is one of my favorite places in the world. Artist Alain Bouldouyre, a longtime resident of the City of Light is obviously another person who has been captivated by the delights of Paris. Monsieur Bouldouyre is an illustrator and the artistic director of Senso magazine.

   This richly visual sketchbook, filled with Bouldouyre's elegant watercolors, brings the city to life, in all her glory. His sophisticated palette of colors and sensitive line brilliantly capture the historic architecture, contemporary street scenes, the beauty of the Seine and its banks. The Place de la Concorde is depicted at sunrise. Readers are given a poetic portrait of the various Arrondissements and their attractions at different times of day and night, in natural light and illuminated by streetlights. We are taken to the Louvre, the Opera and down less frequented side streets. Christophe Auduraud's narrative complements the illustrations. Auduraud is a film critic and novelist, and a past scholar of the Villa Médicis, the French cultural institute in Rome.

   The book has a lovely flow to it. It is handsomely bound with a linen spine and a color-washed cover painting. The paper is a heavy cream colored, heavily ribbed stock with notes written in longhand alongside the vibrant sketches. If you have been to Paris, this is a wonderful remembrance. If you have never been there, Bouldouyre' watercolors capture the city's essence better than any photograph could.
   JANA

No comments about Plan-Guide De Paris (Modele Depose): Plans D'Arrondissements (Taride Paris Guides).

5 comments about Knopf Guide: Paris (Knopf City Guides).

1. No I do not work for the publisher, but as someone who will spend 4 months planning 14 days away. I must say if I could bring only one book, this would be it. I have used it on every trip to Paris, and have not been led wrong by it. The book touches upon almost every conceivable church, museum, square, fountain, etc. that is within the City proper. If you were to study this book for 2 weeks with a larger Michelin map of the City,(one that is entirely on one looseleaf page, you could put the book down and completely navigate around the City on your own and find everything. Yes it is that good and well thought out. The ultimate writers of the guidebook deserve 'props' for how they did the book. I like the Knopf guides in general, but this one is the best.

   Some caveats:

   1. The hotel and restaraunt section IN THIS BOOK, in the back is too short and dated. The first and only time I booked a hotel in the back of a Knopf guidebook was in Venice and I GOT BURNED BAD! Unless you are talking about something world renown, like the Crillon, or the Cipriani in Venice, use another guidebook! For Paris, Cheap Sleeps/Cheap Eats has never done me wrong. In fact they have been uncommonly good.

   2. There are a lot of tricks for getting around the City, getting into museums, etc. You won't find them in this book, you are going to have to go to Rick Steves for that!

   3. The guidebook cant tell you what is best to see in this City, although it is not the Knopf guidebooks fault. It is the fault of the City of Paris. There is so much in that City, if you step off the plane and honestly look around, your head will spin, and perhaps you will start a lifelong love affair with it, as probably millions of others have. I don't think I have ever been happier, or more content, then sitting around drinking wine and eating frites somewhere in the Latin Quarter. Enjoy yourself and relax, the way the U.S. and the world is going, you may not get back there for a long long time.




2. In 1987 I visited paris for the first time. When I purchased this guide it was like going there many times over. It is truely one of the best books I have ever purchased. It is an art guide, history book, architecture study, travel guide and more.
   
   What more could there be? This is an excellent reference all around. Its easy to research a novel from this tome alone. I felt that I stepped off a plane and had an excellent english speaking tour guide with me.
   
   I naturally proceeded to get the rest of the set of travel guides. It was better than all the encyclopedias I had in school. The benefit of this series is that unless the world changes dramatically, the travel guides will not go out of style of years to come.



3. I love these Knopf guides, they are really beautiful little books and they are chocked full of information, granted they are not a quick guide, but if want indepth information and some deep research on Paris, then I highly recommend this guide, read it before you go to Paris, it will make the trip all the more enjoyable. Bon Voyage.



4. Very useful guide, especially for galleries and places of interest. Didn't use it for housing and not much for food.



5. Easily one of the best Paris guide books on the market, Knopf's City Guide of Paris is a visual and textual delight. Suitable for those trying to plan a first visit as well as for the repeat visitor, the book is a cornucopia of artistic and photographic montages of most all of the major sights to be seen in the city. The treatment which the book provides is so extensive that many people do not exclusively use the book for only tourist visits: the volume also excellently permits us to vicariously revisit the city from home, as well as conduct informal research on the many aspects of Paris' history and culture. As a tourist guide, the book can therefore help you make decisions on what you wish to concentrate on during a vacation visit, but as a resource guide, the text can help you develop knowledge about all kinds of aspects of the city (history, cuisine, art and architecture, etc.). It is truly a lovely book to enjoy both inside and outside the city.
   
   Some side comments are in order. For example, the book has been kept reasonably small so it can fulfill its purpose as a tourist guide. This means, however, that the page size is not the most convenient format for holding and reading the book for any length of time, and yet the beauty and written information in the volume compels us to do just that. This means we are sometimes locked into a small battle trying to open the book to ever greater degrees to make the page overlays more visible during longer reading sessions. And because the book is printed exclusively on high-quality gloss paper - a true delight in most any book - the volume feels like it weighs a metric ton. Why does that matter, you might ask? With airlines seemingly ever reducing and scrutinizing baggage weight limits, this single book is going to add a pound or two to either your checked baggage or your carry-on bag. When you are worried about reaching your baggage weight limits, this factor becomes a real issue. Nevertheless, I can tell you the book is so well done that I've brought it with me multiple times on trips to Paris due to the great information and illustrations it provides.
   
   My own suggestion is that you couple this book with a good map of the city (which is sometimes best purchased while in Paris itself), and you have a great start to understanding the city. Another great addition to this book is one of the "walking guides" for the city (Tessan's City Walks: Paris: 50 Adventures on Foot is excellent). With these few books, you have more than enough to have a great visit to the City of Lights. Bon voyage!

No comments about Special Places to Stay Paris Hotels, 6th (Special Places to Stay).

1 comments about Out Around Paris, 2nd (Out Around - Thomas Cook).

1. I was very disappointed in this book. It made absolutely no attempt
   to include anything of interest to lesbians. It was all "Where the
   boys are" and other itmes of interest to gay men only, such as fashion,
   etc. If you are a lesbian, don't bother with this book.

2 comments about Where to Wear, Paris, 2006: Fashion Shopping From A-Z (Where to Wear).

1. Great - need it for a trip to Paris!



2. Fun read for anyone traveling to Paris and also for the arm-chair traveler, Informative and helpful for more than just shopping.

4 comments about Parisians: Photographs by Peter Turnley ; Forewords by Edouard Boubat and Robert Doisneau ; Text by Adam Gopnik and Peter Turnley.

1. For those of you who have been to Paris, Peter Turnley's work will strike a deep sense of longing to return. His ability to capture some many facets of life throughout his book is delightful. I really enjoyed the mix of people, places, and situations he photographed such as a French woman in a barista or fans at a soccer game. His use of black and white photography added a sense of timelessness to the work. In summary, I think the book is an amazing piece of work that highlights the diversity and beauty of Paris.



2. Peter Turnley has captured the spirit of Paris and the souls of Parisians and presented it in one beautifully produced volume for the world to see at an affordable price. The images are stunning and the order of the images contributes to the quality of the book. I expect to return to these images often for years to come.



3. After being in Paris for an entire summer, I've returned to the US with great heartache. Paris had a profound effect on me, so when I arrived in the states, I feverishly tried to gather all I could to remind me of Paris. On a whim I bought "Parisians." From the moment I opened it up, I was suddenly back in my beloved city. The photographs capture Paris in the way that takes me back everytime. Turnley's skill at capturing the essence of Parisians is striking, uncanny and charming. If you've been, you miss it, or want to know what Paris is "really" like, just open the cover of "Parisians." On the days I want nothing more than to transport back to Paris, all I have to do is open this book and I'm there.



4. It is a beautiful collection of images of the life in Paris. Seeing the pictures make you yearn to go there to take your own pictures.