Shakespeare and company is one of the few and very best English bookshops in Paris. And also one of the very few reasons I ever go to the Left Bank. This small book store with a big soul is one of my favorite places in Paris.
This Parisian cultural institution stared in 1951 and is today still one of the meeting grounds for aspiring writers and creative types. Located in the Latin Quarter, a stones throw away from Notre Dame. On many good days I’ve instagram some of my best photos of Notre Dame Church from this angle close to the park ( intersection Rue Saint-Julien le Pauvre / Rue de la Bucherie).
See more photos and read more after the jump…
The view of Notre Dame from Shakespeare and Co.
You’ll be delighted to know that you can find a mix of classics and modern literature – and what you can’t find they’ll be happy to order.On various occasions I’ve been to Book Readings and they also hold Writing Workshops upstairs.
Don’t expect to find a quite corner to squat and read – it’s a tiny bookstore with walls filled with books and very little space to walk around much less wander around. But this is also apart of the charm. Some of my most interesting conversations have been around these books and with fellow foreigners trying to find something new and different like a New York Times Bestseller from Zadie Smith or perhaps something old and familiar like an old Penguin classic from Virginia Woolf you left home.
My hope is one day to perhaps have the courage as George Whitman and open a little bookshop somewhere that will touch the lives of so many people.
Here are some photos from a recent trip.
Address:
37 Rue de la Bucherie, 75005 Paris, France
Telephone : (+33) 1 43 25 40 93 ?
Open: Everyday from 10am to 11pm
Metro: Saint- Michel (Line 4)
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