233 of 237 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a book that will surprise even the veteran traveler to Paris, October 25, 2007
This review is from: Quiet Corners of Paris (Hardcover)
For many travelers, Paris is Parisland. Here's the Eiffel Tower. Let's take a boat ride along the Seine. Ah, the Champs Elysees. Five museums on the list --- let's whip through them. And, late at night, we've got to find that nightclub where the girls kick up their ...heels.
Others --- that's my brood and me --- go to Paris for the quiet. We sit in cafes for hours. We settle on park benches. We take long walks on nearly empty streets. It's still Parisland, just another kind: an open-air library, a set for dreaming, an urban pillow for outdoor naps.
It's hard to imagine that a book called "Quiet Corners of Paris" would be a shocker, but this sometime Parisian was shocked --- and thrilled --- by what's in these pages. Many tour books promise to deliver "secrets" and never do. This one does. Many times.
Its secret: It does not stick to the four or five arrondissements where tourists congregate. Instead, it draws on the entire city --- and thus challenges you to leave your literal "comfort zone" and get out to neighborhoods where real Parisians can be found. And more: really quiet zones: villas, gardens, courtyards, fountains and passages.
The book is ordered by arrondissement, which means you start with the familiar. In the 1st arrondissement, we find the courtyard of the Louvre (check!), the Galerie Vero-Dodat (gotcha!), the garden of the Palais-Royal (good times!) and the Place Dauphine (been to almost every restaurant there!). But no sooner have we hit the 3rd arrondissement than the unknown intrudes: the Saint-Gilles-Grand-Veneur garden, Karsten Greve's art gallery, the Billettes Cloister. Oh, the time I could have frittered away in those beautiful settings.
I was charmed by the garden of a daycare center in the 4th. Busy and noisy? Not on weekends. I knew nothing of a library that specializes in the decorative arts; it's in a lovely mansion and has a tranquil garden. The Irish Cultural Center: how crowded might that be? And it's nice to know that the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles not only has a "flower-filled, tree-studded" garden, it's also "modestly" priced.
Have you visited the Arena of Lutece, the city's largest Gallo-Roman ruin? I haven't. And while I love obscure museums, the mansion dedicated to Delacroix eluded me. As did the garden of the French Lutheran Church in the 7th. And the rowboats you can rent at the bois de Vincennes in the 12th.
The further from Parisland, the bigger the surprises. I want to visit the Cité des Arts, in the 14th, where "the creme of the modern art world" lived. The "tract" homes of the Villa Santos-Dumont in the 15th are a welcome walk through time into Modernism's best representatives. I could easily spend an hour watching men play pétanque at the Square Blomet in the 15th. A Buddhist garden and Balzac's house in the 16th --- there's a reason to take the Métro.
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.
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62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What A Beautiful Little Book!, December 17, 2007
This review is from: Quiet Corners of Paris (Hardcover)
I will keep my review uncomplicated, like this book. There is a lot of information packed into this little book. Instead of focusing on the usual tourist sights, the author points out some of the beautiful, quaint parks, gardens and museums. The book also shows other out of the way places that the usual travel books don't. With the exception of 1 site (Musee Eugene Delacroix), all the sights shown are free to the public. If you are going to visit Paris, this is a great little guide book when searching for different places to see. If you want to go to Paris some day, this is a great book to dream by. It's packed with beautiful pictures. I just loved it!
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some Paris gems, February 23, 2008
This review is from: Quiet Corners of Paris (Hardcover)
This is a sweet little book. I wish I'd had it when I lived in Paris. It reveals many wonderful quiet spots, places for picnics and contemplation, and peace in that busy city. As a tourist to Paris, you probably won't value it as much--you'll want to be out in the busy, soaking it all up. But for anyone who lives in Paris, or is going to spend a long time there, I'd recommend it. And for those of us who just like to read about Paris, in between visits, it's a great book, well written and warm.
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