Just another Tuesday adrift in Paris

Today I cast myself adrift in the city -- sort of. Susie was off to class early and after coffee and computer time I headed out later in the morning, once Paris began to stir itself to life.

I walked down to Place Leon Blum, always a good starting point, and then down Ledru-Rollin in search of the Bimbo Tower, a tiny very independent record store in the 11th arr. not far from our apartment. Andrea, a colleague at Johnson & Wales, had asked me to pick up an album by a local Parisian group called the Koni Duet and the album was reportedly only available at the Bimbo Tower.

Along the way I stopped at a wonderful little travel bookshop on Ledru Rollin called Librarie Chemins en Pages, where I bought a very handy arrondissement guide to the city (Susie was hogging our only copy). Although off the typical tourist beaten path, with only French language guide books, this is nevertheless a treasure of a shop. The books are wonderful, all new and the owner is most pleasant, friendly and helpful.

After leaving the bookstore I turned right at the next corner, rue Charonne and then quickly left down Passages Antoine looking for either a bimbo or a tower. When I got to the store I not only discovered that there was no bimbo there wasn't even a tower and to make matters worse, they didn't open until 1pm. I figured I would continue my general drift until later in the day.


I started off toward the Bastille where I took the no. 1 Metro to the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) and got off and strolled across the Seine to Notre Dame. I always like to check out the action in front of Shakespeare & Co., although I've never bought a book there. Anyway, standing at one of the garden where the annex for the Hotel Dieu once stood, the hospital that was located where Charlemagne's statue now rests, is a great place for shooting a nice photo of the cathedral's towers with spring framing the image.

I continued wandering around this part of the city -- tourists notwithstanding the layout of the streets even today gives one a sense of the very old Paris. Anyway, after just a couple of hundred meters of walking in a rather elipitcal fashion, I found another objective: the Abbey Bookshop.

Run by the unassuming Canadian Brian Spence I thought this place much more useful than Shakespeare & Co. The quiet of the space, the wall-to-wall books and Brian's friendliness and knowledge of books I found very appealing. You can find Brian and Abbey Bookshop tucked away at 29 rue de la Parcheminerie.

On the other hand, the staff at Shakespeare are at best indifferent and often have little or no understanding of Paris, books about Paris, books, reading, letters or grammar. In all fairness, these kids are usually just looking for a place to stay and pay for their lodging upstairs by working in the store.

Back to Notre Dame I was amazed at the queue to get inside the church, it was literally doubling back on itself:

But then I have to keep reminding myself that this is not only spring break for school but also Easter holiday week. All the more reason to steer clear of anyplace that might smack of tourists, lines, and just generally standing around gawking at stuff.

Oh, I did return to Bimbo Tower later in the afternoon. Nope, they didn't have any of the band's CDs and didn't know where I could find any. The search for the Konki Duet continues.

Wish you were here,

Steve