Une Bibliothèque Parisienne

Here are the books I promised you! Of course, these barely scratch the surface of the wealth of texts written on one of the most beloved cities in the world, but they give a good introduction. They are perfect it you are either preparing for a trip to Paris, or if you just wish to transport yourself there without the cost of plane ticket.

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As an English major, I have a confession to make: I really don't like Hemingway. I was bored while reading The Sun Also Rises, impatient with A Farewell to Arms, and simply irritated by The Old Man and the Sea. That being said, this is the one exception. Oddly, A Moveable Feast is one of my favorite books about Paris. It chronicles Hemingway and his wife living in the City of Light during the roaring twenties. Not only does it beautifully illustrate the vitality of Paris during this inter-war period, but it also reads like celebrity gossip; James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and especially F. Scott Fitzgerald all make appearances!

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This collection of three of Colette's stories, including Gigi, Julie de Carneilhan and Chance Acquaintences, may hold a lot of cynicism and discontent, but Colette was a master of wry humor and tangible details. You feel as if you are in the Parisian apartment with Gigi and her grandmother, or in that of Madame de Carneilhan and her husband. I find the author herself rather fascinating. She was determined to earn a living by the pen, and afford the small luxuries to which she had become accustomed to after a brief and tumultuous marriage. Obviously, she succeeded on all accounts.

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This was my most essential guide on my last trip to Paris! Clotilde Dusoulier, of Chocolate and Zucchini fame, gives us an amazing array of restaurants to fit all budgets in Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris. Even more exciting for anyone with access to a kitchen, she includes markets, boulangeries, fromageries, pâtisseries and épiceries. Thanks to her I found Du Pain et des Idées -- a bakery where the beauty of the Art Nouveau ceiling somehow perfectly complements their delicious apple tarts, a cheap yet incredible falafel stand near Notre Dame, and a fromagerie that carries only goat cheese.

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Joanne Harris's The Lollipop Shoes is the sequel to Chocolat, and just as the first novel glamours readers into thinking that they too, are in a tiny Provence town, this later story carries you away to Montmartre. The U.S. title is actually The Girl with No Shadow, but I prefer this title and cover. In any case, it's a wonderful story of second chances, suspense, mysterious gifts and, naturally, chocolate. And all of it takes place on the modern, yet timeless, cobbled streets of the 18th arrondissent.

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This is a collection of Janet Flanner's "Letters from Paris" for the New Yorker, written between 1925 and 1939. I definitely recommend reading Paris was Yesterday along with A Moveable Feast, as she mentions many of the same people as Hemingway, and a lot more besides. From Josephine Baker to Charles Lindbergh, Marlene Dietrich to Jean Cocteau, fancy dress balls and Shakespeare & Co. to the declaration and preparation of war, Flanner pulls back the curtains to reveal a golden age in Paris, especially for American expatriates. 

Not enough? Try checking out your local bookstore's travel writing section -- there are usually about a dozen modern memoirs of life in Paris at any given time.

Looking for something more historical? Try any of these!