We stumbled upon the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris on our recent visit. We loved it so much we went back and each bought a book. We must have spent over an hour in there all told.
It is near Notre Dame, and sells the latest (English language) books, but it has the shambolic, lived-in feel of a second hand bookshop. It’s staffed by young Americans and has little alcoves to sit and read, plus there’s a piano upstairs that regularly gets played.
A beautiful cultural oasis…so much so that I was tempted to buy a novel for once. I normally read auto-biographies and biographies. But I bought “Island of Wings” by Karin Altenburg, which I am thoroughly enjoying. It’s based on the island of St Kilda in the mid 1880s. Fascinating stuff.
By the way, there is no Saint Kilda.The islands seem to have got their sainthood by accident. Not a lot of people know that.