Practical Information
Address
Pont-neuf, Châtelet, Hôtel de Ville, Pont Marie, Sully-Morland, Jussieu, Maubert-Mutualité, Cluny-La Sorbonne, Saint-Michel, Cité.Easy Access
Metro : Line1 (Châtelet, Hôtel-de-Ville), line 4 (Châtelet, Cité, Saint-Michel), line 7 (Pont-neuf, Châtelet, Pont Marie, Sully-Morland, Jussieu), line 10 (Cluny-La Sorbonne, Maubert-Mutualité)R.E.R. B: Châtelet, Saint-Michel
R.E.R. C: Saint Michel
Information
On the right bank, from Pont Marie to Quai du Louvre ; on the left bank, from Quai de la Tournelle to quai Voltaire.Links
Current Events and Actualities
Capturing the Model : 300 RODIN drawings (Exhibitions)
Du 18/11/2011 au 01/04/2012Everyone is familiar with Rodin's sculptures, but what of his drawings? This exhibition at the Rodin Museum in Paris presents over 300 drawings from the last thirty years of the artist's life. In fact, in the latter part of his life, drawing became the ar
DEGAS AND NUDE - EXHIBITION (Exhibitions)
Du 13/03/2012 au 01/07/2012This is the first major exhibition to be devoted to Edgar Degas (1834-1917) in Paris since the 1988 retrospective at the Grand Palais. Degas and the nude ties in with the Musée d'Orsay's ambition to publicise the latest teachings on the great masters of
Touristic areas
The booksellers on the Seine
Where can you find the biggest concentration of outdoor bookshops ? In Paris! Along the Seine book lovers and collectors regularly meet to find rare books or specific editions. Every one is looking for a ‘treasure’ or just to a have a look at old papers and documents.
The origins of the « Bouquinistes » or second-hand booksellers, dates from the period of the building of the « Pont-Neuf » which was completed in 1607. It is on this famous bridge that peddlers chose to sell written papers (sometimes rather subversive). These strolling merchants started to settle and installed storage boxes, which resembled the dark green ones we can see today.
Nowadays, the « bouquinistes » are no longer the fringe travelling booksellers they used to be, criticizing everything and every one about politics, king, police and clergy. The so called «’spirit sellers’ now belong to the Parisian scenery, as can be seen on postcards.
Good to know:
The name ‘bouquiniste” comes from a word of Flemish origin ‘boeckjîn ‘ which means ‘small book’. These coveted spaces consist of four boxes measuring 2 metres. They strech over more than 3 kilometers. The work conditions are not often too pleasant for these booksellers as the administrative rules oblige them to be present four days a week whatever the meteorological conditions. The population of ‘bouquinistes’ represents some 240 persons today.
Timhotel’s tips and suggestions :
Do not miss the walk on the Pont-Neuf (meaning ‘new bridge’), the first stone bridge across the Seine. In the past, it was a fashionable place to be seen by Paris society. Smart gentlemen met there to fight duels! In 1985, the American artist Christo ‘packed’ it and it became a contemporary work of art for a period of two weeks.