Have you read the Cara Black mysteries? I find them a little James Bond-ish, but many people really like them. It is a series so it's better if you can read them in order, but it's not necessary.

If you have a chance, stop in the Shakespeare & Company bookstore on the Left Bank just across the bridge from Notre Dame. In a different location, it once carried books written by the "Lost Generation" and published Ulysses when it was banned in other countries. Now, if you buy a book, they will stamp it with their shop name. Makes a nice souvenir for a reader!

That would be a wonderful souvenir. I will look for that shop.

along the theme of "destination reading":

Mrs. 'arris goes to Paris if you want old fashioned charming.

Gone With the Windsors by Laurie Graham for snarky gossipy ficticious fun

Since everyone's definition of downer is different, I will also recommend:
The Rhetoric of Death but tell you it is a murder mystery set in Paris during the time of the Catholic oppression of the Protestants.

Take a book or some French fashion magazines, published internationally, for the plane trip but you should not have time to read in Paris itself excepting a guide book. Too much to see!!

"A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway.

I second Carolyn's suggestion to visit bookshop "Shakespeare & Co." It has been there forever and has many ties to famous authors.

Be sure to read up on French cuisine, the patisseries, the bistros, the sidewalk cafes. You will want to sample all of these. Paris is full of hidden eateries, tiny parks, exquisite courtyards, and unique bakeries. Wear comfortable shoes, as you will want to walk everywhere for hours on end and the cobblestones are uneven.

Oh, I lived in Paris for a year....

I love Shakespeare & Co. and worked there one winter in exchange for use of the proprietor's (George Whitman) office typewriter! I was living in Paris, a starving student, writing a collection of short stories. One very cold night, I sat down in an armchair and read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" from start to finish. I lived in a maid's garret at 23 rue d'Arcole, adjacent to Notre Dame, which is just across the river from the bookstore.

Be sure to visit Sainte Chapelle and Place des Vosges. And take a stroll down the central street on Ile St. Louis (behind Notre Dame)--it is lined with posh little shops, and has the best ice cream shop in the world!

You all are a treasure trove of information. True, I do intend to spend my time sight-seeing. I just can't go anywhere without a good reading book (which is what we learned to call them in grade school, as opposed to text books, I guess). I will read on the plane, while waiting in the airport for my friend to arrive and I usually read to help me fall asleep. I may decide to download a book or two onto an MP3 player if I buy one of those.

I am thrilled to have your suggestions for my trip -- places to see (or not). Kkay and Woodnymph, how I would love to have an experience like yours.

This is a bit of a last minute trip so I am in a tizzy trying to plan. Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cozy place we'll be staying

I have this book on the shelf for reading at some point, so haven't read it, but it looks good...

Time was Soft: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare and Co by Jeremy Mercer....

Here is a link that might be useful: Shakespeare and Co bookshop link

If you are wanting a taste of France why not try Mary Moody she is an Australian author, autobiographical and quite amusing.

Also most anything that Joanne Harris writes is also very French. One other is Valley of Grace by Marion Halligan and do not forget The Elegence of The Hedgehog!!!

Oh, I read Elegance and loved it! I am getting a nice list from you. Keep them coming. Has anyone read Almost French by Sarah Turnbull? What are your thoughts on that one?

Oh, and do have a macaron (or several) from Laduree on the Champs Elysees--and pay a visit to the ladies' room while you are there. Tres elegant!

The name of the ice cream shop is Berthillon. It was the tiniest little ice cream cone I ever had, but it was delicious.

I have done other things than eat while in Paris.

I enjoyed both Claude & Camille, A novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell and Coco Chanel And Igor Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh.

Two recent novels about 4 fascinating people, set in Paris and environs.

I am currently reading Paris: A Literary Companion, edited by Ian Littlewood. It has little snippets from various novels, travelogues and memoirs that take place in Paris and mention different parts of the city. Right now I'm reading about the �le de la Cit� and �le Saint-Louis.

I think it would be a nice book to bring on a walk in the city along with a guide book. It may also help you find more books about Paris.

ME, MYSELF AND PARIS... by Ruth Yunker.

A humorous tale of being in Paris.
It got very nice reviews.
Certainly not a downer !!

dedtired, I enjoyed Sarah Turnbull's "Almost French."
Don't forget to climb up to Montmartre, and walk through the Jardin de Luxembourg, as well as stroll the Boul' Mich and St. Germain des Pres, and go in Saint Supplice. The latter streets used to have wonderful little bistros where one could get marvelous lunches for very little.

KKay, nice to find someone with whom I have so much in common. I was lucky enough to live in the Latin Quarter while a student at the Sorbonne. I walked everywhere during that year. All the different neighborhoods are so intriguing. I am sorry that Les Halles no longer exists. So many memories come flooding back: the nearest cafe to my street (rue St. Leopold Robert) was Le Dome, made famous by Hemingway, et al.

I am reserving these titles at my library as you post them. I will start reading in advance of my trip, although I better have a look at the guide books, as well. I think I will print this post and take it with me for the tips. I'm not leaving for a few more weeks, so I am happy for the recommendation of books and travel tips.

I'm sure we will get to Montmartre, although all those stairs are intimidating.

Of course, don't miss the Louvre....especially the remains of the ancient castle and moat beneath the pyramid. It's quite amazing to see and touch these .

Oh Woodnymph, wasn't it all lovely? I miss Les Halles too. But there is always something to enjoy in Paris. After my undergraduate year in Paris, I lived in Southern France (Montpellier) and studied film.

A favorite place of mine is Pere Lachaise cemetery. I know that's not to everyone's taste. But I love it--so many luminaries! Abelard, Sarah Bernhardt, Balzac, Chopin, Rossini, Colette... on and on. It makes for a quiet, wonderful afternoon.

Another book, though this one may be out of print: "Shakespeare and Company: The Story of an American Bookshop in Paris" by Sylvia Beach, copyright 1956. My copy says it's "A memoir of the writers who made the twenties famous." Sylvia Beach published James Joyce's Ulysses.

Nothing beats living in a place to get the real feeling of it! My first visit to Paris, when I was 17, was with my French penfriend who lived in the Loire Valley, a lovely place with so many chateaux to visit!
We stayed one night in a convent but as we were expected to be back for 9pm curfew (in Paris, oh no!) we went to the home of her aunt who had a small abode on the platform of the freight trainline "La Grande Ceinture" which circles the city.
Later trips were more as a tourist, showing my husband around, many years later.

I'm enjoying this thread and just wanted to add to my food suggestions that we ate dinner one night at Perraudin on rue St. Jacques, located pretty close to the Sorbonne. It was reasonably priced, and we liked the food a lot.

Julia Child, My Life in France is entertaining.

I have enjoyed several of the Victor Legris crime stories by Claude Izner, the pseudonym of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefevre. Victor Legris is a bookseller in late 19th-century Paris who is also an amateur detective. Lots of local colour although not in a contemporary setting.

If you are a gardener you should visit the little Delbard garden shop at 16, quai de la Megisserie. The shop is close to the Palais de Justice and la Sainte Chapelle. I have bought several of their own brand of secateurs because their size is perfect for my small hands.

GW will not let me include accents on Lefevre and Megisserie!

Gertrude Stein's Wars I Have Seen (1945).

Today, the 'new' table at my local bookstore was stacked with the novel The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.

It is the story of Hemmingway's Paris years as told by his first wife, Hadley. I've peeked, but am saving it for the weekend. ;-)

Well, I for one, would have to take a French/English translation book.

And if you have the slightest interest in Pat Conroy, his latest is My Reading Life and has a very nice chapter on his sojourn in Paris. Frankly, I enjoyed the whole book.

I have my phrase book ready to go, along with Fodor's and Rick Steves guide books. I'm finding Rick Steves is more straightforward. I just wish I'd stop reading about how to protect yourself from pickpockets and scam artists.

I do speak a bit of French -- la plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle. I can even say Je suis perdu! Hope I won't need that one.

From the nice list of books I am compiling here, I think I will be reading about Paris long after I return.

I truly appreciate your other tips -- what to see, where to eat -- and as I said, will print this the morning before I leave.

Thanks -- and carry on!

Hello again. I am home. My trip was better than anything I could have dreamed. Visited most of the tourist spots, but I mostly enjoyed discovering the neighborhoods and the good food.

I read Foreign Tongues and am in the middle of Claude & Camille now. I took a non-French book, City of Thieves for my trip because I wanted to finish in time for book club this week. I enjoyed it.

Next up will be Almost French, and I am sure I will enjoy it all the more for having been there.

Yes, I did make it to Shakespeare & Co. It was a bit like stepping out of Paris and back into the US -- all the books in English and all the patrons were English speaking. Very charming.

I stuffed myself on macarons and had dinner at La Regalade St Honore. It was the best meal I ever had in my life.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I have to go back to do all things I missed!

Oh, yes. A successful trip is always when one must go back to finish. How long it takes to finish is in direct relation to how much of your heart you lose to the destination point. For me, it's London; my husband prefers Paris.

What was your favorite macaron?

The pink ones!

Yessss -- the Sarah Turnbull memoir is delicious reading -- has a happy ending, too!

How about Diane Johnson's literary novels ... Centered around American ex-pats living in Paris? ** "Le Divorce"; **"La Marriage"**. These are modern books ... w/ interesting tidbits inside the stories : buying a Paris apartment; bleaching fine, antique linens by moonlight; etc. The characters are literary novelists, American film actresses or directors, ambassadors, investment bankers, etc. It's an elegant, cultured world she writes about -- but don't be fooled -- she goes right inside their hearts, minds, backgrounds. These are not "girly" books ... although I will say the last one I read "L'Affaire" comes mighty close

I had to smile when I read of the macaroons, and recollect my fave, "pain au chocolat", and think of that pair of books written by une francaise who moved to America and penned "French Women Don't Get Fat." ;-)