I signed up for a cheap flight list this past fall, and I watched the deals arrive in my inbox every week: a mistake fare from Toronto to Italy here, an incredible deal from San Francisco to Shanghai there. It didn’t feel like I would ever find that elusive combo of timing, price, and departure and destination cities that would work for me. Then one day it happened. A trip from New York (easily accessible from DC) to Paris, for less than the cost of my annual trips home to Seattle. I picked my dates and booked a late-September trip to Paris!
It hit me a couple of days later: I don’t know anything about Paris (or France!), AND I don’t speak French. Spanish, sí. Portuguese, sim. French, non! Cue: research time! I ordered the latest Lonely Planet Paris travel guide, followed the advice on Oh Happy Day!’s guide to booking a Parisian AirBnB, and then I downloaded the Duolingo language learning app to my phone. So I’m working on the language, and I’ve got my lodging and the general logistics figured out.
BUT. I want to be a little more prepared than that. I want to have some vivid images in my mind’s eye to compare to the real thing. I read A Tale of Two Cities in high school, but I couldn’t think of another Paris-set book that had made a lasting impression. So, I needed to construct a Paris-centric reading list. Nothing too ambitious, you understand – just enough to give me a taste and keep me excited for my trip in the months to come. I asked friends and family for recommendations and put one book on the list that I’d been meaning to read anyway.
Books on my Paris reading list:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery – I’ve owned this book for several years, but I haven’t read it. It was recommended with high praise.
French Milk by Lucy Knisley – I read (and loved!) Knisley’s graphic memoir Relish, but I don’t know if I would have ever picked up this earlier comic if I hadn’t been planning my trip.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway – I’ve only ever read Hemingway’s short stories, but my friend (and all-things-French expert!) Lauren suggested this one.
Paris Buildings and Monuments by Michel Poisson – My uncles are architects, gourmets and world travelers. They lent me this out-of-print book so that I can get up to speed on the visual environment I’ll be experiencing.
Well friends, I want to open the floor to you. What else MUST I read before I go to Paris?
Well friends, I want to open the floor to you. What else MUST I read before I go to Paris?
