I cast a wide net when it comes to learning about Paris. History, novels, memoir, essay, blog and facebook posts \u2013 they all have their uses. \u00a0I use paper, ipod and e-book and app. It’s as much about ambiance as education. Let the reading begin.<\/p>\n
The Sweet Life in Paris,<\/b> by blogger and pastry chef David Lebovitz, http:\/\/www.davidlebovitz.com<\/a>. Read via ebook. \u00a0Honest and funny, plus recipes. Go to his blog for top ten delicious things to eat in Paris. I just burned two hours reading his experiences in restaurants and checking their proximity to my apartment via Google Maps. Downloading his puff pastry app right now.<\/p>\n Paris In Love<\/b>, a memoir<\/strong> by Eloisa James. Read via ebook. She writes historical romances. Swoon<\/em>. But she’s also Mary Bly, a Shakespeare professor at Fordham University with degrees from Harvard, Oxford, and Yale, so smart, right? She and her professor husband took sabbaticals, sold their house, sold their cars, uprooted their kids and ran away to live in Paris for a year. This is an abbreviated account of that year, partially salvaged from her blog and Facebook posts. I enjoyed it immensely.<\/p>\n The Most Beautiful Walk in the World<\/b><\/em>: A Pedestrian in Paris,<\/b> by John Baxter, is the kind of off-kilter approach I find engaging.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/travel\/book-review-the-most-beautiful-walk-in-the-world\/2011\/05\/25\/gIQARsJJhI_story.html<\/a><\/p>\n <\/em>Listening, on and off, to an audiobook of David McCullough\u2019s The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. <\/b>It\u2019s a Ken Burns-esque experience.<\/p>\n Novels in the TBR section of my ebook –<\/p>\n The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris<\/b> by Chris Ewan http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/3173811-the-good-thief-s-guide-to-paris<\/a><\/p>\n The Chocolate Kiss<\/b>, by Laura Florand http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/15806994-the-chocolate-kiss<\/a><\/p>\n The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris<\/b>, by Jenny Colgan http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/16079967-the-loveliest-chocolate-shop-in-paris<\/a><\/p>\n Back to the pleasure of the iPod, I downloaded a couple of classics, T<\/i><\/b>he Hunchback of Notre<\/b><\/em>–<\/i><\/b>Dame<\/b><\/em>\u00a0 by Victor Hugo, and Tale of Two Cities<\/b>, by Charles Dickens. I\u2019ve read them in my distant past, and wanted to listen to them while I walked miles at the gym, training for the rigors of walking ten hours a day in Paris.<\/p>\n Paris, The Novel<\/b>, by Edward Rutherfurd, is an epic tale. From what I\u2019ve heard so far,\u00a0 I suspect I will enjoy it more after my visit than before. http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/15786792-paris<\/a><\/p>\n A traditional guide ebook I expect will be referred to often after I arrive, Rick Steves Paris 2013.<\/strong> It\u2019s informative, no-nonsense, and lacks all pretension. Hallelulia. http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rick-Steves-Paris-2013\/dp\/1612383815<\/a><\/p>\n Pre-ordered for my ebook – The Food Lover’s Guide<\/em> to Paris<\/strong> by Patricia Wells.<\/p>\n A Moveable Feast<\/b>, Ernest Hemingway’s memoir of Paris.\u00a0 I read in 1973, when I lived in a garret in Paris. It ruined me for the rest of his work – I much prefer it to his novels \u2013 and stamped Paris in my mind forever as an epicenter of writers and artists.<\/p>\n