The Paris booksellers will stay by the Seine!

And more from Paris... and the US?

Hello from San Francisco. 

Bet you didn’t expect that!?

Neither did I really. I’m just popping through San Francisco on the way to Australia for a long overdue family visit. In fact, I’m sitting on a plane about to take off for destination two. 

But enough about all that, what about Paris?

Well, this week I focused on the booksellers of the Seine  - Les bouquinistes. 

You know, the ones who sell second-hand books and Parisian knick knacks in those iconic green kiosks. 

So in case you missed it, Paris police had planned to remove these stalls, deeming them a security threat for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, where all the athletes will boat down the Seine. 

I suppose the risk was that hundreds of big old wooden boxes were a liability, plonked right there between thousands of people and the athletes. But the thought of them being removed sent a whirlwind of outrage through Parisians, Francophiles, and book lovers alike. 

And so, President Macron overturned the decision to remove the stalls and now the bouquinistes are here to stay. 

You’re probably reading this and thinking: what is a bouquiniste anyway? What do they do, what do they earn, what do they sell? How fortunate! Because this week I shared my interview with American bouquiniste Sydney Zekley. More pics and the episode here. 

For Patreon members: in the next seven days I’ll share three more things for what I’ve dubbed Foodie February: the bonus podcast episode with cookbook author David Leibovitz, a post with all the best stories I’ve done on Sweet Paris (tips and interviews with leading bakers and chocolatiers), and another post with all I’ve done on the ritual of the apéro - in other words, lots of cheese and wine content. 

If you’re a Substack member, I will share all of that bonus content in a post just for you at the end of the month. In other words, members on Patreon and Substack will get it all. 

Support this channel, get the extras :)

As for me, this plane has taken off, and it has even landed. I am in a very tropical Hawaii airport, for just one hour, and then a week in Australia. 

Oh - boarding now! Gotta go!

Thanks for reading. 

Oliver