Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1775095 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .53 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Amazon.com
In which café did Robespierre play chess? Where was Napoleon forced to leave his hat in lieu of payment when he forgot his purse? In what establishment did Simone de Beauvoir find respite from loneliness after Sartre left for the Front? The Cafés of Paris ... a Guide provides much more than the encyclopedic listing of establishments one might expect.

In rich detail, author Christine Graff has conjured up the kind of book no lover of Paris should be without. "In the 11th arrondissement, close to the Bastille on the rue Saint-Sabin is a real find: the Café de L'Industrie.... Here, in a café that looks as if it might have been Bogart's just before he went off to Casablanca, you can sip coffee for five francs standing or nine francs seated at the dark red banquettes next to old wood tables. Faded cream walls, the frosted Deco glass, old photos of French celebrities, Oriental rugs well past their first splendor, an artsy crowd, and strains of traditional French folksinging coming from the back create an ambiance of Old France."

Flavored with witticisms from Montesquieu to Henry Miller, The Cafés of Paris shines like the city itself. Chapter titles such as "The Ratman of Paris and Other Café Stories," "A Cheapskate's Guide to Cafes," and "Parisians Discuss Their Favorite Cafes" offer only a hint of the wealth of information to be found in this charming guide. --Jhana Bach

From Library Journal
Graf, who has been visiting Paris annually for 25 years, has compiled a compact, attractively priced guide to Parisian cafes. Each chapter is organized around a theme, ranging from the American cafes favored by Hemingway and the Lost Generation to the Left Bank cafes frequented by Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, the artists' cafes of Montmartre and Montparnasse, and Inspector Maigret's favorite haunts. The guide is packed with anecdotes about French and American literati and artists. Even if the reader is not planning a trip to Paris, these anecdotes alone make the book worth reading. Listings for cafes include information about location, telephone number, hours, prices, nearest Metro station, and maps. Additionally, there is a brief description about the ambience and decor of each cafe, a chapter in which Parisians discuss their favorite cafes, and a section on where to obtain the cheapest coffee in Paris. It is a pity there are no photographs. This is nice coverage of a subject that usually gets cursory treatment in most guidebooks. Recommended for general travel collections.?Ravi Shenoy, Hinsdale P.L., Ill.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.