Five Nights in Paris: After Dark in the City of Light

by John Baxter

Overview

An irresistible nighttime tour of Paris, past and present, by the bestselling author of The Most Beautiful Walk in the World

Every guidebook to Paris is crammed with sites to see during the day, but visitors are often cast adrift once the sun sets and the Louvre, Notre Dame, and other tourist attractions shut their doors. Sadly for those who have retreated into their hotel rooms, it's only when darkness falls that the City of Light shines brightest. Full of as many unexpected detours and delightful digressions as the city itself, award-winning author John Baxter's Five Nights in Paris is the ultimate off-the-beaten-path guide to exploring the French capital after hours.

Baxter leads readers on five evening tours across Paris's great neighborhoods. Each night's itinerary is selected for its connection to one of the five senses: the first, "Sound," explores the great jazz clubs of Saint-Germain-des-Prés; "Taste" samples the eclectic restaurants and bakeries of the Marais; "Touch" brings alive the city's legendary cabaret scene, including Montmartre's nearby Moulin Rouge; "Smell" describes Parisians' love of perfume and takes us to the infamous former opium fumeries along the Bois de Boulogne; and "Sight" traces the favorite haunts of the Surrealist artists, beginning in Montparnasse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062296269
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/14/2015
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	698,802
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

John Baxter has lived in Paris for more than twenty years. He is the author of four acclaimed memoirs about his life in France: The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France; The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris; Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas; and We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light. Baxter, who gives literary walking tours through Paris, is also a film critic and biographer whose subjects have included the directors Fellini, Kubrick, Woody Allen, and most recently, Josef von Sternberg. Born in Australia, he lives with his wife and daughter in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, in the same building Sylvia Beach called home.

Editorial Reviews

Charming. ... An entertaining meditation with plenty of digressions and detours into nocturnal Paris that should appeal to France lovers everywhere. ... A sharp-eyed, unsentimental look at the City of Light, its dark corners and midnight blues.” — Chicago Tribune

“This is armchair travel at its very best. Baxter, whose knowledge of Paris’s recent cultural history is vast, is a worthy guide. Fascinating stories and anecdotes. ... Readers will emerge from the experience of this book feeling like well-traveled experts.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“An entertaining mix of amusing autobiography and fluent expertise. ... Baxter makes after-dark visits to the sites of once fashionable brothels and jazz clubs, follows the scent of perfume, and sumptuously indulges his passion for food, writing, at each turn, with wit and rapture.” — Booklist

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB — *

From the Publisher

An entertaining mix of amusing autobiography and fluent expertise. ... Baxter makes after-dark visits to the sites of once fashionable brothels and jazz clubs, follows the scent of perfume, and sumptuously indulges his passion for food, writing, at each turn, with wit and rapture.

Booklist

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB

*

Charming. ... An entertaining meditation with plenty of digressions and detours into nocturnal Paris that should appeal to France lovers everywhere. ... A sharp-eyed, unsentimental look at the City of Light, its dark corners and midnight blues.

Chicago Tribune

An entertaining mix of amusing autobiography and fluent expertise. ... Baxter makes after-dark visits to the sites of once fashionable brothels and jazz clubs, follows the scent of perfume, and sumptuously indulges his passion for food, writing, at each turn, with wit and rapture.

Booklist

Charming. ... An entertaining meditation with plenty of digressions and detours into nocturnal Paris that should appeal to France lovers everywhere. ... A sharp-eyed, unsentimental look at the City of Light, its dark corners and midnight blues.

Chicago Tribune

★ 04/15/2015
Well-known biographer and film critic Baxter (Paris at the End of the World) has produced a fourth book on his most beloved of cities, this time focusing on the peculiarities of the Paris night. Readers might presume that this is a suggested itinerary of sorts, and though Baxter reveals that he leads literary walking tours in Paris, this volume provides little in the way of practical information. Rather, this is armchair travel at its very best. Baxter, whose knowledge of Paris's recent cultural history is vast, is a worthy guide. Fascinating stories and anecdotes are framed by a tantalizing focus on sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch. As we stroll the crooked streets of the Marais, we can almost hear the faint, tinkling music and rowdy shouting of long-gone cafés. We smell the pissoirs and parfumeries in equal measure. Baxter's poetic language ("the autumn sun's rancid light," "that crocodile of preschoolers, hands linked") packs a punch. VERDICT Readers will emerge from the experience of this book feeling like well-traveled experts on the City of Light's sensual history. Charming personal photographs strewn throughout only increase the sense that one is dipping into delicious secrets.—Erin O. Romanyshyn, Frances Morrison Central Lib., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Library Journal

2015-03-01
Having lived in Paris for more than 20 years, Baxter (The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris, 2011, etc.), a guide to literary walks through the city, won't show you exactly which streets to follow; rather, he'll teach you how to know Paris and truly feel the enjoyment of flânerie. The activity of flânerie encompasses wandering aimlessly, going with the wind, and observing life as you go. One day, a customer asked the author if he did night walks, and the author decided that the five senses should be his guides. The joy of his writing is to realize that, even after living there for two decades, Paris still provides him with new avenues to explore. He divides the book into itineraries guided by the senses, but readers will need to dig deep to appreciate the connections. Readers who love Paris will likely love this book. No one can successfully write about Paris unless they truly love every nuance, oddity, and secret of her life; here, the author shines. Baxter's knowledge of those who have written about Paris—for years, he has collected such work—will lead readers to all sorts of corners that do not show up in any tourist guides. The author cites surrealist Philippe Soupault's Last Nights of Paris (1929) to show that in Paris at night, there may not be as much to see as many believe. Rather, the nighttime is a perfect canvas for thinking, a blank page on which to exercise the imagination, developing ideas in the dark. In closing, Baxter writes, "each of us must, in our own way, as with a new lover, seduce, or allow ourselves to be seduced by the Paris night." This is not a walking guide to Paris, but it is most certainly a guide to seeing and knowing Paris, one no Francophile should be without.

Kirkus Reviews