Curiosities of Paris: An idiosyncratic guide to overlooked delights... hidden in plain sight Paperback – May 23, 2017

This moderately small book is packed with seemingly countless numbers of oddities, landmarks, signs and more. My wife and I have been visitors to Paris for 20 years, and there are so many things in this book that I've never seen or heard of that it completely caught me off guard. Jammed to the gills with fun facts, small color photos, and vignettes, you can learn so much about the City of Lights just by picking the book up and opening it to any page. The book is designed to support browsing just like that, just with you want to have some random fun, or have only a few minutes. The book is also arranged so that you can read it in order, starting from the front, if you want a more comprehensive intake of the information. Whichever way you do it, though, it is sheer fun, and as I say, learning, about the world's greatest tourist destination.We've spent so many months there over the years to easily understand this is a city so endowed with history, so large, and so impacted (and impacting) with the outside world that one could spend a lifetime on it and still not know even the most of it. But this book still surprised me with sites and facts that I had no idea about, a testament to the writer for the enormous amount of work that went into its developement.A real plus is that the many, many photos in the volume are in full color, but this is not a professional photography book. Many of the items photographed and displayed in the book are in obscure, high, or recessed locations: it's amazing that so many of them could be photographed at all. So, this is not a book you purchase to look at photos of Paris. There are many of these out there, with set/scene shots taken with full-frame, wide format Hasselblad cameras. This is a book about the CURIOSITIES of Paris, and the small color photos are there to support the narrative.Now, the question is, can you use this book as a guide for the next trip to Paris? Technically, yes, you can, but you would have to work it out in advance because the book is not designed to easily locate each of these curiosities. Yes, the information is present to find them, but that again is not the focus of this book. If you are looking for a travel guide to the city, there are plenty of those, too, and many of them excellently done.This is a book for pure fun, and if you have visited the city (or even live there!) and want to see these curiosities, this book knocks the ball out of the park. And the way that learning is built into the book simply adds to the fun (for example, what is the origin of the term "cul-de-sac"?: you'll find it in here). What a great book that will challenge the most ardent of Paris fans, and will keep you coming back for more and more. A huge five stars for this labor of love. That it is so reasonably priced in spite of being crammed with color photographs is just whipped cream on the parfait!

Lots and lots of wonderful bits for curious people. It's also all photos so you can see what the author is talking about. I love the fact that it's got an index by arrondissement, as well as being primarily organized by subject (ie: Curious Tombs, Romantic Ruins, etc.) You could use this as a supplemental guide book over and over again - too much for one trip to Paris. Just a wonderful, fun book!

I rarely write a review, but this book was just outstanding. Truly interesting to read... especially if you are familiar with Paris, and/or have lived there, and walk around and wonder what things are, you can now find out. Pictures and small easy descriptions for everything, including street addresses, so you can go there if you like and see it for yourself. I have to say, this is the very best book on Paris I've ever seen. HIGHLY recommended!

This book is exactly as titled. Chapter by chapter, it describes interesting themes to keep an eye out for in Paris and shows plenty of pictures as examples. The first chapter is called Paris, equine capital. There are plenty of pictures and short descriptions of horse-themed signs and metal work on doors that served as places to hitch a horse, places where fodder was left for horses, equine statuary, and old stables which have been converted for other uses. Each chapter has a different theme, so you're likely to find something of interest. I wouldn't recommend this as a guide book, but it has a lot of interesting information that will help you spot historical details in plain sight.

Love Paris, love the book and all the lesser known history and details about this great, great city. Overall it gives you an insight into why Paris is able to cast its spell over so many people, the place is such a wonder blend of history, art, romance, architecture, and these unique and fascinating details that thankfully are still there for us to enjoy. Think of how less interesting/fascinating Paris would be without them.

My intention wasn't as much about the pics as the encouragement to always look around and see what's there and frequently missed. She got the message, and it will be interesting to see if her photos begin to show the influence.

....as I do - you will surely discover some new and very interesting sites to visit from reading this book. There are a huge number of "curiosities", the photos are really good, and the written information is quite informative & interesting.

Bought the book for my family going to Paris. They read book beforehand, and while in Paris were able to notice some of the items described and/or locate the items. They loved the book!

There are so many hidden treasures in most big European cities and Paris is alike. Its nice that people actually search out these fun things, do historical research on them and then publish. Its a book I wish I had before I visited Paris. Better than most tourist books as it offers the unknown. Worth reading and worth owning. Its fun.

Bought this before my solo trip to Paris and thoroughly enjoyed it. This book has no business with the famous side of Paris. It talks about little things you wouldn’t notice otherwise.

Etant américaine, je suis fascinée par la capitale française. A chaque promenade, on peut trouver quelque chose de bizarre dans la rue et peut se poser la question "mais à quoi ça sert?". Voici les réponses! Ce livre est pleine de petits surprises et des anecdotes très intéressants. A la fin du livre, il y a un index avec tous les rues mentionnés, organisé par arrondissement. Ce qu'il est très utile pour organiser des petits tours pour voir tous les "curiosités" du livre. J'ai acheté la version qui était traduit en anglais mais l'originale existe en français. N'hésitez pas à acheter et à découvrir la capitale dans un nouveau façon.

I read this book before I went to Paris. Was fun spotting some of the things from the book. Was good to point out these to my son and added an extra layer of interest whilst wandering around.

This is quite simply a lovely little book packed fulll of things that you would not have noticed.