Secret Paris Guidebook Uncovered!
Hidden Paris Information is Revealed in Travel Guide from Jonglez
Secrets of hidden Paris are revealed in a Paris guidebook that takes visitors walking off the beaten path to find the oldest house, the site of the guillotine and more.
Can there really be a secret Paris? Guidebook after guidebook has been published to the city of light, and the French capital must have more travel guides devoted to it than any other city on earth. Can there be anything new or hidden that hasn't been covered already in dozens of other guides? After all, when a guidebook writer describes something as 'the city's best-kept secret', it's usually something that every visitor in the world already knows about.
But Secret Paris, published by Jonglez in September 2007, is the real thing. It delivers on its promise to take Paris visitors 'walking off the beaten track.' Written by Paris experts Jacques Garance and Maud Ratton, with excellent photographs by Stéphanie Rivoal, it provides almost 400 packed pages of Paris's hidden treasures.
Arranged by arrondissement, from the 1st to the 20th, it also has an alphabetical and thematic index. Paris visitors can seek out the subjects that appeal to them, whether it be Architecture, Arts and Literature, Curiosities (plenty of those) Picturesque Passageways, Gardens, Religion, Science and a few other secrets too.
So what are these secrets of Paris? They include such things as:
The Commemorative Plaque of the Texas Embassy: Texas was an independent republic from 1836-45, when it joined the United States, and it had its own Embassy in Paris on the corner of rue de Castiglione and place Vendôme.
The Site of the Guillotine: from 1792 until 1851 Madame Guillotine stood at the corner of rue de la Roquette and rue de la Croix-Faubin, though visitors have to look closely to find the four granite flagstones that mark the spot – no bloodstains!
The Oldest House in Paris? It isn't known for sure, say the authors, but the house at 51 rue de Montmorency in the 3rd arrondissement is thought to be the oldest in the city, built in 1407.
The Oldest Tree in Paris: Near Nôtre-Dame cathedral, in square René-Viviani, is a robinia (false acacia) tree that was planted in 1636, and which still survives.
Salvador Dali's Sundial: on the wall of 27 rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement is a sundial that was made by Salvador Dali, a gift for friends who owned a shop on the corner of the building.
These are just a few of the secrets that Secret Paris reveals, and in its pages you will also meet firemen who make wine, a tree in a church, a Breton lighthouse and a prehistoric merry-go-round. This is truly one of the best and most fascinating guidebooks to Paris, that ought to be on the bookshelves of every Francophile.
Secret Paris is published at €18.90 by Jonglez.
