Everything (or Almost Everything) About Paris ─ A Petite Encyclopedia of Indispensable and Superfluous Information

There are almost 200 entries in the addictive Everything (or almost everything) About Paris,?a witty and sophisticated treasure trove of facts, histories, lists, records, quotations,?and miscellaneous oddities that go well beyond trivia to include significant cultural?enlightenment and a below-the-surface glimpse of what it means to be Parisian.?Among the thousands of facts that most certainly haven’t been assembled in one?place anywhere else:

‧ The number of brothels, massage parlors and “places of pleasure” listed in a?1922 guidebook;
‧ Famous poisonings that occurred in Paris;
‧ Addresses of the ten vineyards within the city limits;
‧ Ten vintage aperitifs to order in bistros;
‧ Imaginary Parisian streets that appear in novels;
‧ Fines charged for municipal infractions (from feeding pigeons [35E] to appearing?nude in a public place [35,000 E and imprisonment]);
‧ The history of the bikini, the cobblestones, the rooftops, and the trashcans of Paris;
‧ Exploits staged at the Eiffel Tower from 1891 through 2010;
‧ Innovative (unadopted) ideas proposed through the years to improve the quality?of life in Paris: shut down museums and put the paintings in bars, turn churches?into housing for the poor, and more.

…and that’s just for starters.

Jean-Christophe Napias is the author of Quiet Corners of Paris, also published?by The Little Bookroom.

Simon Beaver grew up in the South of England, but moved to Paris nearly 40 years?ago. For three decades Beaver has been adapting books, TV and movie scripts, songs and?biographies into English, writing subtitles and recording voice overs. He lives in Brittany.