Why a Booktrail?
2000s – A book about books set across the whole of France – a love song to books everywhere. Magical
The Little Paris Bookshop
What you need to know before your trail
Jean Perdu runs a bookshop in not just Paris but the whole of France – but this is no ordinary bookstore – it’s a beautifully restored barge for one also known as a ‘literary apothecary’, as Jean possesses a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe the troubled souls of his customers. Such as –
“With all due respect , what you read in the long term is more important that the man you marry”
Sadly he has been unable to treat his own sadness. When he was younger, the love of his life fled the city leaving behind a letter which he has never been able to read. But then someone comes into his life which inspires him to go in search of the past, forgotten moments, a lost love and ultimately himself.
Travel Guide
A boat with a low-slung belly, a galley, two sleeping berths and eight thousand book. Its a world apart from our world”
And the kind of this world is Monsieur Perdu
Welcome to the gorgeously named Literary Apothecary – with Monsieur Perdu looks after his books as if they were his children, who cares for them and the readers who come in looking for something special. The barge has been lovingly restored and set up to allow people to browse on the Seine, water lapping at its sides and the iconic views of Paris all around. This is the city for reading sitting on a wall looking out at the river, spotting a place in a park, taking your book around the cobbled streets..
From this bookish Paris we are then taken on a journey to Provence. Along for the ride is a novelist, Max Jordan – who is escaping from the publicity surrounding his best selling novel . The pair of them travel along the canals and waterways of France and giving out literary advice, literary cures all in search of Jean Perdu’s lost love.
We travel through Saint-Mammès, Cepoy/Montargis, Briare, Canal de Briare, along the Canal Laterdal a la Loire to Digion, along the canal du Centre past Chalon sur Saone, Cuisery, Lyons and all the way down to Avignon by book barge. Cuisery stands out for the fact that it’s a book town!
Cuisery – the town of books
Oh, Cuisery! An avid reader will lose his heart here. The whole village is crazy about books…
“There was room in Cuisery for anything remotely associated with literature. There was a doctor who specialised in literary schizophrenia. He was consulted by people whose alter ego was a reincarnation or Dostouesvsky….”
They wander around Cuisery and its literary catacombs for a further three days….bliss you may want to linger here too. However our journey continues to Menerbes, Bonnieux, Buoux, Lourmarin, Pertuis, Aix en Provence down to Cassis, La Ciotat, Bandol and Sanary sur Mer with the final destination of Toulon.
Sanary is the last place on the cast between Marseilles and Toulon, among all the towns made up of little white boxes..
Ah the places you will go and the sights you will see! Literary landmarks abound. And a meandering chats about books and lost love.
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer:
First of all the idea of a floating book shop is like paradise to us. A bookseller who recommends books to solve people’s problems (what the best booksellers do as books are very much like medicine and are often a much better tonic!)
We loved the whole idea behind the story – the magic of books and how books can cure all ills. A writer with writers block who travels with him and the discussions they have along the way, the people they meet and their quirky bookish adventure.
There is one quote amongst all the quirky advice, recipes and other worldly advice connected to books we loved but what we particularly loved was advice on how to arrange your reads
He should group them by theme instead. Everything about Italy in one corner:cookbooks, whodunnits by Donna Leon, novels, illustrated books, essays on Leonardo….
A booktrail philosophy if ever we heard one. And a book to pick up again and again when you need a moment, a friendly piece of advice and to be immersed into the comforting pages of a book about all kinds of literary goodness.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information:
Twitter: @nina_george
Facebook: /thelittleparisbookshop
Web: nina-george.com
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
