by Isabella Sharipova-Williams, published 17th May 2024
For those of you who think that they are far away from their favourite reads, allow me to reassure you that you most certainly aren’t. I produce for you a library of bonnes adresses of English bookshops in Paris.
1st arrondissement
The neighbourhood of the Louvre and our gorgeous Rue Saint-Honoré property.
Librairie Galignani
Claim to fame : first English bookshop on the Continent !
224 Rue de Rivoli (Tuileries 1, Concorde 8)
Tel : 01 42 60 76 07
Email : galignani@galignani.com
Monday – Saturday : 10am – 7pm
Smith&Son (formerly WHSmith Paris)
A British bastion in the heart of Paris.
248 Rue de Rivoli (Tuileries 1, Concorde 8)
Tel : 01 53 45 84 40
Email : info@smithandson.com
Monday – Saturday : 10am – 7.30pm ; Sundays and Bank Holidays : 12.30pm – 7pm
2nd arrondissement
The environs of the Opéra and our lovely Arts et Métiers apartment.
Brentano’s
The sweet and sole-surviving scion of a once great American bookstore chain.
37 Avenue de l’Opéra (Opéra 3, 7, 8)
Tel : 01 42 60 87 37
Email : paris.brentanos@gmail.com
Monday to Saturday : 9.30am – 8.15pm
4th arrondissement
Spanning from Beaubourg to Bastille, from Notre-Dame to Le Marais.
Smith&Son Marais
An outpost of the bastion.
20 Rue des Rosiers (Saint-Paul 1)
Tel : 01 40 33 61 01
Email : marais@smithandson.com
Monday – Sunday : 11am – 7pm
5th arrondissement
The Mediaeval Latin Quarter.
Shakespeare & Company
A “Left-Bank literary institution” located in Kilometre Zero.
37 Rue de la Bûcherie (Cité 4)
Tel: 01 43 25 40 93
Email: info@shakespeareandcompany.com
Monday- Wednesday : 10am – 8pm ; Thursday – Saturday : 10am – 9pm ; Sunday : 12pm – 7pm
The Abbey Bookshop
An Ali Baba’s cavern of books, and the friendliest staff.
29 Rue de la Parcheminerie (Saint-Michel 4, Cluny – La Sorbonne 10)
Tel : 01 46 33 16 24
Email : abbeybookshop@wanadoo.fr
Monday – Saturday : 10am – 7pm ; Sunday : 2pm – 7pm
6th arrondissement
Saint-Germain-des-Près, and Saint Germain-Luxury, and Luxembourg Gardens.
San Francisco Book Company
A West Coast second-hand bookstore.
17 Rue Monsieur le Prince (Odéon 4, 10)
Tel : 01 43 29 15 70
Email : info@sfparis.com
Monday – Sunday : 10am – 8pm
The Red Wheelbarrow (and The Red Balloon)
Never a dull moment at either Red.
9 – 11 Rue de Médicis (Odéon 4, 10)
Tel : 01 42 01 81 47
Email : parisredwheelbarrowbookstore@gmail.com
Monday – Sunday : 10am – 7pm
Taschen
It’s Taschen, need I say more ?
2 Rue de Buci (Saint-Germain-des-Près 4)
Tel : 01 40 51 79 22
Email : store-paris@taschen.com
Monday – Sunday : 11am – 8pm
If you want to finish the day by hearing a work of great literature, rather than reading one, check out our article on the most beautiful theatres in Paris.