Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, Paris

A haven for bibliophiles, Shakespeare and Company Bookstore presents an English-language collection of eclectic secondhand books, as well as Sunday tea, literary readings, and writers' meetings. Sylvia Beach Whitman, the original owner's daughter, now runs the bookshop her father, George, started as "Le Mistral" in 1951. He later renamed the store to honor the original shop owned by Sylvia Beach from 1919 to 1940. The shop became (and still is) a haven for an unconventional literary culture, and was frequented by Beat writers, including Allen Ginsberg. Filled from floor to ceiling with titles, each small room has walls peppered with quotes and postcards. Upstairs, you'll find a writer's area with a typewriter, a labyrinth of rooms, and a piano. For the price of your life story written on a sheet of paper, you can sleep upstairs in one of the 13 beds run by the bookshop, called "Hotel Tumbleweed." To visit Shakespeare and Company Bookstore on your holiday in Paris, and find out what else Paris has to offer, use our Paris.