There’s a lot of talk right now about the iconic booksellers by the Seine, aka the bouquinistes.
In recent months, the Paris police prefecture threatened to remove the stalls to make way for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
The booksellers (and the general public) were furious. However, President Macron overturned the decision last week.
It appears the book stalls are here to stay.
“It’s wonderful! We thank Emmanuel Macron from the bottom of our hearts. He has put an end to seven months of nightmare and uncertainty,” Jérôme Callais, president of the Association of Paris Bouquinistes, told Le Monde newspaper.
I figured many Earful Tower listeners might want to know more about these mysterious bouquinistes, so let’s revisit my chat with Sydney Zekley, who ran one of the stalls not too far from the Tour d’Argent restaurant.
The music in this episode is an original tune from Pres Maxson, fittingly titled Sunset on the Seine. You can see pictures below of Sydney from when I first met her in 2019.
What’s a bouquiniste?
Well, a bouquiniste is a bookseller who typically sells antique and second hand books in the iconic green stalls along the river Seine in Paris.
The booksellers have been around for centuries and their stalls run for kilometres along the river – on both sides.
Many people say the Seine is the only river in the world that runs between two bookshelves. .
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Je suis heureux de l’entendre.