The Little Paris Bookshop!
What is it about a little independent bookstore that is so compelling?
Where one must slither sideways to pass but you still end up scraping by other patrons.
Where you may have to step over indiscriminate piles of books on the floor, and where other new, used, and rare tomes are lovingly stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling.
Where the books have a history and seem to whisper; “Pick me up, take me off the shelf, because have I got a story to tell you!”
It’s like stepping into the old world, a simpler time when the written word was all we had.
Before phones, radio, TV or internet.
Like the past that cannot be changed, it feels safe, comforting, nurturing even, and ever so peaceful.
That is how it feels to arrive and wander into the little Abbey Bookshop in Paris’ Latin Quarter.
The LIttle Paris Bookshop/Outside the store you can sit and begin perusing the books.
The Little Paris Bookshop/Inside
It is only a few blocks away from the most famous English-language bookstore in Paris, Shakespeare and Company.
I had been to this iconic shop a few times before and this day, there was the usual line-up around the block to get in, and once inside it was bustling with people that you could barely move.
It’s an experience that every tourist loves to have but be prepared. It is noisy and claustrophobic in my opinion.
Once you’ve had a good look around, all you want to do is get out of there.
The facade of that other bookstore/Google Image
Part of the lineup to get into that other bookstore!
It was nothing like at the Abbey Bookshop, the day I went anyway.
It is a place where you can make the outside world disappear and lose yourself.
The main floor and especially the basement, which houses some 40,000 books, most second-hand, draw you in and you never want to leave.
The Abbey Bookshop facade with the Canadian Flag!
Bookshop owner Brian Spence/courtesy of the Globe and Mail
The owner Brian Spence, a Canadian, embodies the spirit of this bookshop that he opened in Paris back in 1989.
Something of a Renaissance man, Brian started collecting books while he studied literature at university. The collection grew so large that while he was working on his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, his family ordered him to get the books out of the house.
That’s when Brian opened a bookshop in Toronto. He chose the name “The Abbey” as it denotes a spiritual place where one can find refuge from the outside world.
He later moved to Paris when he thought the city could use having an alternative English-language bookstore to also promote Canadian authors (Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale) is a supporter and fan).
The Abbey bookstore survived the COVID years thankfully.
I had only a few minutes with Brian as he was running off for lunch with a friend (This is Paris where lunch is a big deal!) but I found him to have a gentle and thoughtful demeanour.
Brian seemed genuinely interested when I mentioned that I read and review every memoir I can get my hands on written by women about their experience of visiting or living in Paris, and France.
Immediately without looking anything up, he walked briskly to several spots along the shelves and selected books that he thought I should add to the list, none of which I had read before.
More great reading by women about Paris ahead of me!
Check out the short video I did to give you a walk-through experience of the main floor of the Abbey Bookstore. Just CLICK HERE!
29 rue de la Parcheminerie, Paris
Footnote: The owner of the Abbey Bookstore is the brother of Paris Fan Club Member, Pamela Spence. Pamela, thank you, for telling me about this hidden gem in Paris!
You can spend hours undisturbed at the Abbey Bookshop.
Have YOU visited the Abbey Bookshop, or Shakespeare & Company, or do you recommend another bookshop somewhere else that you have been?
Please comment below where it says “Leave a Comment, or “Read the Comments.”
The Paris Fan Club Series
Presents
“Share Our Paris Stories”
WHEN?
NEW DATE!
Wednesday,
December 6th , 2023
12:30 pm EDT/9:30 am Pacific
***But you must be a MEMBER
of the PARIS FAN CLUB to ATTEND!
Paris Fan Club Members, YOU will be my guests for THIS program where I will be asking you to bring your favourite story from Paris! It could be something you did years ago, your first trip, a recent visit, a favourite place, neighbourhood, or meal that you had! Bring your stories along to this broadcast. I will certainly be sharing some of mine.
Hope you can join us.
NOTE: I will pre-register all Paris Fan Club Members and you should receive a notice of your registration about 10 days before the broadcast along with reminders as the date approaches.
PS. I do apologize that the date has changed a few times but there were issues scheduling my very busy production team.
Have YOU signed up for
our Paris Fan Club yet?
Members get all sorts of exclusive offers and treats including being part of the quarterly draw for The Paris Gift Box.
The Fall winner is Kim Cox from California who is a Level Three Pain au Chocolat member.
Kim kindly sent me a photo of the books. She just received them in the mail!
Here’s what she has won!
All three of Janine Marsh’s Books … all THREE! Click on the links below to find them on the Book Club Page!
My Good Life in France, In Pursuit of the Rural Dream; My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life, and Toujours La France: Living the Dream in Rural France.
Thank you, Kim. Happy reading!
That’s all for now!
A la prochaine!
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Disclosure Policy: This site uses affiliate links that may generate small commissions based on clicks and purchases. The commissions help in a small part to pay for the expenses for this blog and website. So I appreciate it when you buy books through my book club page for instance. Any products that I giveaway are personally purchased by me unless otherwise specified. And I respect my subscribers’ privacy and do not share their information with any other party or organization.
Diana Bishop the founder of The Success Story Program and A Woman of a Certain Age in Paris as well as a well-known correspondent with over 25 years working for CTV, CBC News, and NBC News. She loves travel, writing, and all things Parisienne.
Wonderful story.
Book stores are a must for me.
They have a special feeling for all who enter. A spell, if you wish.
I will be sure to put “bookstores “ on my Paris must-visit list.
It IS a special feeling isn’t it? Thank you Twink!
I loved this blog, Diana.
My pre-pandemic visit to Paris in autumn of 2019 included Shakespeare & Company. I bought a copy of Moveable Feast as a keepsake about Paris life in the eyes of Hemingway. I am so happy to now know of The Abbey. It looks wonderful. Thank you for this new find.
Well Bonnie, Hemingway’s book would be the ideal one to buy at Shakespeare and Company as it was the bookstore’s original owner Sylvia Beach who started the shop and promoted Hemingway.
I think you would certainly enjoy a trip to the Abbey Bookstore! Thank you so much for the comment.
I adore BOOKS !!! They open windows on the world – past and present! Where would we be without the written word. Currently reading A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW – and the author’s turn of phrase is breathtaking. Not a book to skim through – don’t want to miss a single word!!!!
Yes, I sooo agree Gretchen. Great to hear from you as always. Best to you, Diana
Book stores are wonderful places and the Abbey book store sounds absolutely lovely! Thank you for letting us know. Must visit there when possible. 🙂
It really is special, Tina. I hope you get a chance to visit! Thanks for the comment, Diana