My de rigueur post-it for bibliophiles visiting the City of Light – Don’t miss the Parisian bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, on the left bank in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. It was a popular hangout for writers Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein during the twenties and a magnet for bohemian personalities such as William Burroughs, Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller. So take a break from the bouquinistes along the Seine and head through its sacred portals…
The building oozes character. Original timber beams, overflowing bookshelves and meandering corridors leading into cosy, specialised book nooks. Upstairs, the vintage tomes aren’t for sale, but ensconce yourself in a corner and peruse the selection of classic titles while someone plays impromptu riffs on the piano. A delicious ambience indeed.
As you alight the creaky stairs to the second floor you pass a noticeboard crammed with handwritten notes. The following anonymous piece, dated July 15 – 2014, grabbed my attention:
An age-long question: What to do with the life I’ve been given?
Only one thing can be certain: Live in a sense that leaves you without turmoil, and love others as though they are or were yourself from a different life or timeline.
If you allow yourself to fall prey to the mundane pattern that is the grand mistake of mankind, you will be left with such a world full of fear that any bit of freedom causes terror in oneself.
Do not give in to the temptation of safety and mediocrity. Risk all or deny everything.
