Shakespeare and Company

Overview

Nestled on the Left Bank directly across from Notre-Dame, Shakespeare and Company is far more than a bookstore; it is an iconic, chaotic, and deeply romantic literary institution. It has served as the spiritual home for Anglophone writers in Paris for decades.

Highlights

• The Ground Floor: A maze-like, floor-to-ceiling labyrinth of new and used English books packed into delightfully crooked shelves.
• The Reading Library: Climb the narrow staircase to the first floor to find the surprisingly quiet, non-commercial reading room featuring a resident cat.
• The Tumbleweeds: The shop famously allows aspiring writers (called "Tumbleweeds") to sleep among the bookshelves in exchange for working a few hours a day and reading a book daily.

History

Opened by American George Whitman in 1951, he named it to honor Sylvia Beach's original 1920s Paris bookstore (which famously published James Joyce's Ulysses and hosted Ernest Hemingway). Whitman deliberately designed his shop as a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore, welcoming the Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs.

Visitor Tips

• Crowds: It is incredibly popular. Arrive right when it opens to avoid the long queue that forms outside by midday.
• Souvenirs: Any book you purchase will be stamped with the iconic store logo upon request at the register.
• Duration: 30–45 minutes for browsing.