Across the street from Notre Dame is a small American bookstore founded by Sylvia Beach called Shakespeare and Company. This small independent bookstore is a holy ground for booklovers around the world. This is one of the few bookstores in Paris that predominantly sells books written in English. Most of the shopkeepers are American expatriates.
The bookstore served as an intellectual hub for expatriates and traveling writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce during the 1920’s. However during WWII, the bookstore closed and it did not reopen until George Whitman opened a bookstore in the 1950s and renamed it Shakespeare and Company in remembrance of the original store.
The Bookstore Featured in the Movies
A number of movies were filmed here, including Midnight in Paris (2011) starring Owen Wilson and Before Sunset (2004) starring Ethan Hawke. This bookstore has such a charming haphazard layout, it seems for the perfect place for anyone to get lost in fiction!
The bookstore is feature in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (2011).
Browsing the Shelves
So photos are not allowed in the bookstore, but I still managed to sneak a few while peeking around!
Of course there is a Shakespeare section at the bookstore!
The bookstore’s cat gazing out of the window.
If you are a book lover, I would HIGHLY recommend taking a quick stop at Shakespeare and Company!
Selene + Abroad 