Issue No. 13

Credit Doug Crawford
In every sense, Paris is a perfect fit for me. I
love to eat, I love to watch people, and I love
to walk. On our last trip, researching The
Paris Librarian, my wife and I averaged
seven miles a day, our longest stroll was
from the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre and
back. And the thing is, it’s no struggle. Every
step is a pleasure because Paris unfurls
before you like a seductive woman, casually
spilling a gaudy, touristy layer to reveal
sleek, cream-stone buildings in more
residential areas, before turning up the heat
with her lithe, winding streets that lead you
to the ultimate view of Paris at the Sacré
Coeur.
Credit Barbara Pasquet James
And the reward for all that walking is the
food. We ate at New Jawad one evening, on
Avenue Rapp, finding for ourselves better
Indian food than we’ve ever eaten in
England or America. And the service was
the opposite of that which my friend David
would have expected: full of smiles and
jokes, a free drink when I told them I was a
writer, and one for my wife, too.