Shakespeare and Co. Café
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10 am - 11 pm / Tuesday to Saturday 11 am - 7 pm
Website: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/
Address: 37 rue de la Bûcherie 75005 Paris, France
Access: Subway line 4 St-Michel station
You have definitely seen movies and heard songs based on the romantic city of Paris and we believe it’s a place to visit which is on everyone’s bucket list. Wheather you are walking along the Seine river, passing by the iconic Eiffel tower, strolling through the Louvere museum or gazing up at the Notre Dame Cathedral, the sights seeing is endless in Paris. Today you will learn not about the several very touristic places in Paris but a very intriguing and iconic bookstore, the city's favorite literary Gem.
Across the river from the Notre Dame Cathedral is Shakespeare and Company, a well-known bookstore. Shakespeare and Company is the name of two independent English-language bookstores that have existed on Paris's Left Bank.
The first was opened by Sylvia Beach, an American, on 19 November 1919, at 8 rue Dupuytren, before moving to larger premises at 12 rue de l'Odéon in the 6th arrondissement in 1922.
During the 1920s, Beach's shop was a gathering place for many then-aspiring writers such as Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, Djuna Barnes, James Joyce and Ford Madox Ford. It closed in 1941 during the German occupation of Paris and never re-opened.
The second bookstore situated at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, in the 5th arrondissement, and is still in operation today. Opened in 1951 by American George Whitman, it was originally called "Le Mistral," but was renamed to "Shakespeare and Company" in 1964 in tribute to Sylvia Beach's store and on the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth.
Actually, this bookstore was a place that lent books long ago and provided shelter to poor artists. Including American novelist Ernest Hemingway, a poor writer not far from home where he lived for a year in Paris. It is not only a place where American literature is noticed in Paris but also a bookshop that handles a lot of old books.
Shakespeare and Company Café is run in collaboration with our friends at Bob’s Bake Shop, founded in Paris by Marc Grossman, a native New Yorker, in 2006.
The exterior of the cafe gives a calm impression with a combination of white and brown which coincides with the antiquity of the bookstore. The inside of the cafe can be seen through the large window and the door. The outside tables and benches give you a beautiful view of the Seine River and Notre dame.
The shop is so wildly popular that the Babka rolls sell out by 10:00 a.m., and it becomes a real challenge to move around the little store once the clock strikes midday. There are homemade vegan stews with coconut milk, matcha-spiked chocolate chip cookies, mini cheddar cheese bagels with relish, scones and the infamous lemon pie along with coffee and other beverages.
Café allongé and lemon tarts
Cafe Latte and Berrytart
If you are traveling in Paris, and need a place to rest your body and mind with a good book, some freshly roasted coffee overlooking the Notre dame and seine river. Look no further. Shakespeare and Company is the place to be.
Bon voyage!
Take a look at the Map- O'Bon Paris Map