| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xiv, 304 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
Romantic Encounters in a Maid's Room. Overhead in a balloon ; Deciphering the Paris palimpsest ; A tramp steamer to Père-Lachaise Cemetery -- Discovering the first great Romantic circle. Bastille Day ; Guest appearances ; The romance of rebelliousness ; Defining the undefinable : Romanticism ; An arsenal of poetic weaponry ; Love triangle : Victor, Adèle, and Sainte-Beuve ; The Battle of Hernani Romeo seeks Juliette; The conquest of Victor ; Knight Templar ; The historic present ; Balzac's Marais -- Baudelaire's island. Joie de tristesse, or, The romance of unhappiness ; Sex, drugs, and striking poses ; Islands in the dream -- The cult of the Les Grands Hommes (et Les Femmes?). The architecture of romance ; The anti-Romantics ; The Academy of the Dead -- Romantic romps. A leafy pantheon of romance ; The sand pit ; Butterfly catcher ; Merry-go-rounds and talking heads ; Merging into Bohemia ; The water drinkers ; Momus is the word ; Color versus line ; A drunken boat, a starving writer, and two giant clarinets ; Delacroix's Last Stand -- Quai Voltaire. The Seine's scene ; D'Artagnan's Cask of Amontillado ; Delacroix Rebuffs Dumas -- The new Athens and Montmartre. Delacroix's permanent ephemera ; Parisian Acropolis ; Chopin's hand ; A real butte ; Devil may care ; Slumming Stein and Picasso's Blue Rose ; Spirits set in stone -- Open endings. The long and winding road ; Quiet days in Passy ; Sending out an SMS : from Balzac with love. |
| Summary |
"'A top-notch walking tour of Paris. The author's encyclopedic knowledge of the city and its artists grants him a mystical gift of access: doors left ajar and carriage gates left open foster his search for the city's magical story. Anyone who loves Paris will adore this joyful book. Readers visiting the city are advised to take it with them to discover countless new experiences'--Kirkus Reviews (starred); A unique combination of memoir, history, and travelogue, this is author David Downie's irreverent quest to uncover why Paris is the world's most romantic city--and has been for over 150 years. Abounding in secluded, atmospheric parks, artists' studios, cafes, restaurants and streets little changed since the 1800s, Paris exudes romance. The art and architecture, the cityscape, riverbanks, and the unparalleled quality of daily life are part of the equation. But the city's allure derives equally from hidden sources: querulous inhabitants, a bizarre culture of heroic negativity, and a rich historical past supplying enigmas, pleasures and challenges. Rarely do visitors suspect the glamor and chic and the carefree atmosphere of the City of Light grew from and still feed off the dark fountainheads of riot, rebellion, mayhem and melancholy--and the subversive literature, art and music of the Romantic Age. Weaving together his own with the lives and loves of Victor Hugo, Georges Sand, Charles Baudelaire, Balzac, Nadar and other great Romantics, Downie delights in the city's secular romantic pilgrimage sites asking, Why Paris, not Venice or Rome--the tap root of 'romance'--or Berlin, Vienna and London--where the earliest Romantics built castles-in-the-air and sang odes to nightingales? Read A Passion for Paris : Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light and find out"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
Paris (France) -- Description and travel.
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Walking -- France -- Paris.
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Downie, David -- Travel -- France -- Paris.
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Paris (France) -- Social life and customs.
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Artists -- France -- Paris.
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Romanticism -- France -- Paris.
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Romanticism in art.
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Paris (France) -- Intellectual life.
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Historic sites -- France -- Paris.
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Paris (France) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
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TRAVEL / Europe / France.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs.
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HISTORY / Europe / France.
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| ISBN |
9781250043153 hardcover : $26.99 |
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1250043158 hardcover |
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9781466841253 (e-book) |
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