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How many guides to Paris can one publisher produce? The American company Fodor's did five last year, which seems like about four too many. That was before I met the team from Parigramme, a local editor that produces nothing but guides to Paris, on subjects as mainstream as "Where to Sing in Paris," "Paris on Rollerskates" and "Where to be Born in Paris." Last year they published 20 new books, bringing their total number in print to nearly a hundred. "Before we existed, there was nothing addressed to Parisians," explains the company's general director, Sandrine Julbenkian, from their cluttered offices next to Beaubourg. "Just guides for tourists." The company's founder, François Besse, saw a gap in the market: guides for people who actually live here. Their first collection, Les Guides du Promeneur, begun in 1993, encouraged city-dwellers to explore their own quartier. Each of the 20 titles, one per arrondissement, presented the history and architecture of one neighborhood in a series of leisurely walks through the boulevards and backstreets. They were a big success, and Parigramme was launched. The second major series, Je Me Souviens, is aimed at an older audience. Each title contains about a hundred excellent black and white photos, accompanied by a rather nostalgic "oh, do you remember" text. They are beautiful books, especially when you consider how small the target audience for each one must be: the Marais and Montmartre have wide appeal, but how many people can honestly say "Je Me Souviens du 17ème arrondissement?" Next up, and still ongoing, was Paris est à Nous, a series of short guides for people with special interests. The first title, the tongue-in-cheek "Où s'Embrasser à Paris" ("where to kiss in Paris"), was a surprise success, getting wide press coverage across the globe. The series now includes 15 titles, including guides to organic food, cafés, biking, gardening and buying property. "In this kind of publishing, it's important to pick up on new trends," explains Julbenkian, using the French word tendances. "People asked me, 'Are you sure there's a market for a guide to roller-skating?' I answered 'Go out in the street and look! They're everywhere!'" The company's art director thinks that they have tapped into a fundamental tendance in Parisian life: after the individualism of the '80s, Parisians are sick of being lonely and want to get to know their neighbors. Discovering the byways of your neighborhood is one way to do this; meeting people with common interests, be they organic food or jazz singing, is another. La vie de quartier is back. "I think of Paris as a village, or an aggregation of villages," she explains. "Our guides help to bring the inhabitants of a quartier closer to their surroundings. You've chosen to live in this village, so we say, 'Lift your head, look around. Get to know the place!'" But what about the fact that so many Parisians are outsiders, immigrants from foreign lands or distant provinces? "Real Parisians, il n'y en a pas des masses!" she jokes. "We help the newcomers feel like they belong in their quartier. That seems to answer a real need." All 100 Parigramme titles are available in French; three, "Unexplored Paris" (see review on left), the wonderful photo book "Paris Around the Clock," and "Guide to Impressionist Paris" are also out in English. Extracts from "Où s'Embrasser à Paris" can also be consulted in English on the Internet, at www.thinkparis.com. |
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