Flexible hours, being your own boss, fresh air and views of Notre Dame – it’s a job with a lot going for it. Paris’ bouquinistes have been a fixture along the banks of the Seine for some 500 years and are determined to keep their profession alive.
“It’s my life, it’s not just a job,” 76-year-old Sylvia Brui, who’s been selling ancient books for eight years on Quai de Conti, told CNN. “We sell things that we love.”
The history of Paris’ world-famous book merchants dates back to 1550, when a dozen street vendors set up shop on the Île de la Cité, in the heart of the French capital. The trade took off with the construction of the Pont Neuf in 1606, the first bridge without buildings atop, offering a vast space for new vendors of portable wares.
By the early 1900s, the city standardized the iconic look of the stalls: sellers worked out of metal boxes painted the same “wagon green” color, and their open lids were designed to preserve the riverbank views. Today, around 230 booksellers stretch along roughly three kilometers of the Seine, offering antique and contemporary books, engravings, stamps and magazines.
It’s a unique setting to appreciate the written word: a skyline of historic stone buildings frames this open-air bookshop.
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