Paris is a devouring passion. She devoured Christelle Gonzalo, unless it was the opposite... Open since 2014 a few meters from the Seine, her bookstore, “Sur le fil de Paris”, is entirely dedicated to the capital. “A definition of my bookstore? All Paris made of paper! And in oldies,” says the bookseller, who specifies: “I avoid novelty. »

Here, at the corner of Saint-Paul and Ave-Maria streets, collectors, curious people and other Paris lovers have a field day.
Because the shop contains countless finds, unearthed by the hostess: old guides, city maps, photos, postcards, film or political posters, leaflets, magazines and, of course, 3.000 books where Parisian authors par excellence feature prominently, from Guillaume Apollinaire to Francis Carco, including André Salmon, Jacques Prévert, Léopold Fargue, Charles Baudelaire.

“I arrived in the neighborhood in 2011, after living in Montmartre, and I immediately wanted to know more. So I bought lots of books on the history of the Marais,” says the bookseller who wears two other hats: specialist in Boris Vian and president of the Saint-Paul village association.
“I have never regretted leaving the hill,” adds this lover of the neighborhood. Here, there is a real atmosphere, people greet each other, talk to each other. Even the walls speak! » Reason why this self-taught historian publishes, on her own behalf, small leaflets devoted to the history of a particular street (rue Beautreillis, rue Charlemagne, impasse Guéménee, rue Charles V, etc.) that the inhabitants of neighborhood offer themselves to each other.

Enthusiastic, the bookseller says: “My little leaflets sold very well from the start. ". They function as well as the bookstore itself, which immediately found its audience of aficionados. And for seven years now, they have been going for walks “Sur le fil de Paris” whenever they can.
Bookstore Sur le fil de Paris
2 Rue de l'Ave Maria, 75004 Paris
Open every day (except Wednesday) from 14 p.m. to 19 p.m.
Tel: 01 71 20 41 46
Text and photos: Axel G.
29.09.21