Shakespeare & Co - Sagesse

As you step up from the entrance to the main sales floor of Shakespeare and Company, this is what you see. A little wisdom from Paris. Next week, even more wisdom from the City of Light.

Shakespeare & Co - Storefront

This is the standard view of the shop. The one most commonly seen in guidebooks and on the internet. Iconic some might say.....

Shakespeare & Co - A Happy Pilgrim

Shakespeare & Company is the most well-known English-language bookshop in Paris. Located at  37 Rue Bûcherie in the Latin Quarter, it was opened in August 1951 by George Whitman, an American ex-patriot who found himself in Paris after World War II. It is the perfect place to while away a hour to two, or even a whole day.

Before Sunset - Where He Slept

In the movie, Jesse says he spent the night in the loft of Shakespeare and Company where a cat slept on his head. Here is a photo of one of the visiting author beds, tucked in safely among the books. (For even more "shot on location" information check out the Before Sunset page on www.movie-locations.com.)

Before Sunset - Walking and Talking

This is where Jesse and Celine begin their long walk around Paris, on the Rue Saint-Julien le Pauvre, right around the corner from Shakespeare and Company. (That's Notre Dame you can see in the background.)

Before Sunset - Where He Sits

This is where Jesse sat, behind a table of books, giving his reading not yet aware of how he was about to be transported back to the night he had spent years writing about. (You can see in this photo how Shakespeare and Company makes use of every bit of space in the shop and fills it all with BOOKS!)

Before Sunset - Where She Stands

This week, the Paris of Before Sunset, the Richard Linklater film (and sequel to Before Sunrise), in which Jesse and Celine reminisce about the romantic night they spent together in Vienna nine years earlier.

This is where Celine hides out, at the Shakespeare and Company bookshop, watching Jesse give his reading, until that moment when he turns, and sees her standing there.