A Passion for Paris

"A top-notch walking tour of Paris... Downie is the consummate guide...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, STARRED review "Paris has been cherished, admired, analyzed for centuries, yet in his wildly entertaining, operatic A Passion for Paris, David Downie seems to offer up a whole new place. Writing with an engaging informality, he delves into this most romantic of cities, then and now, focusing particularly on the Romantic Age and its people. . . . Whether the author is leading us into Flaubert's study or onto the terrace of today's Deux Magots, there's a rare excitement in the air--as if Puccini's Bohemians were united in song, somewhere off stage." --Penelope Rowlands, author of Paris Was Ours "Victor Hugo, Adele and Juliette, Saint-Beuve, Nadar, George Sand and a host of other great figures of French history come alive in David Downie's compelling and often wickedly humorous investigation of romance and romanticism in the City of Light. Most travelers agree that Paris is by far the most romantic city in the world but thanks to Downie's extensive research, passionate sleuthing and inspired imagination, they'll now know why. This unusual and exquisitely told tale of French romanticism is a must-read for true Paris lovers." --Harriet Welty Rochefort, author of French Toast and Joie de VivreOn Paris, Paris "An entertaining read. David Downie is fabulous company!" --Jacki Lyden, "All Things Considered," NPR "Downie's adroit, learned, and ambitious book reinvigorates my sense of travel, taking me back to the happy knowledge that the world is still large, and history unfathomably deep." --Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun "David Downie is the master of educated curiosity. I have walked some of the city's streets with him, and reading this book is just as tactile an experience." --Michael Ondaatje

David Downie, a native San Franciscan, lived in New York, Providence, Rome and Milan before moving to Paris in the mid-1980s. He divides his time between France and Italy. His travel, food and arts features have appeared in print publications worldwide. Downie is co-owner with his wife Alison Harris of Paris, Paris Tours custom walking tours of Paris, Burgundy, Rome & the Italian Riviera. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Paris, Paris, and the bestselling Paris to the Pyrenees.