Paris!

Many years ago, I lived in Paris for a while and worked as an assistant to a French artist. I didn’t have that many assignments, so I spent most of my time taking long walks and reading French classics in my small studio residence on Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville in the Marais. During my walks, I made a point of visiting several of the places I was reading about, and I was fascinated by the fact that I was actually in the same world as in the books. Of course, much had changed—but still, it was the same Paris!

The connections between the different places intrigued me, and I began to follow in the footsteps of the various characters. Places that had previously just flickered past in the text now lingered in my mind in a different way, and I read more attentively.

In fact, I should have drawn several maps based on the works of French authors, but it has taken time. Perhaps it’s because I have such respect for French culture that I simply didn’t dare. Or perhaps it’s because I am sentimental and feel a sense of melancholy when I think of the hundreds of walks I took in Paris back then. I don’t know—but now, at last, I have drawn my first French map.

That it would be this particular map felt quite natural, since I spent so much time in these parts of Paris—mostly in the Marais, but often passing Notre-Dame on my way to Shakespeare and Company, and perhaps continuing further for bread from the baker Poilâne. Then back across the Seine toward the somewhat chaotic Les Halles, where the Cour des Miracles didn’t feel so distant, and maybe a visit to the library at the Centre Pompidou.

It hasn’t been entirely easy to locate all the places, but I wonder if Hugo might have been looking at the same old maps as I did when he wrote this remarkable book, because surprisingly often, the places he mentions are marked there.

Enjoy your reading!