A victim of its own success. This is what has happened to this fascinating and historical bookshop opposite Notre Dame Cathedral, on the Left Bank in Paris. Because it is so well known it has become just too popular. I have been into the shop on several occasions. It is a warren with many small rooms leading through the house and it is stuffed full: books, both French and English, new titles, bestsellers as well as secondhand and antiquarian.
I can quite understand why the number of people in the building needs to be regulated or it would be an appalling fire risk. So, on this visit, for the first time, I watched a queue outside the shop with a member of staff working on a one out, one in system. It is lovely that the bookshop is popular but I do wonder if it has just become a tourist attraction. Do more people buy the attractive Shakespeare and Co book bags than actual books?
Am I being snobby? Does it matter?
I didn’t wait in the queue.