Delightful short stories about walking in Paris ( )

Better than I thought it was going to be; because I thought it was going to be, "OMG, Paris is so freaking beautiful, this is beautiful, that's beautiful, OMG Paris is so beautiful." Yawn! It wasn't that. It bounced around severely. It was kind of tied together by the author's recounting of how he stumbled into a job giving walking tours of Paris; and some of the fun things he includes on his tours. I liked that all the chapters were super-short. I liked the amount of himself he put into the book - enough so you aren't wondering who in the world is speaking to you; but not so much that it's a Me-Me-Me book, which is also boring. Altogether, you'd think that I'd love it. Ultimately, though I hate to sound like an ugly American or a jaded snob, I went to Paris once and I wasn't all that crazy about it. I prefer Italy. ( )

It was ok; was hoping it would be more of a photographic book. Reminded me of good times in Paris, though. ( )

At first I was disappointed in this book. While not expecting a travelogue, I was expecting some sort of neighborhood insights, what's fun to see or what makes a neighborhood especially French. Instead the first half of the book, while referencing walking occasionally, didn't really cover walking or neighborhoods at all. It was a more personal memoir - who he ate with and at what restaurant and what they ate; movies or other authors comments about Paris that fit his story. All in all not interesting because it's not what I expected.

It is well written and there are some interesting nuggets of info and some great quotes scattered throughout. A line I particularly liked is, "

The last quarter of the book started talking about specific neighborhoods and streets as he began telling of his "guide" business. I found the historical references and stories about his "clients" interesting and engaging. Overall, I can't fault the book for the writing or style; mostly my dissatisfaction is because it didn't meet my expectations based on the title - maybe a different title would have helped. Why "A Pedestrian in Paris" when he barely wrote of his walking experiences? AND, he mostly focused on his neighborhood of St Germain and Montparnasse. - Paris is much bigger than that.

Satisfies my "place I want to visit" category for the FB 2015 reading challenge. I'll be going this fall so hoped for some fun tips from this book.....guess I'll keep looking! ( )

This the second of Baxter's books on Paris that I have read, and I enjoyed this one much more than the first. It's a breezy travelogue on Paris and its streets, about the very culture of walking neighborhood by neighborhood. Baxter has lived there for decades and brings a long-time resident's insights, while still adding contrasts from his experiences during his Australian childhood and other stops abroad. This book will particularly delight literature fans, as Baxter can't help but emphasize that aspect of the city--with a heavy dose of Hemingway. The appendix with travel tips would be helpful for anyone who plans to travel to Paris, too. ( )