Shakespeare, but what company.

There's an english language bookstore called Shakespeare and Company on the Left Bank which has achieved some amount of fame amongst literary circles, and being interested in most (not all) things biblio, I found myself of course within its hallowed walls.  While I did not expect to see what I had expected- an old (not antiquarian) bookstore with books in disarray, a musty smell from the aging paper, genuine book lovers, et cetera, instead I saw a stream of tourists buying books from the so-called Lost Generation (Hemingway, Fitzgerald and that lot)- there were some redeeming points- a typewriter for those who wanted to write something (although there was no ribbon, so it made the task impossible) and a piano while not tuned had an interesting echo effect (that I played for about three minutes on, and naturally, recorded- which I will post about some other time). There were also the scattered "beds" which are there in the evening for those who volunteer/work in the shop and essentially live there "free" in the evenings.  Such is the world that George Whitman (the owner, now in his 90s, I believe) created- alas, I was unable to see him as he was not about, but I did catch a glimpse of his kitchen (which I had read about)- some of the original character could be felt or at least imagined.

the motto of the original owner, writ large on the second floor.