Everything (Or Almost Everything) About Paris: A Petite Encyclopedia Of Indispensable And Superfluous Information

There are almost 200 entries in the addictive Everything (or almost everything) About Paris, a witty and sophisticated treasure trove of facts, histories, lists, records, quotations, and miscellaneous oddities that go well beyond trivia to include significant cultural enlightenment and a below-the-surface glimpse of what it means to be Parisian. Among the thousands of facts that most certainly haven’t been assembled in one place anywhere else-

The number of brothels, massage parlors and places of pleasure listed in a 1922 guidebook;
Famous poisonings that occurred in Paris;
Addresses of the ten vineyards within the city limits;
Ten vintage aperitifs to order in bistros;
Imaginary Parisian streets that appear in novels;
Fines charged for municipal infractions (from feeding pigeons 35E to appearing nude in a public place 35,000 E and imprisonment );
The history of the bikini, the cobblestones, the rooftops, and the trashcans of Paris;
Exploits staged at the Eiffel Tower from 1891 through 2010;
Innovative (unadopted) ideas proposed through the years to improve the quality of life in Paris- shut down museums and put the paintings in bars, turn churches into housing for the poor, and more.

…and that’s just for starters.