Violette and Co is an 850 square foot space dedicated to books about women, lesbians and the rest of the queer community. It’s a breath of fresh air in a city where a guy on a motorcycle feels the need to comment about two women holding hands as he is riding by (and pass for a douchebag); in a city where four men in a car will have the urge to laugh at two women holding hands on the street (while definitely making fools of themselves); in a city where pimply teenagers will insult two women embracing each other on a sidewalk (ignorance is such a plague.) Finding essays and studies about the gay community is particularly refreshing when you want to offer, let’s say, informative literature about homo-parenting to a parent with some internalized homophobia.
Violette and Co sells novels, essays, thrillers, art books, comic books, magazines, books for youths, CDs and DVDs. The bookstore also hosts book signings, book readings, debates and exhibitions.

Violette and Co
102 Rue de Charonne
75011 Paris
tel: 01.43.72.16.07
Metro: Charonne

Tu-Sat: 11am-8.30pm
Sun: 2pm-7pm
Closed on Monday

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Opened since 1831, Deyrolle’s taxidermy activity was originally oriented toward pedagogical purposes, but facing an ever growing interest in stuffed animals as ornamental object, Deyrolle now sells or rents its animals for movie sets, window displays or special events. Fast forward to the second floor and enter a succession of rooms full of stuffed animals from the Savanna, file cabinets and their drawers exhibiting boxes of butterflies, spiders, scarabs, moths and many more natural wonders, all in a natural sciences museum-like atmosphere. Check out the marvelous cabinets with there shells, bright red corals and stuffed birds behind glass, on your way to the book section of the store where you’ll find beautiful 19th century botanical illustration boards for sale among many great books. The first floor is dedicated to Le Prince Jardinier, a store specializing in gardening tools and picnic accessories. My favorite item of theirs is the vintage metal chair from the gardens of Paris, the same ones you find in the Luxembourg, Palais Royal or Tuileries gardens. Once too old to serve the gardens, Le Prince Jardinier recycles them and gives them a second life.
(Adam Gopnik, writer for the New Yorker, talks about Deyrolle in his book Paris to the Moon.)

Deyrolle
46 Rue du Bac
75007 Paris
tel: 01.42.22.30.07
Metro: Rue du Bac

M-Sat: 10am-7pm (Closed from 1pm-2pm on Monday)
Closed on Sunday.

Also closed on August 3, 2009, from August 10-19, 2009, August 24, 2009.

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La Cocotte is a lovely bookstore nested in the very lively Faidherbe-Chaligny neighborhood in the 11th. Cookbooks, history books, books about foods that make you fart (and their fart-antidote recipes), design books, photography books, novels, essays… whatever their type the books are all selected for their common theme: food. There is a large wooden table and two benches nestled in front of the window, open for tea and homemade pastries, or used for their cooking workshops (for little ones or grown ups.)

La Cocotte
5 Rue Paul Bert
75011 Paris
tel: 01.42.73.04.02
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-Sat: 10.30am-8pm (open until 7pm only on Wednesday)
Closed on Monday and Sunday

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The Lazy Dog in Paris is an awesome bookstore focusing on visual arts. They sell books about illustration, graphic design, typography, advertising, identity and packaging, art, street art, photography, architecture, fashion and urban culture, zines and comics. They also sell limited edition t-shirts, goodies (stickers, cameras, helmets, toys…) and (signed) screen prints from various artists such as the amazing Parra whose color palette will most likely engage your attention in very pleasant ways and stimulate your creativity. I found Nathaniel Russell’s—one of my favorite artists and friend— illustrated “Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists”. You’ll come across books by Mark Ryden, Italian artist Blu whose painted wall-animation MUTO has been viewed over three million times on Youtube, and many more contemporary pop culture influential artists. The Lazy Dog bookstore has a gallery, located just around the corner from the main store, showcasing talents such as Steven Harrington, Parra, So Me (Ed Banger Records’ visual artist), La Boca Studio…

The Lazy Dog
Main store
25 Rue de Charonne
75011 Paris
tel: 01.49.29.97.93
Metro: Ledru-Rollin

M: 2pm-7pm
Tu-F: 11am-7pm
Sat: 11am-7.30pm
Closed on Sunday

The Lazy Dog at Citadium (main floor)
50-56 Rue Caumartin
75009 Paris
tel: 01.55.31.74.00
Metro: Havre Caumartin
RER: Haussmann - Saint-Lazare

M-Sat: 10am-8pm (open until 9pm on Thursday)
Closed on Sunday

The Lazy Dog Gallery
2 Passage Thière
75011 Paris
tel: 01.58.30.94.76
Metro: Ledru Rollin
Call for opening hours and show information.

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“Created in 1999, Agora Presse is an innovative new concept of newsstand and bookstore. We offer a selection of over 3000 different newspapers, magazines and other press titles including most of the international gay press. Looking for Gay Times, Out, Wallpaper, The Advocate or any good city guide in English? Just ask us. We also specialize in architecture and fashion press worldwide – everything hip, fun, chic and sexy.”

Agora Presse
19 Rue des Archives
75004 Paris
tel: 01.42.74.47.24
Metro: Hotel-de-Ville

7/7
M-Sat: 7.45am-8.30pm (Opens at 8.30am on Saturday)
Sun: 11am-8pm

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