What's The Story Behind The Bookstore?

One of my favorite activities consists of walking in Paris streets. I've been living in the area for almost ten years and Paris still amazes me. It's kind of a love'n'hate story between us. Far more love than hate though. And after all these years, Paris still have some Love cards up her sleeves that just make me happy.

I often wander in streets I've never been to before or just walked their pavement in a hurry, not really taking the time to see what beauty (or ugliness) they may have in store for me. Yesterday, I went to L'escale Pakito, a wonderful little pub to have a few drinks with close friends. I arrived quite early so I took the opportunity to wander around a bit. And there I found that kind of beauty I particularly enjoy. I took a picture to share it with you.



I was simply amazed by this street intersection, with that majestuous building in the background (the sunlit one) and more importantly by L'escalier (the staircase), an old looking bookstore that seems to support the whole building of which it occupies an angle; worn out by the cheer weight of the whole structure. It also made me wonder what's the story behind that shop? Who was its first owner? How did it evolve during all these years? How does it manage to survive in this time and age of cybergiants such as Amazon? What kind of books are sold there? Who chose the paint? Did a relative of mine ever visited or bought something from this shop in the seventies or eighties (one uncle, one brother-in-law, and the husband of one cousin dwelled in Paris for a few years at that time)? So many questions! All participating to the mistery of the bookstore from which sprung, I guess, the beauty I felt when looking at this scene.

I left them unanswered since all this very subjective beauty may simply evaporate with the answers. Of course, if you happen to know some of them please share them with us!