AHHHH

So I'm at work avoiding work, because apparently now that all of the fun is out of the way I've got some real hard stuff ... i.e. I have to call people and set up appointments to go visit them, by myself, in french ... TERRIFYING.

Anyway, I made a grand discovery on rue de Rivoli yesterday and spent the rest of the day depressed because I had no one to tell about it. So here it is, loyal blog readers: GALIGNANI BOOKSTORE:

This was the first English bookstore established on the continent (yes) in 1520 after the invention of the printing press. It has incredible collections of both English and French books. They have a huge literature section, separated by country of origin (i.e. Italian literature, Polish literature, Indian literature, French literature, etc etc,) with many english translations to choose from of each. This is paradise for a Comparative literature major.
Also, they have a section for Everymans library editions, which of course we all prefer ... I bought the Divine Comedy, hardback, Everymans, FOR 20 EURO. That's right. CHEAPER than in the United States, where it would probably be something like 29.95.

The layout of the store is so rad, you have to climb these little ladders to get to books on the higher shelves, and they have this area in the back that is like a huge half circle, with an upper level and a lower level. You can kind of see it in this picture in the back:

And this is the view looking down from that top level toward the everyman's library collection:

Wow, just Wow. I could spend hours here. You guys seriously, the books are cheap and all the editions are pretty (no Penguin classics, no Barnes and Noble editions,) great prices, great translations. Though they close at 19h00 rather than the other English bookstore WHSmiths a few doors down closes at 19h30, it is a sad competition. Galignani has such a better selection. Great place to buy a book to take across the street to the Tuileries and read by the fountain.
AHHHHHHHHH