There is so much I love about this place that is quintissentially French- the bread, the boulevards, the purplish light that settles over the city at the exact moment you're crossing one of the many bridges over the Seine in an attempt to get a small child home before dinner time... But I also love how easy it is to find just about anything you need or crave in this city, from bagels with cream cheese to sinfully delicious Spanish jamóm serrano. After all, this is one of the things I love about New York as well. So, it should come as no surprise that I practically squealed with joy when I found this gem of a book called "Le Monde à Paris" (The World in Paris). Now, with an easy flick of the wrist, I can land on the pages telling me where to go get my eyebrows threaded at an Indian salon, where to find real Portuguese fado music and, most importantly, who stocks the best English-language children's books and DVDs. After swooning over the literary atmosphere oozed by English-language bookstores like Shakespeare & Co. and Village Voice and deeming W.H. Smith (on Rue de Rivoli) decidedly less artsy (but still functional, of course), I've decided to elevate it a few notches. The second floor, which I just visited today for the first time, is a veritable gold mine of Britishness, from Marmite and other food stuffs to a fully-stocked kids' DVD collection. While the Disney empire has made sure just about every movie is available in every country around the world and sells videos here with at least 3-4 audio language options, there are some things that just haven't been popularized among French children. One of these is the very British Angelina Ballerina, a dancing mouse Malanga Girl happens to adore. Thanks to W.H. Smith and their grand second floor, I saved myself a trip to London and came home with an Angelina Ballerina DVD for my local Angelina fan.
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