Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

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Seneca
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Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby Seneca » Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:07 pm

I just found out I will get to spend a week in Paris in the not too far future.

Any particularly nice/elegant/cool bookstores I should check out? And does anyone know if Assimil itself has a storefront? It'd be kind of cool to see all their current options laid out.
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Re: Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby Arnaud » Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:15 pm

Assimil bookshop: 11 Rue des Pyramides, 75001 Paris (it's a little shop, nothing fancy)
100 meters farther in the street, there is also a Japanese bookshop (Junku)
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Re: Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby ilmari » Wed Apr 26, 2017 1:58 pm

Gibert Joseph
26 boulevard Saint Michel
(beautiful language section on one of the upper floors)

Gibert Jeune
LANGUES ET LIVRES EN V.O.
6 place Saint-Michel
(smaller bookshop, but specialised in languages)

They are close one to the other: Métro Saint Michel or Odéon.

Both have also second hand offers.
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Re: Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby Seneca » Fri May 12, 2017 10:08 am

Arnaud wrote:Assimil bookshop: 11 Rue des Pyramides, 75001 Paris (it's a little shop, nothing fancy)
100 meters farther in the street, there is also a Japanese bookshop (Junku)

You were quite right that it was a little shop, but it was neat to see so many of their courses in one place since I have never seen them for sale in-store anywhere before.

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Re: Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby rpg » Wed Jan 08, 2020 8:24 pm

I'm heading to Paris in a couple weeks and I was excited to come across this thread, but it looks like their physical store is no more: https://www.assimil.com/blog/10592-2/

The blog post says that the store's inventory is now carried by Mundolingua, a museum in Paris dedicated to language and linguistics (seems pretty cool!).
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Re: Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby neumanc » Wed Jan 08, 2020 8:43 pm

rpg wrote:I'm heading to Paris in a couple weeks and I was excited to come across this thread, but it looks like their physical store is no more: https://www.assimil.com/blog/10592-2/

The blog post says that the store's inventory is now carried by Mundolingua, a museum in Paris dedicated to language and linguistics (seems pretty cool!).
For buying language learning material, I recommend the "fnac" in the mall "Les Halles". They have the biggest collection of new books I've come across in Paris. On various occasions, I've bought several Assimil courses there for less than the official price (20 percent off). I don't know, however, if this offer is still valid.
For used books, you should go to "Gibert Jeune" in the cartier latin (near the fountain at the beginning of the Boulevard Saint Michel).
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Re: Bookstores/Assimil Store in Paris?

Postby Arnaud » Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:08 am

I update that thread because sadly a lot of bookshops are closing in Paris, so:
- The Assimil bookshop doesn't exist anymore.
- Gibert Jeune (place Saint-Michel) was closed after the Coronavirus lockdowns.
- Only Gibert Joseph, 26 boulevard Saint Michel (beautiful language section on the 4th floor) is still surviving, but there are less and less second-hand language books (their stock in now online on the rakuten and amazon french site).
- By the way, not far from Gibert Joseph, a few blocks away, there is a chinese bookstore: You Feng (45 rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006 Paris)
- About 1 km away, there is also a russian bookstore : Editeurs réunis (11 Rue de la Montagne Ste Geneviève, 75005 Paris): they are centered mainly on religious stuff, but you can find cheap russian books, sometimes.
- The other russian bookstore is the "librairie du Globe" near Bastille: the russian books are really expensive (twice the price of online bookshops) and they sell only new books (no second-hand books). The only advantage of that bookstore is that you can speak russian with the sellers, if you want. They also sell translated books in french (novels, poetry, essay, etc), french and russian textbooks to learn russian and art books.
- Also in the quartier latin, there is a polish bookstore : Librairie Polonaise 123 Bd Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris: They sell new books and magazines, nothing second-hand, afaik.
- The Fnac at the Forum des Halles is still opened: there is langage section in it, textbooks (Assimil and others), a few bilingual books (russian, english, italian, spanish///french), and a little section of english books (mainly best-sellers).
But, Gibert Joseph is better than Fnac: more books, more languages, second-hand books, more diversity (even if it's less diversity than a few years ago).
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