Paris revisited

Good evening. “Joy is the city that surprises.” So says Caroline Eden, the writer of our feature on Paris this week.
On a visit to the French capital over a decade ago, Eden had failed to be won over by the fabled city of romance. Lured by more exotic destinations, she had not been tempted to return - until an exhibition of work by Mark Rothko drew her back again this spring.
How different things were this time around. From the Grand Mosquée de Paris, glistening in the early sunshine, to the chic Librairie Galignani bookstore, Eden discovered a side to the city she’d missed on that first trip. Watching students play board games at Au Petit Bar on Boulevard Saint-Marcel, seeing lovers sitting by the river at Jardin Tino Rossi, or simply sipping espresso at a pavement cafe, she soon felt the city creeping up on her as she saw it all through new eyes. “Ah Paris, heartbreaker city!” she writes. “I may have been woefully slow to catch on, but I’m so glad I finally have.”