Five Nights in Paris: After Dark in the City of Light

by John Baxter

An irresistible nighttime tour of Paris, past and present, by the bestselling author of The Most Beautiful Walk in the World

Every guidebook to Paris is crammed with sites to see during the day, but visitors are often cast adrift once the sun sets and the Louvre, Notre Dame, and other tourist attractions shut their doors. Sadly for those who have retreated into their hotel rooms, it's only when darkness falls that the City of Light shines brightest. Full of as many unexpected detours and delightful digressions as the city itself, award-winning author John Baxter's Five Nights in Paris is the ultimate off-the-beaten-path guide to exploring the French capital after hours.

Baxter leads readers on five evening tours across Paris's great neighborhoods. Each night's itinerary is selected for its connection to one of the five the first, "Sound," explores the great jazz clubs of Saint-Germain-des-Prés; "Taste" samples the eclectic restaurants and bakeries of the Marais; "Touch" brings alive the city's legendary cabaret scene, including Montmartre's nearby Moulin Rouge; "Smell" describes Parisians' love of perfume and takes us to the infamous former opium fumeries along the Bois de Boulogne; and "Sight" traces the favorite haunts of the Surrealist artists, beginning in Montparnasse.

Genres: Travel, France, Nonfiction, Memoir, Cultural, Humor

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 14, 2015

About the author

John Baxter (born 1939 in Randwick, New South Wales) is an Australian-born writer, journalist, and film-maker.

Baxter has lived in Britain and the United States as well as in his native Sydney, but has made his home in Paris since 1989, where he is married to the film-maker Marie-Dominique Montel. They have one daughter, Louise.

He began writing science fiction in the early 1960s for New Worlds, Science Fantasy and other British magazines. His first novel, though serialised in New Worlds as THE GOD KILLERS, was published as a book in the US by Ace as The Off-Worlders. He was Visiting Professor at Hollins College in Virginia in 1975-1976. He has written a number of short stories and novels in that genre and a book about SF in the movies, as well as editing collections of Australian science fiction.

Baxter has also written a large number of other works dealing with the movies, including biographies of film personalities, including Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, George Lucas and Robert De Niro. He has written a number of documentaries, including a survey of the life and work of the painter Fernando Botero. He also co-produced, wrote and presented three television series for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Filmstruck, First Take and The Cutting Room, and was co-editor of the ABC book programme Books And Writing.

In the 1960s, he was a member of the WEA Film Study Group with such notable people as Ian Klava, Frank Moorhouse, Michael Thornhill, John Flaus and Ken Quinnell. From July 1965 to December 1967 the WEA Film Study Group published the cinema journal FILM DIGEST. This journal was edited by John Baxter.

For a number of years in the sixties, he was active in the Sydney Film Festival, and during the 1980s served in a consulting capacity on a number of film-funding bodies, as well as writing film criticism for The Australian and other periodicals. Some of his books have been translated into various languages, including Japanese and Chinese.

Since moving to Paris, he has written four books of autobiography, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict, We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light, Immoveable feast : a Paris Christmas, and The Most Beautiful Walk in the World : a Pedestrian in Paris.

Since 2007 he has been co-director of the annual Paris Writers Workshop.

Reviews

[MaryG2E · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Baxter, is an Australian ex-patriate who has been living in Paris for over 20 years, married to a French woman. He is an author, film critic, journalist, translator and literary tour guide.

Looking for a niche market, Baxter develops the idea of leading night time tours of the lesser known parts of Paris. He decides to create 5 separate walks, based on the 5 senses. He then undertakes first-hand research by walking around his proposed locations either alone or in the company of interesting companions.

Baxter is a masterful writer. The words flow effortlessly and the sentences are packed with either wise observations or witty asides, or both. He brings the back streets of Paris, those not normally seen by tourists, to life with verve and wry humour. He is one of those remarkable people with a seemingly encyclopaedic brain and an elephantine memory. Every vista, every building, every shopfront or doorway evokes a story which is fascinating. His knowledge of history, the arts and culture is remarkable, and he offers all sorts of intriguing and often quirky snippets about aspects of Parisian life.

This is really easy reading, highly entertaining, particularly for those readers who have visited Paris and know some of the locations. Even for the dedicated stay-at-home armchair traveller, Baxter’s wit and wisdom illuminate the City of Light in a unique way.
4.5★s

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is somewhat interesting....as long as you pretend that it has a completely different title. The premise is to provide a guide for Paris "after hours" divided into five nights where each night i based on a sense. Being that I have an upcoming trip to Paris, I thought this was a unique concept and couldn't wait to read it. What a huge disappointment.

The first several chapters are mostly the author hemming and hawing about doing a night tour. Should I do one? How do I do one? What should I include in one? I wanted to read about about this tour, not the plans about a possible tour. The concept for this seemed to have come about after the author was approached by a woman who asked about a night walk, and the author understood that she wasn't the type who wanted anything that focused on Moulin Rouge, the Museum of Eroticism, and, well anything sexual in nature. It was something likely more literary in mind.

It was chapter 10 that night one finally began. Except it didn't. And, well, neither did the second, third, fourth, or fifth nights. Why? Because not only was none of it really based on the senses as indicated, barely any of it took place at night. The vast majority of the book was either random personal anecdotes (such as things the author would buy at the market) or random tidbits of history such as toilets, horse droppings, and the guillotine (these three taking place in the "sound" section...???). In spite of the author making it a point to mention how most night tours included some of the more sexual things and how this woman didn't seem to want that, he decides to include some sexual things in here anyway. Why act as if you're offering something that others don't offer only to offer the same thing?

The book is very poorly organized with no real rhyme or reason to how and why all of these things were strung together in the order they were chosen. There were several times I had to backtrack to ensure I didn't skip a page or a paragraph because it so quickly jumped to something completely unrelated. Within the last few chapters, the author is STILL trying to figure out how to do a night tour. And by the end, he says he doesn't do them. So yeah, he wrote an entire book pretending it was going to be something he really knew nothing about, and ultimately didn't make it about that at all.

So why three stars for all this negativity? Because aside from the disorganization, I probably would have enjoyed it more had it not tried to lure readers in with a false pretense. Read it for some interesting history and if you love a personal take from an an Australian expat living in Paris. Don't read it if you think the title has anything to do with the contents of the book.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When Hemingway called Paris 'moveable feast,' he didn't mention that there's no menu. The table sags under the weight of incidents, personalities, anecdotes, legends, lies." p. 7

Less than a month ago, I finished Baxter's The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris. So when Harper Perennial gave me the opportunity to read this new book by Baxter, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed. Baxter has a breezy style that makes his books very absorbing. Before I knew it, I was halfway through his night-time walks.

I like the fact that Baxter is not native French, but has lived in Paris for years. I believe it helps him understand what tourists might be interested in that the usual guidebooks don't cover. I also enjoyed the way he created his walking tours. Each one is tied to one of the five senses.

Unfortunately, I am still not headed to Paris anytime soon, but in the meantime, I have visited some places I would have not found on my own. I recommend these tours to all armchair travelers and to those who want to know more about Paris than that it is the home of the Effel Tower.

Thank you to Harper for letting me read another fun book by John Baxter.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have all the time in the world and want to cull a half dozen decent anecdotes out of this volume, go ahead. Be warned, it's not useful at all for a traveler, and may enrage you with its abstruse story-telling style and the self-importance of the author.

I have to compliment the publisher and designer though, this is a sexy and appealing packaging for a mystifying vapid book.

[Larry Hostetler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I expected, and pleasantly so. Rather than an account of tours of Paris, as suggested on the back cover - "Baxter leads readers on five evening tours across Paris's great neighborhoods" - Baxter does much more. Replete with stories of writers, artists, philosophers, and musicians (though not excluding other luminaries) the book is about Baxter's flirtation with doing night tours, and the kind of information that would make such tours interesting.

But I do not know whether the book could be used as a guide to the city. And I don't care. Organized into sections that appeal to the five senses the book considers the city from five perspectives, and shows why Paris is so intriguing.

The only thing I did not particularly like about the book were the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. They seemed only loosely connected, and in some cases I could not find the connection. By skipping the quotes I found the flow much better. Your results may differ.

Very good and quick read.

[Michael Blaylock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit and miss. A nice look into the daily life and history of Paris, but the layout isn't exactly as promised. Some of the chapters in certain sensory breakups don't make, well, sense. Like food in the sound chapter. The ideas area also pretty scattered. Not everything even has anything to do with "night" in Paris. I.E. gardens exist at all times and food vendors are mostly open in the day time, so why talk about them in a book about "Nights"?
The writer clearly comes from a love of Paris and a certain understand of it, which he does not always communicate to the reader.
However, if you're interested in Paris already and just want to grab as much of it as you can, this is a good book to read about some of less known aspects of Paris. In that regard, it is an enlightening book, and at least worth a read.

[Kelly Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed a few of Baxter's other books, but this one was disappointing. A collection of short essays, this book focuses on Paris at night, and Baxter attempts to describe the city according to the five senses. So, we get sections on sound, taste, touch, scent, and sight.

However, many of the chapters fail to show a connection between their subject and the scene associated with it. It was hard to follow where Baxter was going here. It felt unfocused and unorganized.

And the shortest section was on Taste, with only 3 chapters. I would think a city like Paris would offer more inspiration in this area.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Similar to his earlier book "The Most Beautiful Walk in the World," John Baxter delivers a confused and rambling self-indulgent pseudo-memoire. He seems more concerned with humble-bragging about his past experiences with celebrities and contributing to the fetishization of Paris than with providing a real guide book to the city.


While Baxter is clearly an intellectual with lots of knowledge and stories to share, the format of this book is a disaster. His chapters are sloppy and disorganized, and he comes off as another vaguely misogynistic idolater of Hemingway who is simply coasting on the reputation of a beautiful city.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read two other books by John Baxter, and enjoyed those far more than this one. This felt like a loosely assembled collection of anecdotes and Paris factoids (of which Baxter has plenty, but it seemed like he was just dumping them all in one place, rather than arranging them in a cohesive order) strung together with the shaky thread of the "five senses". It was a great idea on theory but wasn't executed well, and I don't know if that's totally the fault of the author; it was a tough theme to stick to. A quick read, not his best.

[Hollive · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I might have enjoyed this more if the description had been more accurate. This is more of a memoir than a guide to Paris after dark. If you like memoirs and literary history, you'll probably like it. If you are looking for suggestions for places to visit/things to do in Paris at night, not so much.

[Andie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for anything about Paris, and I've read a couple of John Baxter's other books, so I was looking forward to a pleasant holiday read. Unfortunately, Mr. Baxter was phoning this one in and relied way too heavily on his tales of sexual weirdness for my taste. Don't waste your time.

[Helynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of John Baxter’s many books about Paris are real treasures filled with interesting facts about people, history, culture, cuisine, and his own funky observations and wisdom about the City of Light. Others of his books, not so much. Five Nights in Paris falls into this latter category with its random, stream-of-conscious musings about the author’s childhood in Australia, his August vacations on the French Atlantic coast, his recollections of famous Americans passing through the city, favorite bits from French and American films, etc.. And none of it ties together particularly well. First of all, the book’s title is a misnomer. The content is too hit-and-miss to be centered on various nights in Paris. Rather, chapters are divided into sections centered on the five senses, and focus on sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and the feel of the city in various places and seasons. I am tempted to say this is the kind of book in which one must simply go with the flow; except there is no flow. One can only hope to find a few fun or informative nuggets among all the jerks and twists of the narrative. For example, once in a while, there is a nice paragraph such as:

"Paris is the ultimate museum. Other capitals demolish , renovate and repurpose their great buildings and sell off their treasures. By contrast, the French conserve, restore and repair their architecture and cling to the work of their creative people. No country invests so much into protecting and sustaining its artists, whether writers, painters, filmmakers, or musicians. Each café, boutique, apartment building or bookshop has not one story, but several" (8).

I enjoyed the brief chapter on various cultures’ adeptness at making “poor people’s food” into tasty specialties, such as pizza or Welsh rarebit. “Poor food! Not to the French. To transform pig’s blood into boudin noir, duck livers into pâté, and baked snails into escargots,, a delicious dish that has become a national icon, wasn’t economy, but art” (146).

Baxter returns to some of his favorite bits from former books such as debunking the supposed bohemian charm of writing in a café. (Ernest Hemingway’s writing in a Montparnasse café in the 1920s was a totally un-French phenomenon. Parisians go to cafes to relax and socialize. They do their writing in private). The author also revisits his impressions of the naughty and pornographic side of Paris, past and present. One example: group sex among the rich and famous and a picture of an orgy in the Bois de Boulogne in 1927.

There are some nice observations about the Marais area of central Paris, which has become preternaturally glossy and trendy in recent years. “Hot spots shift by the month, and businesses are lucky to last a season (170) . . . . The Marais churns. It always has. And a new item has appeared in chic Marais bakeries: coucougnettes, pastries made with chocolate and almond paste that look like testicles" (173).

A chapter on the history of the Parisian perfume industry starts out well, then veers off into memories of a visit to Montmartre, including a sidebar on the doomed 1871 Commune, then ends with the author his wife sniffing the wood in the Cathedral de Sacré-Cœur for traces of centuries-old incense odors.

Another chapter on surrealism might be of value for those who enjoy learning more about André Breton, Savador Dalí, Jean Cocteau and their compatriots in 1920s and 1930s Paris. Then the rest of Baxter’s book descends (or ascends, depending on your point of view) into a kind of surrealistic essay of its own as he randomly lets his imagination wander along with a night walk in the city. Yes, there are some tidbits of interesting information to be mined from these last pages, but frankly, I ran out of energy for the search.

[Rob Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love beat-up paperbacks. I like how they feel, the pages softened up, yellowed a bit, dog-eared, the binding crinkled and splayed. I like that a book has a material history, that it's been around, tossed, dropped, kicked, stuck in a to-be-read pile for days or weeks. Okay, I try not to see or think about dirty hands and mysterious "things" that are not words and punctuation marks to which the eye is drawn in old used books. (Dear Librarians: Can't something be done??) Beyond that, however, knowing dozens, maybe hundreds of like-minded sensualists, mind-travelers, and what-if thinkers have enjoyed traveling the same pages somehow gives one a modicum of joy, of belonging, of unité.

Paris is a city of everything imaginable. So we're told. And though the author took a long, meandering time traipsing around to get to the point of this first-person memoir, the walking around in the here and now and through history had plenty enough for everyone to get something out of it.

I am not going to pan this book. I usually don't finish books I don't enjoy. This one has flaws in my opinion but a lot of that might be me. So be it.

I did make the mistake of recommending this book mid-way through to a friend who I thought might relate to it - breaking my own rule of doing such a thing. But - and I won't belabor the point or spoil anything - I did send her a "buyer beware" type warning and backed down my recommendation for her shortly after telling her she might like it. For me, the book went off the rails a bit, then a lot. That's me. Just read the damned thing. There's enough to enjoy if you enjoy that sort of thing. If not, don't. Ca va?

Read it if you love Paris, or if you hate Paris, or if you want to know why others love Paris, or why Parisians might hate you, or if you're an ex-pat living there, or wonder what it's like to be an ex-pat at all. There's only one Paris, I would think. It has a reputation. Not everyone, everything has a reputation. Mr Baxter did some crack writing in spots. Il pourrait être utile que vous parliez français. Otherwise, have a dictionary handy. Adults only, pretty much. Beat up books tell stories - in more ways than one.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My enjoyment of Five Nights in Paris was dulled a bit due to the format: ebook, read on my laptop. In addition, the parts I liked best were the author's personal experiences, peppered with bits of history. Parts of the book were funny and I wish I could actually take Baxter's nighttime, or even daylight, tour of Paris.

"Paris is the ultimate museum. Other capitals demolish, renovate, and repurpose their great buildings and sell off their treasures, often looting those of other nations to replace them. By contrast, the French conserve, restore, and repair their architecture and cling to the work of their creative people." (Prologue 1)

"What impressed them [his dates] was the fact that in a country [Australia] where, traditionally men only entered the kitchen in search of a corkscrew, this one had cooked for them." (Chapter 20)

"Men generally want to be accepted for what they are, women for what they've become." (Chapter 29)

"A book could be friend, lover, family, priest, but more reliable than any of these." (Chapter 31)

"Each of us must, in our own way, as with a new lover, seduce, or allow ourselves to be seduced by the Paris night." (Chapter 38)

[Megan Iranpour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once a French teacher who was fortunate enough to take several trips to France for free with students, I long to go back and miss my home away from home with an ache, a pining. As such, I will read most anything in or about France. This book was charming, the author knows his people and his city, but it is not going to suggest a set of five tours you should take in Paris at night, if that’s what you feel it might do. He captures the five senses in Paris, a very cool concept, but many of his chapters in each section seem tangential and unrelated to the sense they were attached to. The stories are still entertaining. Read this if you want to expand your knowledge of and fall in love with the essence of French people.

[Cate Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure how to classify this book. It was entertaining but something about the structure of it kept putting me off. The chapters are divided up by the senses and then the author gives a few stories about how they apply to him and his time in Paris. The writing is a scream - so much fun, so light. But the whole thing puzzled me. Who is this for? People who love French food? Who dream of going on night walks? People who simply love Paris? If you're one of the last, you'll enjoy this book for what it is.

[Jean Cerfontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memorable overview of the sights and sounds (and the other senses) of Paris. Well researched, with many historical anecdotes of the city at night and the many historical figures that filled its streets and lively suburbs at some stage in the past. Sometimes the rambling nature of the story leaves one a little lost as to where one is and where it fits into the larger narrative.

I still found it an enjoyable journey.

[Mary Kesson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another Paris book grabbed from the shelves of the library. Since I'm not researching them before I check them out, these past few titles have certainly been more hit-and-miss than my normal selections. Another reader named Mary provided a review in January 2016 that captures many of my thoughts. It's a quick read that I mostly enjoyed, but it's really nothing like what the back of the paperback edition promises. Whoever wrote that copy must have read the book (?) so I'm left to assume that they figured they could sell more copies by misleading prospective buyers.

[Mary Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book at Shakespeare & Co. on a quick trip to Paris. It was the perfect book to start on the flight home and finish the week after the trip. I learned interesting tidbits about Parisian history, especially Surrealism. Quick, easy, enjoyable, and well-researched- I’ll read more about Paris from this author for sure.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I have come to expect from this author, this is a sexy book full of stories about living and life in Paris. He has organized them loosely into groups of tale-filled essays around each of the five senses. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and think that others who are interested in Parisian expat literary history will enjoy this read, as well.

[Tonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book with different things to do and see in Paris over 5 nights with nice anecdotes, this is not that book. It is easy to read and it's not uninteresting, there is a lot of interesting history, much of it recent, but it was just not what I expected at all.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful Paris

I went on this 5 night journey wishing I was in Paris. This is the first book I’ve read by Baxter. I will read more. What an intriguing approach to experience Paris. Well done!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm continuing reading about a city that has always fascinated me and maybe will be able to visit some day. Very informative.

[Marlies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable.

[Susan White-Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say, I love Paris. This wouldn't be my favorite of his, but I liked it.

[Shuriu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chatty, anecdotal, and doesn't really adhere to the purported structure, however, the stories are fun.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meandering walk, using the 5 senses as lenses through which to view Baxter's adopted city. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I appreciated the mix of personal and historical.

[E G Melby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting tidbits. Not helpful that it makes me want to jump on the next and go back- especially during a pandemic

[Becky Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little nuggets here. He describes things in a creative fashion. I love learning about the history behind places and smells and restaurants and the seemier side of Paris life!

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uff .. this took too long. The writing style was different... I felt like I was expected to know all about the author, but this is my first experience with him.