Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir

by David Coggins

Paris in Winter combines fanciful ink and watercolor drawings by American artist and writer David Coggins with charming vignettes about his family's annual New Year's sojourns to Paris, which, because of their unending love for the city, they've been taking together for almost 20 years. This memoir of poetic, lighthearted stories highlights the family's passion for art and food, fashion and social life. Family rituals--from having lunch each January at the delightful Le Grand Vefour to haunting favorite antique shops and seeking out-of-the-ordinary spots, like a little known garden or a gypsy circus--are interspersed with serendipitous moments: hearing Bono sing "Happy Birthday" to a friend in a bistro, adopting an abandoned lap dog, and the simple pleasures of Parisian street life.
    
Coggins's delicate and intimate drawings capture classic Parisian scenes as well as family and friends against the backdrop of the elegant City of Light under the cloak of winter. Across cafés and hotels, apartments and galleries, the family mixes with a lively group of Parisian and international actors, designers, writers, and students. Furthermore, Coggins weaves in fascinating bits of the city's history and artistic lore, from Victor Hugo's interior designs to the painting that legend has it started Impressionism, to delight Francophiles all over.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, France, Art, Memoir, Biography

271 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2015

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sister has been to Paris many times. "I can't count the number of times I have been to Paris," she tells me.

Often she comes in the winter. Her son is a wine merchant. He comes to France several times a year for business. My sister comes along to help his wife with the kids while her son works.

This year she asks me to come along.

We arrive on January 27. We stay until February 12. Winter in Paris is cold. And wet. And beautiful.



I load up my Kindle with Paris books...travel guides...cookbooks...histories of Paris...poems from Paris...

But I only take along one real book. It's Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir by David Coggins.

It is the perfect book for my trip.



Here's the first page:

"What do you do in Paris every winter? You stay for such a long time."

"We look at art, which makes us hungry. So we eat, which is really why we go to Paris."

"How many years have you been doing this?"

"Twenty or thirty."

"Always in winter?"

"We've gone to France in all seasons."

"Why winter? We were there in winter once. It was cold."

"Fewer tourists. Sometimes it's cold. Often it's very pleasant. It's beautiful really, the spareness outside, the warmth inside."

"You've been to lots of places."

"We like to travel."

"Don't you ever get bored going back to Paris?"

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I savored this, slowly, reverently. I loved every page. I want to read it a second time, just to focus on the illustrations. His entries reminded me of my own from my (all too) brief stays there. Small, saved moments, beautifully written, steeped in nostalgia and emotion. "Paris in Winter" quickly became one of my favorite books I've read on the subject (and trust me, I've read my fair share.)

[Lizzey McFarlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a completely charming book that single-handedly made me plan a trip to Paris. A little too much art talk kept it from being a five, but the descriptions of food, architecture, and a family enraptured with Paris enchanted me.

[Cindy Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because it was identified as an “Illustrated Memoir” set in Paris. I enjoyed the illustrations, but I would not consider this a memoir. It was more like vignettes of Coggin’s experiences in Paris- they were fun to read and made me eager to return for a visit, but there was not much reflection going on. Certainly no conflict or lessons learned. It seems to be more like a travel journal. You will enjoy this more if you have actually been to Paris (I have) because places are not described in great detail - I was able to fill in the details because I had been to places that were described. Besides these few things I mentioned, I would recommend it.

[Amy Prosenjak · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really… How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless. How many more times will we walk the streets of Paris?”

[John’aLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this book, but all in all it came across a little disjointed for me. It was just snippets of this and that with no narrative running though it, or deep thoughts shared. I think if I ‘knew’ Paris as this author does, I would have enjoyed it much more. So the conclusion is…. I need to go to Paris!!!😁

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this book! (Though you may have to be as ardent a Francophile as both the author and I are.) Like the author and his family, I'm also a frequent visitor to Paris. I loved reliving my own experiences through his book and sharing those of Coggins and his family, through his words and drawings. Truly a treat.

[Mary Ess · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Paris you will want to read this book and look at this book. It's a grownup picture book. I thank the author for including me in his family's annual visit to the bistros, museums, sightings of the Eiffel Tower, walks along the seine. . . Ahhh I miss Paris.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. Someday when I spend a month or two in Paris this book will be my inspiration for how to spend my days. A love letter to Paris and life. Thank you for sharing dear friend A.

[nickoli :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really beautiful and heartwarming piece!! I loved the little anecdotes about life - the little notes about Paris in winter. My only large critique is that I don’t know what I was supposed to take away from this memoir. There was one piece of wisdom inserted at the end, and I’m sure that if I read this in the daylight I would’ve gathered that theme more throughout the book. On a non literary note, the art in this book is so fitting and it works really well :)

[David Glick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, whimsical read. Unsubstantial, but the illustrations are fun.

[Eliza Pillsbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations were more captivating than the words, but I do love me some Paris vignettes.

Also begs the question to me of privilege in memoir … I’ve read two recent memoirs by women who were mocked in the Goodreads reviews for the privilege of their life circumstances, which both authors took great pains to address in writing their story. But this book is presented—for a different audience and purpose, sure—with no qualifier or apology, and it’s probably the most extreme display of wealth I’ve ever seen in the genre.

[Doug Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. It's a great read for sophisticated travelers who know a little about the history of French food, culture, fashion and especially art history. It has an upper-class aura, e.g.
I seem to recall a phrase referencing the boredom of attending too many (artistic) biennales, but more often it's perceptive, funny and self-deprecating. In spots it brought to mind the acute and perceptive observations of essayists like Roland Barthes and Robert Warshow. And the writing is often very good:
"Walking after dinner is all the nightlife I need. Footsteps echo in the quiet streets. Old chairs and vases and paintings from the sea of unknown rooms fill the antique shops like shells on a beach. A woman on a bicycle passes like a deer in the forest."
It's interesting that, despite being sophisticated travelers who have been to Paris many times, Coggins and his family crew (wife, two adult children plus assorted friends/lovers/associates) frequent cafes that I thought were tourist magnets to be avoided, like the Cafe Flore and Brasserie Lipp. But his descriptions of visiting these cafes are again perceptive, funny and thought-provoking. Maybe I should look in the mirror and question my stereotypes about supposed tourist traps to be avoided!

The book is illustrated with the author's water colors which, if not at a Picasso level, are certainly evocative and often funny & perceptive like his writing.

One small complaint: it would have helped to provide a Dramatis Personae at the beginning, because the characters (mostly family members) mentioned don't receive any introduction up-front. This is especially true for his son David. It turns out that the author has a son with the same name, & at first this was confusing for me. But then I'm usually confused about the characters at the beginning of movies, novels, etc. Your mileage may vary.

All around a great book for those travelers who love Paris and highly recommended!

[LM Huffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the paintings very much, but found the writing to be less of a memoir and more of a scattered list of meals and menus, bits of conversation, and visits to museums. I would have found that far less annoying if the author didn't assume that if one is reading a book that takes place in France that it means that the reader must be fluent in French. I was able to follow some of the snippets of conversations, etc., but felt seriously left out by others, which seemed needlessly exclusionary.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

While reading, I kept thinking this can't be called a memoir because there's no real conflict in it-- it's more like a series of vignettes or prose poems. After reading, I keep thinking about how the central conflict is implicit and only alluded to at the end-- should we attempt to live in our favorite places? A question of privilege, but an interesting one.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely and charming book! It’s perfect for the end of autumn when things start looking grey. It’s also perfect for the present world we live in. When Trump celebrates stupidity, ignorance, brutishness and ugliness, you can turn to this book and know there is a place for everything opposite of that. There are people who trust in intelligence and les belles lettres as much as you.

[Sanukta Mylandla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!

Savoured every page, and each illustration is a burst of colour and joy. Paris in Winter leaves you impatient to explore the city yourself, with the added bonus of a delightful book/guide to help meander the many rues de Paris!

This book will inspire anyone who reads it to think about their life and how they want to live it.

[Lulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

An illustrated memoir of sorts, covering the many holiday trips the author took to Paris with his family. A few typos in French which irked me but it is an enjoyable read, with passages now and then that make you swoon with him over the City of Light.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now want to spend next New Year’s in Paris. Seriously!

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’adore Paris, so this book was a fun one to read.

The writing style is journal like and covers the years that the author and his family spend in Paris. Name dropping and sights seen.
The entries are joined by the author’s personal watercolors.

My only complaint is that the book seems a bit pretentious with the places they stay and visit. For example, their yearly lunch at the Hôtel Le Meurice?! Not something normal Parisian visitor does.

Maybe I’m just salty, because I’m jealous! 🤔

[Karah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a dream!!! Such marvelous travels, you would think he'd move himself and his family to Paris. If I had earned the funds sooner, I would have exiled from the USA. Coggins has encyclopedic knowledge of arts and culture.

He's a man you'd want to walk in the Jardins du Luxembourg and then have a leisurely lunch on Rue de Rennes. Anywhere in Paris would be enchanting.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this account of Coggins’ yearly vacations in Paris with his wife and two children. Simple explanations of what they ate, what art they saw, and how it made them feel, made me think that winter might be the time to visit! The accompanying drawings are charming, reminding me a little of Maira Kalman. A treat to read on a cold day in December.

[LOVEROFBOOKS · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an enjoyable way to read about Paris and what to do while you're there; where to eat. I had never heard of this author but I enjoyed his casual writing style and his watercolor paintings interspersed throughout the book.

A delightful book!

[Seth Oldmixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

La dolce vita, indeed. Coggins' memoir is part Bemelmans, part A.J. Leibling, part Robert Hughes, and part Fellini. An epicurean tour of Paris over the course of a dozen years of family vacations. A sublime reminder that we are surrounded by beauty and only need to slow down enough to take it all in.

[Jennifer Shepard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely account of Coggins’s family’s winters in Paris that is also illustrated with the author’s watercolors. Charming but not precious. I wish I had a similar document of my travels.

[Koger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. Since we're unable to travel abroad this year, books like this will have to suffice. Paris being one of my favorite cities, this was a nice read.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A memoir and family love affair with visiting Paris told in snippets.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

carrie bradshaw would've loved this book

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and a soul soothing escape when you need a break from the tumultuous times we are in.