Through the incomparable John Baxter, the bestselling writer of THE MOST AMAZING Walk in the World, a sumptuous and definitive portrait of Paris through the seasons, highlighting the unique tastes, sights, and changing personality of the town in spring, summer, fall, and winter.

“A man with an excellent appreciation of what makes Paris tick.”- Newsday

When the common folks of France revolted in 1789, among the first ways they chose to correct the excesses from the monarchy and the church was to about A Year in Paris: Season by Season in the town of Light rename the months of the entire year. Selected by poet and playwright Philippe-Francois-Nazaire Fabre, these brand-new names reflected what occurred at that season in the natural globe; Fructidor was the month of fruit, Floréal that of blooms, while the winter breeze (vent) dominated Ventôse.

Though the names didn’t stick, these seasonal rhythms of the entire year continue to define Parisians, aswell as travelers to the town. As acclaimed author and long-time Paris resident John Baxter himself recollects, “My very own arrival in France occurred in Nivôse, the month of snow, and continued in Pluviôse, the growing season of rainfall. To someone coming from LA, where seasons hardly existed, the shock was visceral. Attempting to adjust, I found reassurance in the literature, music, also the food of my adoptive nation, all of which marched towards the inaudible drummer of the seasons.”

Devoting a portion of the book to each of Fabre’s months, Baxter draws upon Paris’s literary, cultural and artistic past to color an influencing, unforgettable portrait of the city. Touching upon the many spirits of Paris past, from Hemingway and Zelda Fitzgerald, to Claude Debussy to MFK Fisher to Francois Mitterrand, Baxter evokes the rhythms of the seasons in the town of Light, and the feeling of wonder they are able to arouse for everyone who check out and live there.

A melange of background, travel reportage, and myth, of high lifestyle and low, A Season in Paris is vintage John Baxter: a vicarious thrill trip for anyone who loves Paris.