They have been described as the keepers of the “biggest open-air bookshop in the world”.
Now, Paris is pushing for its bouquinistes, booksellers who ply their trade along the banks of the Seine, to obtain Unesco intangible cultural heritage status amid fears the French capital’s literary soul is drowning in tat and trinkets.
With their trademark dark green stalls on the parapets overlooking the river, the bouquinistes have a rich history of selling second-hand tomes dating back to the 16th century.
Some made fortunes from selling the libraries of guillotined aristocrats during the French revolution, others braved death by passing on resistance messages in books during the Nazi occupation.
But…
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