During World War II, millions of desperate European and British parents sent their children alone to live in safer places away from war. Doreen Lehr was a three-year-old Operation Pied Piper evacuee separated from her family for six years, a story she tells in her memoir, A Girl's War. In this issue and the next, she writes exclusively for BonjourParis.

BonjourParis in-house antiques expert Toma Clark Haines of The Antiques Diva® & Co European Shopping Tours and Sandy Price, author of The Flea Markets of France, have never met in person, yet they’ve taken many trips together over the years. Find out how Price’s book became Haines’ traveling companion on her shopping voyages throughout France.

Taking Root in Provence is Anne-Marie Simons' second book, an expat's thoughts about Provence and life in the south. Thierry Picot reviews her book, which he calls part memoir, part guidebook and a testament to living well. Something tells us this is going into many Francophile libraries. Happy reading!

As tools of the trade for travelers, guide books and Internet sites are indispensable, and plenty abound for France.  However, a time comes when many frequent visitors cannot deny a hankering to dig a bit deeper, experience less widely-touted venues, forge a more sparsely-trodden path, to discover the quieter side of sightseeing.  That desire, when coupled with an instructive book, can set the stage for a more poignant memory or two. “Portraits of France” by Robert Daley can prove just such an experience.

When Robespierre decided that the Revolution required an image to replace the discarded idea of God, he asked Jacques-Louis David to produce a painting of the new “Supreme Being.” The graphic novel The Sky Over the Louvre uncovers the fascinating story behind the art.

The book is dedicated “to my new best friend” and then there’s a dotted line for you to fill in.

Cringe-worthy?

Yes, if the author of a book who intended to get you up to speed on Parisian style was just any old supermodel. But Inès Marie Lætitia Églantine Isabelle de Seignard de La Fressange—let’s call her Inès—is not like the others.

Around And About Paris: Volume I by Thirza Vallois is now available in e-book format. Thirza Vallois is a Sorbonne-trained historian and author of several Paris guidebooks that include historical details uncommon in most travel guides. The digital version of Around and About Paris: Volume 1 is a must for travelers who explore Paris arrondissements 1-7 with Kindles, iPads or smartphones in hand.

Ballantine has just published The Paris Wife, a new book destined to be a bestseller by Paula McLain. It tells the story first told by Hemingway in A Moveable Feast, but through the eyes of his first wife, Hadley Richardson. The Paris Wife is a wonderful addition to Hemingway literature and is a must for anyone interested in the history of Americans in Paris. It’s delightfully well-written and a really good read!

My six years in Paris were spent with pen in hand, scribbling away in notebooks and on any scrap of paper I could find. I was in awe of the place. Unable to restrain myself, I would stop to describe the ambience of a garden or an intricate doorway. I was constantly documenting a thought, a flavor or a dish.