Gregor Dallas

A history of Paris in twelve metro stops. Metro Stop Paris recounts the extraordinary and colorful history of the City of Light, by way of twelve Metro stops--a voyage across both space and time. At each stop a Parisian building, or street, or tomb or landmark sparks a story that holds particular significance for that area of the city. Dallas takes us to the jazz cellars and literary cafes of Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Pres; the catacombs at Hell's Gate; and the Opera during the days of Claude Debussy. A darker side of Paris emerges at the Trocadero stop and a charitable side at the Gare du Nord, which highlights the work of Saint Vincent de Paul. Finally, our journey ends at Pere-Lachaise cemetery with the little-known story of Oscar Wilde's curious involvement in the Dreyfus affair, one of France's greatest legal scandals. From Hell (the Denfert-Rochereau stop on the south side of the city) to Heaven (the Gare du Nord at the north end of Paris), Metro Stop Paris carries readers on a journey of the heart and mind. Metro Stop Paris is a thinker's guide to Paris made up of "slices of life," little vignettes drawn from Paris's two thousand years of history. Taken separately, these are charming historic tales about a city known and loved by many, but read as a whole Metro Stop Paris goes straight to the heart of what is quintessentially Parisian.