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Enchanting Paris: The Hedonist's Guide
Go beyond the ordinary with this charming and sophisticated entry in the Hedonist’s Guide travel series, a remarkable travelogue, guidebook, and coffee table keepsake—filled with spectacular color photography and detailed insights—that showcases Paris’s stunning beauty and hidden gems.
See the City of Light through the eyes of a native with Paris, the third book in the Hedonist’s Guide series.
Combining essential insider details, cultural information, must-see attractions, and detailed maps with glorious custom photography—including 350 full-color images—Enchanting Paris is the ultimate handbook for modern nomads, including both savvy travelers and novice tourists. Designed for twenty-first-century globetrotters,
Enchanting Paris features stylish graphics and an elegant visual design, including a special tri-fold map that makes the city and its distinct arrondissements easy to navigate, as well as a breakdown of must-visit places, thematic double-page photographic spreads to help you discover and get to know the city, and walking routes to explore each district away from the crowds. Every fascinating detail of the city is revealed, from the splendor of its palaces to the charms of its terraces, the romanticism of its many bridges to the magnificence of its food, the wealth of its museums and cultural landmarks to the delights of its shops and stores.
Whether you prefer a more traditional visit or want to chart your own unique course, this user-friendly handbook includes everything you need—and more. Enchanting Paris offers inspiration and insight for armchair travelers and dreamers alike. Best of all, the gorgeous photography transforms the book into a keepsake that will transport you back to your favorite places and sights long after returning home.
Experience Paris as never before with the Hedonist’s Guide!
See the City of Light through the eyes of a native with Paris, the third book in the Hedonist’s Guide series.
Combining essential insider details, cultural information, must-see attractions, and detailed maps with glorious custom photography—including 350 full-color images—Enchanting Paris is the ultimate handbook for modern nomads, including both savvy travelers and novice tourists. Designed for twenty-first-century globetrotters,
Enchanting Paris features stylish graphics and an elegant visual design, including a special tri-fold map that makes the city and its distinct arrondissements easy to navigate, as well as a breakdown of must-visit places, thematic double-page photographic spreads to help you discover and get to know the city, and walking routes to explore each district away from the crowds. Every fascinating detail of the city is revealed, from the splendor of its palaces to the charms of its terraces, the romanticism of its many bridges to the magnificence of its food, the wealth of its museums and cultural landmarks to the delights of its shops and stores.
Whether you prefer a more traditional visit or want to chart your own unique course, this user-friendly handbook includes everything you need—and more. Enchanting Paris offers inspiration and insight for armchair travelers and dreamers alike. Best of all, the gorgeous photography transforms the book into a keepsake that will transport you back to your favorite places and sights long after returning home.
Experience Paris as never before with the Hedonist’s Guide!
- GenresTravelNonfictionFrance
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 6, 2023
28 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 4, 2025
Paris, once more
Like everything relating to Paris, this lavishly illustrated , luxurious book grabbed my attention in the local library.
As one reviewer put it pithily: it’s more suited for browsing on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine than planning a detailed itinerary. Giving quite the idea of what to expect from this book, it captures exactly - or almost - how I read it (not on Sunday afternoon - too early for wine - but on a Saturday night and a Sunday morning, with coffee). Breezy, eye-pleasing, browsing back and forth, I languorously savoured it in a couple of hours, gleefully revelling in the gorgeous photographs, sinking into reverie when recognizing some of the places, gleaning ideas for the week I'll hope to spend there with my son and daughter, next year in February.
What stood out were the glowing colour photographs of the Dutch photographer Sophia van den hoek; the book has about 350 of them on offer, which this reader – a lousy and clumsy photographer - appreciates a lot. That Van den hoek fell in love with Paris at her first visit on the age of fourteen shows from the exquisite way she is able to evoke the city’s splendorous sights and bountiful multifariousness through her lens. While I am enamoured with the atmospheric photographs in black and white of Paris and the Parisians by Brassaï, Doisneau and Kertész, I was pleasantly surprised by Sophia Van den hoek’s delicate colour palette - refreshing as well as tender and luminous.
Also the drawings of monuments and landmarks look attractive. The short, page-long thematic texts by Hélène Rocco work as appetizers, don't expect a filling meal from them. Roaming the districts, the reader can nip from places like the Petit Palais, the covered passageways, the Great Mosque, examples of art nouveau and art deco in Paris, discover old cinema’s, or neighbourhoods like New Athens, visitd artist’s studios and home museums (of Bourdelle, Zadkine, Gustave Moreau) – and much, much more. The selection of some of the topics (also distilleries, gastronomy chefs, fancy brasseries, curiosity shops ) might be slightly too much alike of those one can find in glossy life style magazines but isn't the joy and the chance of exploring worlds which are different from our own one of the reasons we turn to books? With no particular interest for interior design or hipster hotspots, nor having a sweet tooth, I nonetheless enjoyed getting introduced to classic Parisian pastries (millefeuille, religieuse, Paris-Brest …), the surprising presence (or survival) of a few vineyards, a couple of churches, squares and parks and getting a taste of the treasures to find in Greater Paris (Auteuil, the château de Vincennes, the château de Malmaison (the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais and Napoleon), the Japanese garden of the museum Albert-Kahn , brutalist architecture).
Unsurprisingly, a book which presents itself as ‘a hedonist’s guide to Paris’ paints a picturesque, elegant picture that mostly corroborates the image of Paris as ‘the Shangri-La of international bourgeoisie’, a BCBC ‘bourgeois Babylon’ with all associations of privilege and wealth that go together with it.
Because I am interested in different views on the city, this book paired well with another book I read recently, How Paris Made the Revolution and the Revolution Made Paris: From France's Royal City to Bourgeois Babylon, 1789-1889 which – as shows from some of the rather Marxist-Jacobin asides and reflections of the author - approaches the city from a diametrically opposite perspective. An accessible, compulsively readable and informative introduction, it covers the revolutionary events in Paris and how the subsequent revolutions between 1789 and 1871 shaped the city of Paris, helping to contextualise and ‘read’ some of the monuments, streets and squares historically.
Like everything relating to Paris, this lavishly illustrated , luxurious book grabbed my attention in the local library.
As one reviewer put it pithily: it’s more suited for browsing on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine than planning a detailed itinerary. Giving quite the idea of what to expect from this book, it captures exactly - or almost - how I read it (not on Sunday afternoon - too early for wine - but on a Saturday night and a Sunday morning, with coffee). Breezy, eye-pleasing, browsing back and forth, I languorously savoured it in a couple of hours, gleefully revelling in the gorgeous photographs, sinking into reverie when recognizing some of the places, gleaning ideas for the week I'll hope to spend there with my son and daughter, next year in February.
What stood out were the glowing colour photographs of the Dutch photographer Sophia van den hoek; the book has about 350 of them on offer, which this reader – a lousy and clumsy photographer - appreciates a lot. That Van den hoek fell in love with Paris at her first visit on the age of fourteen shows from the exquisite way she is able to evoke the city’s splendorous sights and bountiful multifariousness through her lens. While I am enamoured with the atmospheric photographs in black and white of Paris and the Parisians by Brassaï, Doisneau and Kertész, I was pleasantly surprised by Sophia Van den hoek’s delicate colour palette - refreshing as well as tender and luminous.
Also the drawings of monuments and landmarks look attractive. The short, page-long thematic texts by Hélène Rocco work as appetizers, don't expect a filling meal from them. Roaming the districts, the reader can nip from places like the Petit Palais, the covered passageways, the Great Mosque, examples of art nouveau and art deco in Paris, discover old cinema’s, or neighbourhoods like New Athens, visitd artist’s studios and home museums (of Bourdelle, Zadkine, Gustave Moreau) – and much, much more. The selection of some of the topics (also distilleries, gastronomy chefs, fancy brasseries, curiosity shops ) might be slightly too much alike of those one can find in glossy life style magazines but isn't the joy and the chance of exploring worlds which are different from our own one of the reasons we turn to books? With no particular interest for interior design or hipster hotspots, nor having a sweet tooth, I nonetheless enjoyed getting introduced to classic Parisian pastries (millefeuille, religieuse, Paris-Brest …), the surprising presence (or survival) of a few vineyards, a couple of churches, squares and parks and getting a taste of the treasures to find in Greater Paris (Auteuil, the château de Vincennes, the château de Malmaison (the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais and Napoleon), the Japanese garden of the museum Albert-Kahn , brutalist architecture).
Unsurprisingly, a book which presents itself as ‘a hedonist’s guide to Paris’ paints a picturesque, elegant picture that mostly corroborates the image of Paris as ‘the Shangri-La of international bourgeoisie’, a BCBC ‘bourgeois Babylon’ with all associations of privilege and wealth that go together with it.
Because I am interested in different views on the city, this book paired well with another book I read recently, How Paris Made the Revolution and the Revolution Made Paris: From France's Royal City to Bourgeois Babylon, 1789-1889 which – as shows from some of the rather Marxist-Jacobin asides and reflections of the author - approaches the city from a diametrically opposite perspective. An accessible, compulsively readable and informative introduction, it covers the revolutionary events in Paris and how the subsequent revolutions between 1789 and 1871 shaped the city of Paris, helping to contextualise and ‘read’ some of the monuments, streets and squares historically.
June 14, 2023
Parijs: de stad van de liefde, van lekker eten en prachtige architectuur. Met Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten leer je meer over de al bekende delen van Parijs, en leer je nieuwe delen van de stad kennen.
Over de lichtstad aan de Seine is al veel geschreven, maar Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten blinkt uit in de diversiteit van de inhoud. Van hotels zonder slot tot een interview met een patissier – het boek belicht de vele kanten van de stad. Ook lees je over de historie van bijvoorbeeld musea en de geologie van de bodem van Parijs. De inhoud is zo uiteenlopend, dat maakt deze atlas onderscheidend.
Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten is meer een prachtig koffietafelboek dan een reisgids. Het boek is te groot en zwaar om mee te nemen in je tas terwijl je een stad doorwandelt, maar het kan zéker ter inspiratie gebruikt worden voordat je op reis gaat. De prachtige, beeldende foto’s en verhalen zorgen ervoor dat ik nieuwe plekken in Parijs leer kennen. Move over Eiffeltoren en Sacre Coeur – de Mosquée de Paris en het rariteitenkabinet van het huis Deyrolle zijn véél interessanter om te bezoeken.
Parijs is een prachtige stad en de foto’s van Sophia van den Hoek zorgen ervoor dat het boek ook heerlijk is om doorheen te bladeren en weg te dromen naar de stad. Van de (minder bekende) wijngaarden tot detailfoto’s van plekken die je waarschijnlijk als toerist wél ooit hebt gezien: de foto’s zijn stuk voor stuk plaatjes.
Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten is hét boek voor liefhebbers van Parijs. Dit prachtige koffietafelboek zit vol inspirerende invalshoeken waarmee je de stad van een andere kant bekijkt, aangevuld met verhalen over plekken die je nu extra graag wil bezoeken.
Deze recensie verscheen eerst op https://www.readalicious.nl/recensies...
Over de lichtstad aan de Seine is al veel geschreven, maar Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten blinkt uit in de diversiteit van de inhoud. Van hotels zonder slot tot een interview met een patissier – het boek belicht de vele kanten van de stad. Ook lees je over de historie van bijvoorbeeld musea en de geologie van de bodem van Parijs. De inhoud is zo uiteenlopend, dat maakt deze atlas onderscheidend.
Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten is meer een prachtig koffietafelboek dan een reisgids. Het boek is te groot en zwaar om mee te nemen in je tas terwijl je een stad doorwandelt, maar het kan zéker ter inspiratie gebruikt worden voordat je op reis gaat. De prachtige, beeldende foto’s en verhalen zorgen ervoor dat ik nieuwe plekken in Parijs leer kennen. Move over Eiffeltoren en Sacre Coeur – de Mosquée de Paris en het rariteitenkabinet van het huis Deyrolle zijn véél interessanter om te bezoeken.
Parijs is een prachtige stad en de foto’s van Sophia van den Hoek zorgen ervoor dat het boek ook heerlijk is om doorheen te bladeren en weg te dromen naar de stad. Van de (minder bekende) wijngaarden tot detailfoto’s van plekken die je waarschijnlijk als toerist wél ooit hebt gezien: de foto’s zijn stuk voor stuk plaatjes.
Parijs, kleine atlas voor hedonisten is hét boek voor liefhebbers van Parijs. Dit prachtige koffietafelboek zit vol inspirerende invalshoeken waarmee je de stad van een andere kant bekijkt, aangevuld met verhalen over plekken die je nu extra graag wil bezoeken.
Deze recensie verscheen eerst op https://www.readalicious.nl/recensies...
February 22, 2025
Such a beautiful book that captured my half year there gorgeously. A lot of things about Paris that I loved weren’t the touristy things perse but just being. Rather than doing this or that. It was just allowing myself to unfold across time by no regard for the time. Long walks along the Seine. Drinking wine in the jardin du Tuileries. Eating l’eclairs on the steps up of stairs in Montmartre. Laying on the grass and looking up at the sun in front of the fountains of Luxembourg. Indulging in the sweetest strawberries during strolls in markets of le marais. Getting lost in the galeries of L’orangerie, d’Orsay or sketching at Rodin. What a moveable feast that still keeps me full to this day. The bread. The wine. The santés, the bisous, the enchantés, I am so much better for It. Les gens sont très gentils, merci beaucoup France.
August 23, 2024
Magnifique livre qui offre des photos à couper le souffle. Le highlight de ce livre est définitivement les nombreuses photographies (à la limite artistique) qui attirent l'oeil. J'ai été charmé par les descriptions historiques et les anecdotes qui parsemaient les pages. Il y a quelques adresses intéressantes et des parcours à faire à pied sont aussi proposés. J'ai l'impression que le livre tentait de capturer l'âme de Paris, une mission qu'il a fort bien réussi. À utiliser vivement lors de la planification d'un voyage car il parle de tout: monuments, restaurants, musées, activités, lieux à explorer et d'endroits à découvrir lors d'une flânerie!
February 26, 2024
ACHTUNG: BETRIFFT DIE DEUTSCHE AUSGABE!!!
Wenn ich jetzt so das Buch vor mir liegen habe und einfach nur durchblättere, muss ich gestehen, dass mein Herz höher schlägt.
Sucht man als Fan einer Stadt oder einer Region nicht immer immer nach Büchern, die den geliebten Ort am besten verkörpern? Bücher, die man aus dem Regal nimmt, wenn die Sehnsucht zu groß wird und man aber nicht einfach losfahren kann?
Wenn ihr so etwas zu Paris sucht, dann seid ihr jetzt fündig geworden.
Ehrlich gesagt, liebe ich sogar den Duft dieses Buches. Das dicke Papier, den leicht Sepia-angehauchten Druck. Es ist ein wirkliches Erlebnis.
Nun ist das Buch kein gewöhnlicher Reiseführer. Er stellt vielmehr Orte vor, die den Geist der Stadt einfangen. Sei es nun die Große Moschee von Paris oder die Metallsäulen-Allee von Bir-Hakeim. Der Square de Batignolles mit seiner Grotte, den Wasserspielen und dem Teich, oder die Schlittschuhbahn im Grand Palais.
Es sind diese ungewöhnlichen Orte, die man sofort besuchen will, wenn man sie hier sieht.
Natürlich kommen auch die großen Sehenswürdigkeiten zum Zug, seien es die zahlreichen Museen, Gebäude, Friedhöfe oder die Parks.
Tipps für Restaurants? Gibt es auch. Aber ebenfalls eher nicht wie erwartet. Vielmehr lernen wir zum Beispiel die Bouillons kennen, jene Lokale, die man inzwischen wieder verstärkt in Paris findet und die in ihrem Ursprung Arbeiter-Restaurants waren und in denen man heute wieder gutbürgerlich zumeist in wunderschönem historischem Ambiente essen kann.
Zu jedem Kapitel findet man eine Doppelseite mit den wesentlichen Punkten in einer Gegend. Großformatige und dadurch sehr übersichtliche Karten präsentieren Vorschläge für Spaziergänge.
Aufgefüllt wird das Ganze mit Artikeln die als "Wissenswertes" überschrieben werden und Paris aus besonderen Blickwinkeln betrachten. Ob es nun den "Brutalismus" in der Architektur betrifft oder Erläuterungen zu Kanälen, dem Bereich Pâtisserie oder die Parks.
Alles ist unterhaltsam, informativ und selbst für eingefleischte Paris- Kenner ist sicher noch so einiges Spannendes dabei.
FAZIT:
Die Augenreise ist vielleicht ein bisschen zu groß und zu schwer, um sie in der Tasche mit nach Paris zu nehmen. Aber man bekommt als Vorbereitung auf eine Reise ungemein viele Informationen und findet auch eine Unmenge an "Hidden Gems".
Alles in allem finde ich, dass dieses Buch ein kleiner, großer Schatz für alle Liebhaber der Seine- Metropole ist und natürlich auch ein fabelhafter Einstieg für diejenigen, die es erst noch werden wollen.
Wenn ich jetzt so das Buch vor mir liegen habe und einfach nur durchblättere, muss ich gestehen, dass mein Herz höher schlägt.
Sucht man als Fan einer Stadt oder einer Region nicht immer immer nach Büchern, die den geliebten Ort am besten verkörpern? Bücher, die man aus dem Regal nimmt, wenn die Sehnsucht zu groß wird und man aber nicht einfach losfahren kann?
Wenn ihr so etwas zu Paris sucht, dann seid ihr jetzt fündig geworden.
Ehrlich gesagt, liebe ich sogar den Duft dieses Buches. Das dicke Papier, den leicht Sepia-angehauchten Druck. Es ist ein wirkliches Erlebnis.
Nun ist das Buch kein gewöhnlicher Reiseführer. Er stellt vielmehr Orte vor, die den Geist der Stadt einfangen. Sei es nun die Große Moschee von Paris oder die Metallsäulen-Allee von Bir-Hakeim. Der Square de Batignolles mit seiner Grotte, den Wasserspielen und dem Teich, oder die Schlittschuhbahn im Grand Palais.
Es sind diese ungewöhnlichen Orte, die man sofort besuchen will, wenn man sie hier sieht.
Natürlich kommen auch die großen Sehenswürdigkeiten zum Zug, seien es die zahlreichen Museen, Gebäude, Friedhöfe oder die Parks.
Tipps für Restaurants? Gibt es auch. Aber ebenfalls eher nicht wie erwartet. Vielmehr lernen wir zum Beispiel die Bouillons kennen, jene Lokale, die man inzwischen wieder verstärkt in Paris findet und die in ihrem Ursprung Arbeiter-Restaurants waren und in denen man heute wieder gutbürgerlich zumeist in wunderschönem historischem Ambiente essen kann.
Zu jedem Kapitel findet man eine Doppelseite mit den wesentlichen Punkten in einer Gegend. Großformatige und dadurch sehr übersichtliche Karten präsentieren Vorschläge für Spaziergänge.
Aufgefüllt wird das Ganze mit Artikeln die als "Wissenswertes" überschrieben werden und Paris aus besonderen Blickwinkeln betrachten. Ob es nun den "Brutalismus" in der Architektur betrifft oder Erläuterungen zu Kanälen, dem Bereich Pâtisserie oder die Parks.
Alles ist unterhaltsam, informativ und selbst für eingefleischte Paris- Kenner ist sicher noch so einiges Spannendes dabei.
FAZIT:
Die Augenreise ist vielleicht ein bisschen zu groß und zu schwer, um sie in der Tasche mit nach Paris zu nehmen. Aber man bekommt als Vorbereitung auf eine Reise ungemein viele Informationen und findet auch eine Unmenge an "Hidden Gems".
Alles in allem finde ich, dass dieses Buch ein kleiner, großer Schatz für alle Liebhaber der Seine- Metropole ist und natürlich auch ein fabelhafter Einstieg für diejenigen, die es erst noch werden wollen.
June 17, 2025
Hélène Rocco’s Enchanting Paris is, at first glance, a stunningly curated homage to the city she calls home. With rich photography by Sophia van den Hoek and 350 pages of lush visuals, this book is an aesthetic journey through both the iconic and the intimate corners of Paris. It’s elegant, well-designed, and clearly made with affection. But as a guidebook, it walks a fine line between inspiration and superficiality.
Rocco promises a “hedonist’s guide,” and that’s exactly what she delivers—if your idea of hedonism is more about visual pleasure than narrative immersion. The book features curated walking routes, charming anecdotes, and interviews with Parisian artisans, chefs, and designers. It’s a refreshing departure from cookie-cutter travel guides and clearly aims to inspire a sensory connection to the city.
Yet, despite its beauty, the substance doesn’t quite match the surface. The text often feels more like captions than storytelling, with many entries offering only a single sentence or brief note about a location. As one reviewer put it: “The photography is gorgeous, but I wanted more than a sentence per place.” Another noted, “It’s more of a well-packaged mood board than a guide.”
The design itself is a mixed blessing. While the tri-fold maps and layout are stylish, many readers (myself included) struggled with the font: it’s faint, small, and difficult to read in lower lighting. A beautiful book should be a pleasure to engage with, not a strain.
That said, there’s no denying the atmospheric power of the imagery. If you’ve been to Paris and want to relive its magic—or if you dream of going and need something to stir your imagination—Enchanting Paris offers a lovely way in. It’s more suited for browsing on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine than planning a detailed itinerary.
If you’re looking for poetic suggestions, boutique glimpses, and artful visual storytelling, this book is for you. But if you're after in-depth cultural commentary, historical context, or practical travel planning, you may want to pair it with something more informative. A solid 3 stars: charming, but not quite captivating.
Rocco promises a “hedonist’s guide,” and that’s exactly what she delivers—if your idea of hedonism is more about visual pleasure than narrative immersion. The book features curated walking routes, charming anecdotes, and interviews with Parisian artisans, chefs, and designers. It’s a refreshing departure from cookie-cutter travel guides and clearly aims to inspire a sensory connection to the city.
Yet, despite its beauty, the substance doesn’t quite match the surface. The text often feels more like captions than storytelling, with many entries offering only a single sentence or brief note about a location. As one reviewer put it: “The photography is gorgeous, but I wanted more than a sentence per place.” Another noted, “It’s more of a well-packaged mood board than a guide.”
The design itself is a mixed blessing. While the tri-fold maps and layout are stylish, many readers (myself included) struggled with the font: it’s faint, small, and difficult to read in lower lighting. A beautiful book should be a pleasure to engage with, not a strain.
That said, there’s no denying the atmospheric power of the imagery. If you’ve been to Paris and want to relive its magic—or if you dream of going and need something to stir your imagination—Enchanting Paris offers a lovely way in. It’s more suited for browsing on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine than planning a detailed itinerary.
If you’re looking for poetic suggestions, boutique glimpses, and artful visual storytelling, this book is for you. But if you're after in-depth cultural commentary, historical context, or practical travel planning, you may want to pair it with something more informative. A solid 3 stars: charming, but not quite captivating.
June 30, 2025
A photo tour with interspersed guides to a few paths and walkways that bring the reader on a journey to interesting Parisian places. A sprinkling of pages go further into details but this book stays too superficial to gain a full five stars.
October 19, 2025
These Hedonist Guides are lovely. Not a traditional travel guide, but a brief overview of the moods and feelings of the neighborhoods of Paris. Some beautiful pictures, and some fun little gems to be filed away for the next time I am there.
July 17, 2023
Absolutely gorgeous photographs and travel ideas on and off the beaten path.
August 4, 2024
I wish I had read this before my first trip to Paris, so many hidden treasures to explore in this magical city. A good excuse to return now that I’ve read this comprehensive guide.
March 22, 2025
Loved this! It had great tips and gave me exactly what I wanted to know about Paris.
June 25, 2025
too many low resolution images
It could’ve been way better with higher resolution and bigger images. Some big pictures were showing aliased contours, which was unbelievable.
It could’ve been way better with higher resolution and bigger images. Some big pictures were showing aliased contours, which was unbelievable.
September 30, 2025
I love this book, I love paris
January 2, 2026
oby jak najwięcej takich albumów!!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews