Shakespeare and Company, the English-languge book shop on the Left Bank across from Notre Dame, has a venerable history all its own. Founded as Le Mistral in 1951 by George Whitman in an early 17th century former monastery, it soon became a center of Post-War ex-pat life, known for letting aspiring writers sleep in the back room. In 1964, he changed the name to honor Sylvia Beach, the American lesbian who owned the original Shakespeare and Company at 12, rue de L'Orleans and became a legendary bookseller as well as publisher of James Joyce's " Ulysses." The shop continues to be a literary hub under the direction of Whitman's daughter Sylvia Beach Whitman. It is a film star in its own right having made cameo appearances in "Before Sunset" and "Midnight in Paris."

shakespeareandcompany.com