A Year in Paris: Season by Season in the City of Light

Baxter (The Most Beautiful Walk in the World) invites Francophiles to explore Paris in all its seasons in this insightful if meandering memoir. Baxter surmises that Parisians, in particular, “are used to living by... the seasons”—whether that means toasting to November’s quick-fermented Beaujolais nouveau in bars strewn with autumn leaves, or forgoing air conditioning in the summer in order to enjoy the breeze through open windows. This way of living has deep roots, according to Baxter, who breaks up weather-related anecdotes with the little-known history of performer-politician Fabre d’Églantine and his ill-fated Calendrier républicain, the official state calendar used for just 12 years during the French Revolution. Aiming to adopt a system of decimalization and break from Catholic influence, Fabre implemented a 10-day week and renamed months for their characteristics: Pluviôse—roughly, “rainy”—fell during winter and Floréal, or “flowery,” was in spring. The author seems out-of-touch at times—an ex-lover’s daughter is “a bosomy twentysomething with pretensions to art”—yet his descriptions of nature are nuanced, as when a windstorm leaves trees “levered out of the ground like rotten teeth,” and “April’s pale, cloudless skies look as well scrubbed as a Vermeer.” This joyful exploration of a much-beloved city will make readers wonder if there is ever really a bad time to visit Paris. (Feb.)