Forget the plane ticket! Nick Steves is back with a green-screen journey through France, one beautifully bookish stop at a time. From the romantic angst of Paris to the bone-laced Catacombs, this video explores ten French cities and the novels that bring them to life. Expect high drama, questionable life choices, and just enough literary flair to make you forget this isn’t a PBS special. Sponsored by @YourTrueShelf who dared me to give the green screen another go.
:: Chapters ::
00:00 – Intro: Pack Your Beret, We’re Going to France
01:21 – Paris: Existential Dread & Overpriced Coffee
03:10 – Versailles: Revolution and Really Big Hair
05:04 – Marseille: Smugglers, Salt & Secrets
06:52 – Provence: Lavender, Longing & Literary Escapes
08:47 – The Louvre: Art, Artists & Questionable Life Choices
10:41 – Normandy: War, Memory & the Quiet Weight of Legacy
12:33 – Montmartre: Bohemians, Bread, and Bad Decisions
14:19 – Bordeaux: Wine, Whining & Family Secrets
16:01 – Strasbourg: Borders, Language & Identity
17:56 – The Catacombs: Gothic Secrets & Bones Beneath Beauty
19:43 – Closing: Reading Your Way Across France (And Not Getting Lost)
:: This is not a tag. But it can be if you want it to be. ABSOLUTELY NO PRESSURE FROM ME. ::
Paris: The City of Love, Existential Dread & Overpriced Coffee
A book about romance, art, or philosophical despair (bonus points if it’s all three).
Versailles: Let Them Eat Cake
A book about excess, royalty, rebellion, or revolutions—literal or emotional.
Marseille: Salt, Smugglers & Secrets
A gritty mystery, thriller, or a story set by the sea.
Provence: Lavender, Longing & Literary Escapes
A book that feels like summer: quiet, lush, and slightly nostalgic.
The Louvre: High Art, Low Morals
A book about art, artists, or literary heists (real or metaphorical).
Normandy: Beaches, Battles & Ghosts
A historical novel with war as a backdrop, or one grappling with legacy.
Montmartre: Bohemians & Bad Decisions
A book that screams creative chaos: writers, artists, or hot messes.
Bordeaux: Wine, Whining & Family Secrets
A generational saga or domestic drama that pairs well with a glass of red.
Strasbourg: Borders, Hybrids & Identity Crises
A book about language, heritage, or crossing boundaries (real or metaphorical).
The Catacombs: Bones Beneath the Beauty
A gothic novel, horror story, or anything unsettling hiding beneath elegance.
#BookTube #TagTuesday #FranceBookTour #FrenchLiterature #BooksSetInFrance #LiteraryTravel #BookTubeTag #ReadingAroundTheWorld #FrancophileReads #HistoricalFiction #FrenchAuthors #LiteraryTourism #BookRecommendations #DrCrankyPantsReads
2 Comments
I hope that bag has rfid blocking. Another fun journey which started with a kind of expected book choice and then went loping off in a variety directions. You have the art, the fashion, the food but I'm fascinated by the idea that Paris used to clean it's sewers with giant irons balls.
Wow you put a lot of work into this video~ hats off to you. Well done. I think the parents failed Louis and Marie. They weren't prepped properly to handle their positions and it seems lived at spoiled children, until it was too late of course. For them it was a day late a dollar short, but so much worse. I love when people save old homes and put life back into them. Thank you so much for the tour in France. You've saved me so much money. 👍😁