Over the centuries, Paris has intrigued, revolted, scandalized and most of all captured the heart of many a visitor. For Dickens it is the ‘most extraordinary place in the world’, for Hazlitt, ‘a beast of a city’, and for French writers, the essence of civilization: ‘I maintain that, for people of breeding, there is no salvation out of Paris.’ claimed playwright Molière. Describing the capital variously as a city of lovers, gastronomy, fashion and filth, myriad quotations – sometimes poetic, sometimes humorous and always fizzing with insight – are collected here.