Queenie
Active member
From sailor to bookseller: Paris welcomes new cohort of ‘bouquinistes’ Rachid Bouanou has traded in a life at sea for a job selling second-hand books by the banks of the River Seine in Paris. The former sailor is one of 18 new ‘bouquinistes’, booksellers who ply their trade from iconic green kiosks in the French capital in a tradition that dates back centuries. He and others answered an appeal by Paris City Hall to find new recruits for a number of stalls left vacant following a tough few years for the profession.