The Earful Tower: Paris

Every year or so, Lina and I make a children's book. Sophie in Paris is the fifth. And every time, once the books arrive, we hit the streets of Paris to deliver them ourselves. Bookshops, museums, all of it. This episode is about that part. Not the writing, not the illustrating, but the launching - which we find to be one of the most enjoyable bits. The envelopes, the deliveries, the doors we knock on.
So, for our second new episode this week, we're focusing on D for Deliveries. 
Five books in, the operation has grown. This new book, Sophie in Paris, has been our biggest yet, and Lina and I sit down to talk through what that actually looks like from the inside.
Get Sophie in Paris: theearfultower.com/shop
Find the book in a shop near you: Where to buy our children's books in Paris

D is for Delon, Alain Delon. Author Edward Chisholm is back on the podcast, this time talking about his new book Murder in Paris '68.
We recorded this one on location - sitting on the quai by the Seine, directly beneath the Quai des Orfèvres, the famous Paris police headquarters that has watched over the city's darkest crimes for centuries. Fitting, then, that we were there to talk about one of France's most explosive unsolved murders.
In 1968, a body was discovered on the outskirts of Paris and identified as Stevan Marković, the former bodyguard and close associate of the enigmatic film star Alain Delon. What began as a simple murder case quickly spiralled into a full-blown political scandal, drawing in actresses, gangsters, and high-level politicians. 
British author Edward Chisholm, the author of the bestselling memoir A Waiter in Paris, has written the definitive account of the affair. His new book takes us into the heart of an era and into the inner world of Alain Delon himself, a world of gangsters, violence, and underworld Parisian conspiracies, where everyone possessed their own cold elegance and charisma. 
We talked about the book, the Marković Affair, and of course... Alain Delon.
The music is from Pres Maxson. 
This episode brought to you by The Earful Tower Tours. Come join us in the Marais, Montmartre, or the Latin Quarter. Our Walking Tours are exceptionally highly rated online and are the best way to experience this podcast in real life.
The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its members. For just $10 a month you can unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris. 
Membership takes only a minute to set up on Patreon, or Substack. Thank you for keeping this channel independent. 
For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links:
Website 
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New episode: Let's take a deeper dive into the 17th arrondissement of Paris. You've hopefully already heard the previous episode, where Tom Vickers shared his thoughts on the 17th Kingdom. 
In this brand new episode, I kept exploring the 17th with my wife (and our new intern Victoria Hughes).
Relevant places to find: 
Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner 43 avenue de Villiers, 75017 A beautiful 19th-century townhouse museum dedicated to the dreamy, atmospheric paintings of Alsatian artist Jean-Jacques Henner (1829–1905), tucked into the elegant Plaine Monceau neighbourhood. www.musee-henner.fr
Claude Debussy & the 17th Debussy lived in the 17th for many years and composed some of his most celebrated works here, including Pelléas et Mélisande and Clair de Lune. The neighbourhood honoured him with both a street and a conservatoire bearing his name. 
25 Rue de Chazelles: Where the Statue of Liberty Was Built The workshop where Bartholdi and Eiffel assembled the Statue of Liberty before shipping it to New York. 25 rue de Chazelles, 75017
Inform Café A top specialty coffee shop and brunch spot with two locations in the 17th, one of them inside the striking Cité de l'Économie building (11 bis rue Georges Berger, 75017), and the original at 25 rue des Acacias. www.informcafe.com
Square des Batignolles A classic Haussmann-era English-style garden with a grotto, waterfall and pond, it's the heart of the village-y Batignolles neighbourhood. 11 place Charles-Fillion, 75017 
Parc Martin Luther King (Parc Clichy-Batignolles) A vast, modern 10-hectare park built on former railway land, full of biodiversity, cherry trees. 147 rue Cardinet, 75017 
Station Service Batignolles A tiny, warm neighbourhood coffee shop serving specialty coffee, fresh juices and homemade cakes - a perfect local gem. 3 rue Brochant, 75017 
This episode is brought to you by The Earful Tower Tours. Come join us in Montmartre, the Marais, or the Latin Quarter. Our Walking Tours are now award winning, and are the best way to experience this podcast in real life. 
The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its members. For just $10 a month you can unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris. 
Membership takes only a minute to set up on Patreon, or Substack. Thank you for keeping this channel independent. 
For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links:
Website 
Weekly newsletter 
Walking Tours
Music: Pres Maxson's take on Debussy's Claire de Lune.

Welcome back to "The 20 Kingdoms" season. As you probably know, there are 20 districts in Paris, known as arrondissements. They may as well be kingdoms, at least for this podcast season, where I'll visit each kingdom and introduce you to someone who truly loves it.
In this episode, it's Australian chef Tom Vickers. He runs a couple of cafes in the 17th, a district he defines as  being a fusion of its neighbouring districts (specifically the 18th and 16th). I met him at his flagship spot, the Inform Cafe, here's what he had to say.
Mentioned in this episode:
Inform Café - the original
25 Rue des Acacias, 75017 Paris
Flagship mentioned in the episode: 11 bis Rue Georges Berger, 75017 Paris 
With its high ceilings and view of an Italian-German architecture tower, this location offers more of a restaurant experience, with some additions to the menu, like a short wine list. 
Great streets: Rue des Dames, Rue de Lévis 
Canadian Embassy Pub: With a dark wood interior and a list of draft beers, here you can get a traditional Canadian Pub experience. 
Address: 71 Bd Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, 75017 Paris
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This episode brought to you by The Earful Tower Tours. Come join us in the Marais, Montmartre, or the Latin Quarter. Our Walking Tours are exceptionally highly rated online and are the best way to experience this podcast in real life.
The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its members. For just $10 a month you can unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris. 
Membership takes only a minute to set up on Patreon, or Substack. Thank you for keeping this channel independent. 
For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links:
Website 
Weekly newsletter 
Walking Tours
Music: Pres Maxson

Updated Re-Release: This episode originally aired a few years ago and has since become one of The Earful Tower's most beloved classics. We're bringing it back today because some things are simply too good - and too instructive - to stay buried in the archives.
It started with a photo. A single, damning image shared on The Earful Tower's social media: an 18-month-old Comté, massacred at a Parisian dinner party by the hand of a newly arrived American. The picture went viral inside the Earful community almost instantly, and the culprit, Will Weaver, a Texan fresh off the plane, became the talk of the group. So we did what any responsible France-based podcast would do: we launched a full investigation.
In this episode, you'll hear from genuinely mortified cheesemongers, some committed dramatic performances from Earful VIPs, and crucially the full account from Will Weaver himself, the man holding the knife that fateful evening. Yes, we find out exactly what he did, why he did it, and whether he has shown any remorse whatsoever. We also get into the real, legitimate, no-nonsense guide to how you are actually supposed to cut a Comté — because this is a safe space for learning, not just judgement. 
A word of warning before you dive in: a lot of this episode is firmly tongue-in-cheek, so take the drama with a generous pinch of salt. The cheese-cutting advice, however, is completely genuine. If the episode sends you running to the nearest fromagerie, the spots mentioned in the show is worth a visit: Griffon Fromager in Paris's 7th arrondissement (23 bis Av. de la Motte-Picquet, 75007 Paris) and we also recorded at bar of the legendary Le Bristol Paris (112 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris). Both are excellent. 
The music is from Pres Maxson. 
This episode is brought to you by The Earful Tower Tours. Whether you're exploring the Marais, scaling Montmartre, or wandering the Latin Quarter, our walking tours are among the highest-rated in Paris — and the best possible way to experience this podcast in the flesh.
The Earful Tower stays independent thanks to its members. For just $10 a month, you'll unlock a growing vault of extras: bonus episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and an annually updated PDF guide to Paris that's worth its weight in Comté. You can get started in under a minute via Patreon or Substack — and if you're already a member, thank you. You're the reason this exists.
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