Product Review

Part travel narrative and part lifestyle guide, Inspired by Paris: Why Borrowing from the French Is Better Than Being French is a must-read for anyone who’s ever dreamed about traveling to or living in France.

Author Jordan Phillips is a bona fide Francophile. Just show her a wedge of oozy French cheese or a slightly dilapidated Mansard roof, and she’ll swoon every time. Before moving to New York, Phillips lived in Paris, and she still travels to her apartment there frequently. But through these experiences, she learned that—as in so many things in life—fantasy is often better than reality.

Filled with historical tidbits, motivational nuggets, and honest insight, chapters such as “La Vie Est Belle,” “The Paris Syndrome,” and “Jacques-in-the-Box” reveal the truth of what it’s really like to live in the most beautiful city in the world.

Whether you’re headed to Paris next week or never make it there at all, this chatty and information-packed book will introduce you to the real City of Light—beyond the fantasy of the Instagram version.