Librairie des Colonnes

The Librairie des Colonnes is marked by its black and gold lettering above the entrance and its distinct glass windows facing Boulevard Pasteur. Established in nineteen forty-nine by the Belgian Gerofi family, the bookstore began as an outpost for the French publisher Editions Gallimard. Over the decades, it became a central gathering point for the international and local writers who shaped the city’s literary reputation, including Paul Bowles, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, and Jean Genet.