Paris by the Book - France Today: "It's one of the most glorious interior spaces in Paris-a vast, light-filled room with slender iron columns branching out far overhead into graceful vine-and-flower-patterned arches, supporting a roof of twin barrel vaults. Huge windows and hundreds of glass-shaded lamps light a sea of long tables where readers sit, quietly turning pages, taking notes or tapping on laptops. Computer catalogs stand next to sculpted heads on pedestals and a staff desk is backed by a jewel-toned Gobelins tapestry. Marveling at the gorgeous juxtaposition of old and new in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, I wondered why it had taken me so long to discover the delights of the city's historic libraries."
