31. Secret Machineries - page 153
31. Secret Machineries - page 153
hat tip to contributor Don M from Canada:
31. Secret Machineries, page 154
"Outside, the air had been scrubbed by rain, pavements glittering, Ten to eight, by her iPhone. She could, as either George or Meredith had said, see Les Editeurs across the way, not this street but the next one over, angled. She walked right, past the fancy little drugstore, then right again, not wanting to be early. This much narrower street, angling sharply back, behind the hotel, was home to an English-language secondhand bookshop, a cocktail bar, a serious-looking sushi restaurant, a bookbinder, and a place that seemed to specialize in Chinese reflexology equipment: sadistic-looking massage devices, instruction manuals, models of bodies and body parts marked with meridians and pressure points. Here, for instance, was a very large china ear, apparently identical to the one in Heidi's room at Cabinet. She'd known she'd seen one before."
This paragraph can be decoded, as if, Gibson staying at Odéon Hôtel, went for a walk around the block and then found a restaurant. Using Google Streetview (see below), you can closely follow his path along rue de l'Odeon, turning onto rue Monsieur le Prince, backtracking to the restaurant les éditeurs at Carrefour de l'Odéon. Careful reconnaissance, discovers all of the various settings he describes. A quick Internet search, confirms actual Paris businesses. Gibson is known for his dense prose that gives the feeling of real locales ... now, we know why ... they 'are' actual communities, districts and neighborhoods.
les éditeurs- Google Street View - les éditeurs Web Site
fancy little drugstore - Google Street View
English-language secondhand bookshop - Google Street View - San Francisco Book Company Web Site
a cocktail bar - Google Street View - L'Escale Web Site
a serious-looking sushi restaurant - Google Street View - Tokyorama Web Site
a bookbinder - Google Street View
On page 155, he writes
"One of the books in the window was shaped like a fan, or like a wedge of gilt-embossed ivory calfskin pie, the apex bitten neatly concavely off."
The French for "bookbinder" is relieur and at number 4 rue Monsieur le Prince is an escutcheon shaped sign which says "Lambert Barnett, Artisan Relieur, Maison fondèe en 1830"
Phu- Xuan - specialize in Chinese reflexology equipment: sadistic-looking massage devices, instruction manuals, models of bodies and body parts - Google Street View - PHU-XUAN Web Site
"Here, for instance, was a very large china ear, apparently identical to the one in Heidi's room at Cabinet. She'd known she'd seen one before."
