• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Patricia Sands

Author

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
    • Can I visit your Book Club on Zoom?
  • Books
    • The Bridge Club
    • Love in Provence Series
      • The Promise of Provence
      • About Promises to Keep
      • I Promise You This
    • Drawing Lessons
    • Les Villa des Viollettes series
      • The First Noël at the Villa des Violettes
      • A Season of Surprises at the Villa des Violettes
      • Lavender, Loss & Love at the Villa des Violettes
    • The Secrets We Hide
  • Travel
    • Photography, France & d’Ailleurs
  • Instagram
  • If it’s Friday, it must be France…
  • Contact me

Everything you could wish for in a bookstore!

July 22, 2011 by Patricia Sands 4 Comments

If It’s Friday, It Must Be France …

Heidi’s English Bookshop, located in my home away from home this summer, Antibes, France, has been a mainstay here for 21 years. It can’t claim to be built upon Roman ruins as can many other buildings in the town, but it most definitely can claim to offer the largest selection of English-language books on the French Riviera.

Even so, the property has quite a history. The foundations in the cellar have been traced to medieval times and were part of the original fortifications erected to protect the village during that period. The vaults were used to store munitions and armaments during the Napoleonic Wars of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. The building itself has been a green grocer’s, a wine store,  as well as an antique shop, and, since 1992, its walls have been lined with hand-built bookshelves that are filled to overflowing with an amazing selection of literature, new and used.

An inventory of 15,000 titles is standard and any English-language book in print can be ordered, accompanied by a smile at all times.

The owner Heidi Lee, a former actress and an author, arrived here 26 years ago via England and Australia and has never looked back. The “book business” is not easy and to keep an independent bookstore running successfully for so long is most admirable. Ably assisted by Suzie Dean and Louise Vaughan-Arbuckle, the shop is warm and welcoming from the moment you enter. The door is always open unless a winter’s mistral is blowing through. Open 364 days a year,  Suzie’s adorable Norwich Terrier, Tiggy,  acts as the “official greeter” when on duty.

Along with the most recent modern fiction, there are large sections for Provencal guide books, Cookery, Craft, New Age, Travel and Language books. I was delighted when Heidi agreed to stock some copies of The Bridge Club in the store and was even more honoured when she included it in a special display of “local authors”. I wish!

Antibes has an illustrious literary history. Jacques Audiberti was born into the artistic community here, and is just one name on a cosmopolitan list of writers and painters which, apart from Picasso and Graham Greene, includes Guy de Maupassant, Jules Verne, Scott Fitzgerald, Nicolas de Staël and Nikos Kazantzakis. The latter wrote Zorba The Greek while he lived in Antibes. On my morning walks I often pass a bench where he liked to relax and which is marked by a plaque. Graham Greene lived here for most of the last 25 years of his life until his death in 1991. (Check my blog next Friday for some buzz on the literary history of Antibes!)

Literature by all of these authors is of course available from Heidi’s English Bookshop. Browsing is encouraged. There are no questions either Heidi, Susan, or Louise can’t answer, even if they have to do some investigation and get back to you.

Heidi’s store is situated in one of the best locations in the old town. Once you make your purchases, simply step out the door to find just the right choice of restaurants, cafés and bars to suit you. Pick a spot, place your order … café, rosé, pastis, un bon vin? Enjoy a good read in an ambiance that is hard to duplicate. (Click here to see a map and other important information about the store’s location.)

Thank you and merci bien to Heidi, Suzie,  & Louise for  the warm welcome to their community. It’s such a pleasure getting to know you.

Where is your favourite bookshop? Is it at home or in some exotic location like Heidi’s? I would love to hear about it and share the info with other readers!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France... Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Antibes Book Store, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, Heidi Lee, Heidi's English Bookshop, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, writing

About Patricia Sands

Family, writing and travel are my passions ... okay, and chocolate ... and I'm seldom without a camera. I write women's fiction and keep in touch with readers by a monthly newsletter that also has giveaways and contests. Come and join us by signing up on the right. See you there!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Patricia Caviglia says

    July 23, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    Sounds like a reader’s dream!

    Reply
  2. Alexandra says

    September 5, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    Amazing bookshop!!! Antibes is my second home and this bookshop is among my favourite ones! loving the atmosphere!

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      September 6, 2013 at 7:52 am

      Hey Alexandra – Thanks for stopping by. If you are in Antibes on October 4th, please join us at Heidi’s Bookshop for my launch party for The Promise of Provence. 4:30 p.m. ~ there will be wine! It would be great fun to meet you and feel free to bring friends! Let us know if you can come.

      Reply
  3. fransiweinstein says

    October 4, 2013 at 8:14 am

    Good luck with the launch! I’m thinking of you.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Join Me Here!

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
YouTube
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram

Follow Me on BookBub

Follow Me on BookBub

Follow me on Amazon

Follow me on Amazon

Available from Amazon!

Available from Amazon!

Available Now!

Available Now!

Available from Amazon

Available from Amazon

Join me and 9 of your favourite women’s fiction authors

Join me and 9 of your favourite women’s fiction authors

The Good Life France Magazine

The Good Life France Magazine

Categories

Archives

Footer

Copyright Disclaimer

© 2020 by Patricia Sands. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided a link back to this page and proper attribution is given to me as the original author. All photographs on this site are copyright of Patricia Sands

Follow Me!

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
YouTube
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram
  • Privacy Policy

FTC DISCLOSURE

The Federal Trade Commission requires that I disclose any relationship I have between a product manufacturer or service provider when I write about a product or service. I may receive a small commission for purchases made via affiliate links on this site such as Amazon. The above does not affect my opinion of those products and services. I am committed to sharing the work of other authors with my friends and readers.

Copyright © 2023 By Patricia Sands · Theme created and maintained by Bakerview Consulting