Join a ParisWalks tour. Usually it's a two hour walk through one of the neighborhoods and the guide will tell you something about the history and notable buildings in the area.

Hi emily71,

Thanks for the suggestion -- and that I've done. I didn't find the information to be as deep as I find in the guidebooks.

s

Take a small laptop computer (or smart phone) and stay at a hotel with free WiFi. It will be a great research tool.

This might not be in depth enough for you but I have a book called Paris by Plaque that is an English Translation of the blue history plaques that are up on various buildings in Paris.

Here's the link
http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Plaque-Montmartre-Complete-Historic/dp/0956761402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352900061&sr=8-1&keywords=paris+by+plaque

If you can read French at all, at a bookstore like FNAC Forum des Halles, you will find at least 300 different books covering every conceivable element that interests people in Paris, including dozens of books about the so-called 'secret' places which are in fact not much of a secret (secret passages, secret gardens, secret statues, secret courtyards, etc. etc. etc.).

BKP, thanks for the link. I always wonder about those plaques.

Walking tours - i went on a great one called - the spirit of montmarte! they use actors to bring the tour alive

http://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CC4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visites-spectacles.com%2Fsortir-the-spirit-of-montmartre-english-paris-sortie-en-famille%2Cevenement-6221&ei=dbOjUKHJNoSRhQfo54C4CA&usg=AFQjCNFVFhhyia6pCmEOoP6bCVB7dimOew

continuing from the above - get tickets (for any outing) on billetreduc.fr lots of discounts to be had

Have you read John Russell's "Paris?"

Have you been to the Musée Carnavalet? http://carnavalet.paris.fr/fr/musee-carnavalet

I like Leonard Pitt's book walks through Lost Paris.
He tellds ther history of varioue sections and buildingx. It is not necessary to have your head in it. !!

Oh, and Ina Caro's books are wonderful.

Agree you don't have to have your head in a book while wandering the streets. You sit on a bench or at a café and read, then go wherever you've just read about...assuming you haven't read ahead of time.

Kerouac pretty much nailed it with his suggestion but if you want a specific book (or books) to read and/or bring with you to guide you around Paris while you learn some pretty cool and little known (to most) history then get yourself the three volume set by Thirza Vallois called Around and About Paris (http://www.thirzavallois.com/). Each chapter covers an arrondissement with lots of detail, history, interesting anecdotes and has detailed maps to guide you around. I would suggest using this book in combination with getting on a bike and getting yourself completely lost. You'll cover way more ground on a bike than by foot and I guarantee you'll see much more than you realized could be possible.

There are a number of blogs that go into quite a bit of detail regarding different aspects of Paris. For example, the writer will take a certain building, post photos of it, and then the history, including unusual aspects of residents, etc. My favorites are written by people who are actually from elsewhere but are now residents of Paris, as they seem the most enthusiastic and often give so much detail. One that comes to mind will research French newspapers from the 1800's and translate the articles about some interesting incident.

cynthia, would you mind linking to these blogs, especially the architectural one you mention? I think I heard of it some time ago and bookmarked it, but it's now lost in my bookmark slush pile and I'd like to find it again.

Two that I look at regularly are not specifically about architecture but about places and incidents, and so touch on the buildings as part of the subject.
http://parisisinvisible.blogspot.com/
And
http://www.peter-pho2.com/
This last one, Peter's Paris, has a very good list, down some, on the right, of other blogs about Paris. Sometimes I read a blog entry and then take a Google streetview walk around the subject area.