Flammarion publishes Forever Paris: A Guide to the Timeless Soul of the City, compiled by French illustrator and designer Marin Montagut, a figure whose practice has long blurred the boundaries between art, craft, and storytelling. He’s now also a successful businessman. Centred on Paris and French culture, Montagut designs products that range from candles, stationary, decoration, fragrances, and more.

This new amazing book re-frames the French capital through the eyes of a flâneur, a city mapped not by its famous monuments but by its quirkiest venues. Organised by arrondissement, the volume traces more than 475 handpicked addresses, each a locus of interest: Belle Époque cafés where mirrors bear the patina of a century, ateliers that have sheltered the persistence of rare gestures, forgotten museums waiting quietly behind unassuming façades, even the chocolatier once favoured by Marie Antoinette. This is Paris not as postcard but a practical and gorgeous guide arranged by neighborhoods, with places by names and categories. Stunning!

Bound with gilt edges, marbled endpapers, a ribbon marker, and fold-out maps, Forever Paris is as remarkable as its informative. Montagut’s delicate watercolours transform listings into moments of reverie. Each page tells a story, a reminder that Paris’ fabric is stitched as much from its overlooked corners as from its celebrated landmarks. And let’s forget the most obvious and famous ones.

To understand the sensibility behind this work is to return to its author. Born in Toulouse into a family of antique dealers, Marin Montagut grew up in the shadow of objects, learning from an early age that they hold aura. His grandmother, a painter, taught him that beauty was not a luxury but a discipline. He went on to study design at Central Saint Martins in London, an education that sharpened his sense of form but never stopped his creative experimentation. After collaborations with institutions such as the Comédie-Française, the Château de Versailles, Diptyque, and Ladurée, Montagut turned toward self-determination. In 2020 he opened his boutique on rue Madame, a cabinet of wonders near the Luxembourg Gardens, where illustrated glassware, hand-painted porcelain, embroidered textiles, and paper ephemera coexist. Visitors and locals alike find the most amazing souvenirs. This boutique is less a store than a curated display.

Montagut’s practice, whether in glass, porcelain, or print, is animated by continuity. His porcelain cups, decorated with hand-drawn motifs feel both contemporary and centuries old. In Forever Paris, this philosophy scales up to encompass the city itself. By selecting places that have stood the test of time, Montagut finds the most significant places of Paris.

He said: “When I arrived in Paris, I explored the city from end to end, in search of its secrets. I met dedicated women and men: artisans, antique dealers, bookbinders, patissiers, and more. These are the people who shaped my Paris: a Paris of savoir-faire and skills passed down with patience. “

In this sense, Forever Paris is more than a guide, it is a work of passion and devotion. It suggests that the role of the artist is not always to innovate but sometimes to safeguard. Bravo!

“This book is an invitation to discover the capital differently, to take a journey back in time end honor a way of living and creating.”

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