Paris in Winter

A newly expanded edition of the beloved Paris in Winter absorbs readers into magic of the City of Light, showcasing its serendipitous essence and cultural treasures anew with a captivating contemporary introduction and whimsical illustrations by author and artist David Coggins

Paris in Winter strikes again with a brand new edition including new watercolor drawings with fanciful ink and charming vignettes featuring moments from Coggins’ family’s annual New Year’s sojourns to Paris, which, because of their unending love for the city, they’ve been taking together for almost 25 years. This memoir of poetic, lighthearted stories highlights the family’s passion for art, food, fashion, and social life. Family rituals--from having lunch each January at the delightful Le Grand Vefour to haunting favorite antique shops and seeking out-of-the-ordinary spots, like a little known garden or a gypsy circus--are interspersed with serendipitous moments: hearing Bono sing ＂Happy Birthday＂ to a friend in a bistro, adopting an abandoned lap dog, and the simple pleasures of Parisian street life.

Coggins’s delicate and intimate drawings capture classic Parisian scenes as well as family and friends against the backdrop of the elegant City of Light under the cloak of winter. Across cafes and hotels, apartments and galleries, the family mixes with a lively group of Parisian and international actors, designers, writers, and students. Furthermore, Coggins weaves in fascinating bits of the city’s history and artistic lore, from Victor Hugo’s interior designs to the painting that legend has it started Impressionism, to delight Francophiles all over.

The first edition of Paris in Winter was a Minneapolis Star Tribune top book in 2015 and has been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, Town and Country Magazine, Mpls/StPaul Magazine, and Twin Cities Public Television. With new charming watercolor illustrations featuring loungers gazing over a duck-filled pond and a woman strolling serenely across a bridge with a view of the Eiffel Tower beyond, this second edition book continues to capture the soul of the City of Love.

David Coggins is an award-winning writer, artist, and set designer. Books by Coggins include Word Jazz (2022), Duet (2021), Blue: A St. Barts Memoir (2018), Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir (2015), Eden Summer Collages (2008), and The Nostalgic Heart (2006), among others. His eight-volume set of the Daybooks, published under the pseudonym Robert Carolina, is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Coggins’ paintings, drawings, and collages have been exhibited in Paris, London, and Santiago, Chile as well as in U.S. galleries. He has also designed for a number of U.S. theaters including Théâtre de la Jeune Lune, Guthrie Theater, and La Jolla Theater. Coggins currently lives with his wife Wendy in Minneapolis and his home studio was featured in Cabana Magazine’s online blog.