Nobody Sits Like the French

A Paris travel guide and history book about how the World Expos of 1855-1937 shaped the city, from its architecture to its (culinary) customs.

Paris is the physical memory of seven World Expos that took place in the city from 1855 to 1937. These Expos left behind monuments like the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay, the Grand and Petit Palais... But many traces are more subtle: your suitcase today is an evolution of the trunk Louis Vuitton won a gold medal with at Paris’ Exposition Universelle in 1867, and the typical Parisian bistro chairs were designed during those years when a multitude of cafés and restaurants flourished because of the Expos, including icons like Le Procope.

A cocktail of travel guide and history book, Nobody Sits Like the French tells these stories and many more, pointing out the marks the Expos left behind. From now on, you’ll know that every time you sip a glass of burgundy, drink from Baccarat crystal, admire a Manet or a Gauguin, and even enjoy the benefits of a working sewer system in Paris, you owe it to a World Expo there.

Charles Pappas’ books include Flying Cars, Zombie Dogs, and Robot Overlords and Expo 2020 Dubai: The Definitive Edition, both of which focus on the transformative power of World’s Fairs. In Expo 2020’s official list of its top 50 attractions at the Dubai event, he was ranked #12 as the Expo Historian. He’s an advisor for the US effort to win the 2031 International Horticultural Expo and a co-chair of the Institute for the Study of International Exhibitions. Charles has also covered the expo industry worldwide for Exhibitor magazine for more than 20 years. His articles have won several national/regional ASBPE, MAGGIE, and TABBI awards.