The Bouquiniste of Quai Voltaire, May 1968

Photo 6 of 10 · S1 · E9 · The Seine Bookstalls, May 1968 · Chapter 2: Paris, 1968

An old bookseller reading on a folding stool. He looks like he has sat beside the river for fifty years.

Drag a piece onto another square to swap them, or tap a piece and then tap where it should go. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys to move, and Enter to pick up and put down. Pieces that fit together join and move as one.

About this picture

Along the sunny quayside of the Seine, an elderly bookseller in a dark beret and round spectacles sits on a wooden stool, absorbed in an open illustrated book. He wears a brown corduroy jacket with leather elbow patches. Beside him, open green wooden stalls display rows of antique volumes and prints. On the stone parapet wall, a tabby cat sleeps peacefully near a lamppost, while Notre-Dame cathedral stands across the river under golden afternoon light.

The story so far

This photo is part of The Mender of Lantern Street, a story told one torn photograph at a time. The eighth envelope took Mira to the crowded platforms of Gare de Lyon in May 1968. In the shadowed baggage hall, Ada spotted the man in the grey coat stepping off the very same train.

How to play

Drag a piece onto another square to swap them, or tap a piece and then tap where it should go. Hold Preview for a faded glimpse of the photo: enough to see where the sky and the street go, not the details. Pieces that belong together join up and move as one, and turn green once they are in the right place. You have 3:00 for these 25 pieces, and the clock keeps running if you leave the page. Each photo has three stars: one for restoring it, one for finishing with1:12 still on the clock without taking extra time, and one for doing it in 32 moves or fewer. Each episode starts with 2 hints and earns more along the way; unused hints carry over to later photos. Playing needs a free account, which keeps your stars and stamps on every device. Restoring photos earns stamps (more for more stars, and extra for whole episodes), which buy more time or more hints. Once the photo is restored, turn it over and look for the clue hidden in it. Photos open one after another and episodes in order; each new chapter opens once you have enough stars from the chapters before it.