I went to Paris with my family when I was in eighth grade. I didn't read War and Peace, but I did read Hunchback of Notre Dame while lying on some chairs in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, looking up at the bell and imagining him lurking up there. When I came back home and told my ninth grade English teacher's twentysomething student teacher this anecdote she was impressed, and I thought I had a shot with her. I did not.

Also, if you like bildungsromans set in Paris check out Geoff Dyer's "Paris Trance." Good stuff.