Paris - Shopping
Paris Shopping Areas
Parisian shops are the epitome of luxury, class and style, offering a vast array of boutique stores specializing in all manner of idiosyncratic goods. Devotees of fashion, jewelry, antiques, art and gastronomy have no shortage of delightful choices; perfume, cosmetics and lingerie are big business and nowhere is the creative and quirky character of the French more prevalent than at Paris’ superlative flea markets.
Many of the city’s shopping gems are tucked away in its hidden corners: locals stress that the offerings on the Champs-Elysees, although true to the Parisian luxury found on screen and in glossy magazines, are no reflection of the quality and eclecticism available elsewhere.
Top of many shoppers list for a true taste of Parisian charm are the serene, high-ceilinged 19th century arcades at Les Passages (or Galeries) between the Boulevard Montmartre and Rue St-Marc: Galerie Vivienne and Passage Colbert are particularly appealing examples and more are now being renovated.
If you are after haute couture, head for Avenue Montaigne, Faubourg Saint-Honoré and Rue du Bac; pick up the finest cosmetics and perfumes in the Opéra; jewelry at Place Vendôme and Les Galeries; shoes, bags and leather goods on rue du Cherche-Midi and rue de Grenelle. A fine selection of art and antiques can be found on rue Bonaparte, Jacob, de Charonne and du Faubourg-St-Honore, plus Louvre des Antiquaires, Viaduc des Arts, Boulevard Diderot, Carré Rive Gauche.
The city’s top department stores of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps on boulevard Haussmann are always popular; for culinary specialities try the rue Rambuteau, rue Poncelet and Place de la Madeleine. An entertaining day out is assured at the Parisian institution of Saint-Ouen, the world’s largest antique market.
January and July are good months for sales (‘soldes’); items marked ‘degriffe’ indicate designer brands being sold at reduced prices. Shop opening hours can vary considerably, though a majority are open Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 7 or 8pm, closing for several hours from midday. Markets are closed on Mondays and many Parisians take their holidays during August, leaving the city to tourists.
Shops by Type
Accesories
Alexandra Sojfer
Parapluies and ombrelles (parasols and umbrellas) don't come more elegant than these creations handmade by Alexandra Sojfer, whose beautiful shop is devoted exclusively to them. If nothing catches your fancy, have one custom-made.
Antoine et Lili
All the colours of the rainbow and all the patterns in the world congregate in this wonderful Parisian institution specialising in designer clothing and hip home decorations. They have a knack for choosing those things you wish you'd thought to bring back from your travels in India or Thailand.
Kenzo
While Kenzo himself retired from designing in 1999, Sardinian Antonio Marras has brought a new joie de vivre to the label. The Pont Neuf flagship store is a tantalising temple to fashion and beauty. The building also houses the Philippe Starck-designed Kong bar.
Art & Antiques
Colette
There's no sign - two sky-blue circles indicate you've arrived at this impossibly hip concept shop, subtitled 'styledesignartfood' (yes, in English). Footwear, fashion, homewares, books, art and cosmetics change according to the Zeitgeist (resulting in some astounding sales). In the basement, the wi-fi'd bar caters to Colette's model clientele with 100 varieties of water, plus salads and champagne.
Viaduc des Arts
Beneath the Promenade Plantée, in the brick arches of its 19th-century viaduct, traditional craftsmen and women carry out renovations and repairs of all manner of antiques, and create new items using traditional methods. The 50 artisans include furniture and tapestry restorers, interior designers, cabinet makers, violin- and flute-makers, embroiderers and jewellers.
Zut!
If you're looking for a conversation piece to dominate your lounge room, such as a turn-of-the-20th-century railway clock or other over-size industrial object, Zut's proprietor, Frédéric Daniel, can help you track it down. Even if you're not, it's worth sticking your head around the doorway to see some resplendent relics of Paris' past. Frédéric also does repairs.
Books
Abbey Bookshop
More like a book-lined private lounge, this heritage-listed townhouse-turned-bookshop has more than 18,000 new and used books (slide the shelves aside to see more books hidden behind). Canadian owner Brian Spence serves continuous free tea and coffee (with maple syrup), and organises weekend hikes around Paris as well as literary events where wine and conversation flow in equal measure.
Le Mots à la Bouche
'On the Tip of the Tongue' is Paris' premier gay and lesbian bookshop, with stacks of information about gay Parisian life. On the ground floor you'll find English-language books, including travel guides; things steam up when you go down (stairs).
Librairie Ulysse
You can barely move in this jam-packed shop piled high with antiquarian and new travel guides, National Geographic back-editions and maps. Opened in 1971 by intrepid travel writer Catherine Domaine, this was the world's first bookshop dedicated solely to travel. Ulysse's hours can be erratic, but knock on the door or telephone and Catherine will open up if she's around.
Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore
This somewhat earnest English-language bookshop has arguably the best selection of 'serious literature' in Paris and helpful, well-read staff. Just around the corner at 13 rue Charles V, their children's bookstore stocks kids books as well as university texts. Both shops are very welcome additions to the English-language book trade in Paris.
Shakespeare & Company
Fossicking through this 'wonderland of books' (as Henry Miller described it) unearths bargains, but Shakespeare & Co is best known for nurturing writers . Its legendary open-invitation tea parties are held at 16:00 most Sundays, and readings at 19:00 most Mondays. Legends-in-the-making include travel writing workshops and an open-to-all-comers writers' group at 15:00 on Saturday afternoons.
Department Stores
Bazar de L'Hôtel de Ville
BHV is a straightforward department store - apart from its enormous but hopelessly chaotic hardware/DIY department in the basement, with every type of hammer, power tool, nail, plug or hinge you could ask for. Service is decidedly in the DIY vein too.
Le Printemps
One of Paris' most spectacular grands magasins (department stores), Le Printemps is actually three separate stores - de la Mode (women's fashion), de l'Homme (for men) and de la Beauté et Maison (for beauty and household goods) - offering a staggering display of perfume, cosmetics and accessories, as well as established and up-and-coming designer wear.
Fashion
agnès b
Style and photography guru agnès b excels in extremely wearable, durable and comfortable (yet sometimes quirky) clothes. She also happens to be one of the more affordable Parisian designers. The basics are excellent; the rest has somewhat lost its cachet of late. On the same street you'll find her men's and children's stores.
Issey Miyake
Issey Miyake's avant-garde designs strike a fine balance between tradition and innovation, handcrafting and textile technology. Beauty and functionality are integral to his ethos, and he has a devoted following around the world. This is his flagship store.
Les Belles Images
The kind of place that would be at home on London's Carnaby St c 1970, this retro boutique stocks Vivienne Westwood originals among other wild-child designers as well as ab-fab homewares.
Marché aux Puces d'Aligre
Smaller but more central than Paris' other three flea markets, this market is one of the best places in Paris to rummage through cardboard boxes filled with old clothes and one-of-a-kind accessories worn decades ago by fashionable (and not-so-fashionable) Parisians.
Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves
Paris' smallest flea market is nonetheless worth scouting out for original retro homewares such as '60s cocktail shakers and '70s lamps, as well as new clothes, leather boots, handbags and wallets. The market is located about 2.5km southwest of the Catacombs.
Gifts & Souvenirs
Boutique Paris-Musées
This lovely boutique stocks museum reproductions, especially of art and sculpture on exhibit at museums run by the City of Paris, such as the Musée Carnavalet and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Clair de Rêve
Stringed marionettes bob from the ceiling of this endearing little shop. Papier-mâché and leather marionettes start at around €100 for a petite puppet, going up to €630 for one made of porcelain. The shop also sells wind-up toys.
Rebecca Rils
Located next to the Musée de L'Érotisme, this sex supermarket has aisles of toys, plus B&D gear, DVDs and outfits (and fitting rooms with red velour chaise longues).
Malls & Shopping Centres
Forum des Halles
It seemed like a good idea at the time: move Paris' wholesale markets (and disease-breeding rats) outside the city, and replace them with an open park and underground mall. Today, the park attracts illicit 'vendors', while below, artificially lit, could-be-anywhere corridors of chain stores (including a vast Fnac) wrap around a sunken courtyard and the Julio Silva sculpture, Pyegemalion .
Galerie Véro Dodat
For a quick taste of 19th-century Paris, it's hard to beat this shopping arcade, which opened in 1826 and retains its original skylights, ceiling murals and storefronts. The shops specialize in antiques, objets d'art, art books and fashion accessories.
Markets
Forum des Halles
It seemed like a good idea at the time: move Paris' wholesale markets (and disease-breeding rats) outside the city, and replace them with an open park and underground mall. Today, the park attracts illicit 'vendors', while below, artificially lit, could-be-anywhere corridors of chain stores (including a vast Fnac) wrap around a sunken courtyard and the Julio Silva sculpture, Pyegemalion .
Galerie Véro Dodat
For a quick taste of 19th-century Paris, it's hard to beat this shopping arcade, which opened in 1826 and retains its original skylights, ceiling murals and storefronts. The shops specialize in antiques, objets d'art, art books and fashion accessories.
Tax Refunds
Standard sales tax is 20.6% (though tax rates vary between essential items and luxury goods). Non-EU visitors can gain a tax refund on larger purchases - obtain a form at the relevant shop and present it to Customs on departure.