The art of shopping in Paris

Aaah, le shopping! It’s always a delight in Paris, from historic covered passages, to UNESCO listed bookshops, glamorous department stores, legendary food shops, hidden gems where you can find unique and gorgeous things. But where best to head for? Discover the art of shopping in Paris…

The covered passages

Weather-proof shopping in Paris? They had that covered in the 19^th century, when over 100 arcades were built to provide somewhere safe for ladies to meet and enjoy a little retail therapy even (!) without male company. Today, some 20 of them are still operating, and where better to while away an hour or two, however inclement the weather? Top of the list for elegance is Galerie Vivienne, opened in 1823, it was originally built to attract shoppers visiting the nearby Palais Royal. It still oozes exclusivity: mosaic flooring, elegant pillars and archways, polished wood shopfronts gleaming in the light of the chandeliers. Despite the plush surroundings there are a couple of cafés where you can enjoy a not-too-expensive pit stop.

Among the most browsable shops are Lucien Legrand, Filles et Fils, a wine shop first opened in 1880, and the Librairie Jousseaume, a chaotically intriguing bookshop which opened in 1826. Inside are overflowing shelves and piled-high tables and outside you’ll find boxes of second-hand books, including some in English, to rifle through. The window-display of L’Aparté, an artful array of fabric flowers and knick-knacks, may catch your eye, or perhaps you will be attracted by the giant wooden bears outside the toyshop Si tu veux, where you can find charmingly old-fashioned toys and sets of bricks to build a mini-Eiffel Tower.

Also ripe for exploring are three arcades in a row in the Grands Boulevards area near the Opéra, which you can wander through one after another. Amid the cafés of the Passage des Panoramas you’ll find a quirky row of old-fashioned stamp shops and a specialist chocolatier. In the delightful Passage Jouffroy seek out toys from a bygone era at Pain d’Épice, or some of the vintage shops offering the weird and the wonderful. Antiques are a speciality in the Passage Verdeau – look out for the Cabinet des Curieux and Le Bonheur des Dames, the latter crammed with sewing materials and a workshop where you can have jewellery repaired or order a bespoke piece.

Foodie Shopping

It’s hard to know where to start – you’re truly spoiled for choice in Paris.

In Rue Montorgueil, spanning the 1^st and 2^nd arrondissements, you can shop like a Parisian at top quality food shops such as greengrocers Le Palais du Fruit, a ‘master cheese ripener’ called La Fermette, fishmongers – the Poissonnerie Soguisa and an old-fashioned butchers, the Boucherie Triboulet at no 54. If it’s gift-shopping you have in mind pop into Stohrer, the city’s oldest pâtisserie where the queue snakes out of the doorway, or À la Mère de Famille, billed as ‘probably the oldest chocolatier in Paris’. They have several stores in Paris but one of the loveliest is at rue du Faubourg Montmartre, which opened in 1761, a Belle Epoque fantasy of a shop.

The Place de la Madeleine offers a good hunting ground for foodie treats. Across the street, at no 6 is Maille, surely the world’s most comprehensive mustard shop. Here you can do a tasting and buy dozens of different flavours. Further round the square is the Café Prunier who promise to explain the ‘art of caviar’ and the Maison de la Truffe, a shop-and-restaurant focusing on all things truffle. Nearby is Mariage Frères, who have been specialising in teas from all over the world since 1854.

The best-known old-fashioned grocery shop in the city is the Grande Épicerie in Rue de Sèvres in the 7^th arrondissement. It’s a high-end purveyor of all manner of delicacies, both French – ‘the best foie gras, the finest wines’ as their website proudly states – and global. Among the selection of specialist honeys, oils, teas and much more, you’ll find gift-shopping easy and temptation for a little something for yourself quite irresistible.

Another fabulous foodie store is the Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussman Le Gourmet which features some of the most famous chefs, bakers, cake makers of France, as well as bars and restaurants.

Perfect for book lovers

Browse the bouquinistes, the little book stalls along both sides of the Seine around Notre Dame and the Louvre not just for books (including in English), but also for posters, prints and postcards which make excellent mementoes or presents. Set back from the river near Notre Dame, in Rue de la Bûcherie, is the iconic Shakespeare & Company, whose higgledy-piggledy layout – think dusty corners, uneven floors and stepladders for reaching awkward corners – has been charming English-speaking readers for over a century. If you buy a book, ask them to stamp it with their signature Shakespeare & Co stamp for extra kudos.

Other great English language bookshops include The Red Wheelbarrow in Rue de Médicis, just opposite the Luxembourg Gardens, and Smith and Son at 248, Rue de Rivoli.

A little atmospheric browsing

Palais royale

It’s lovely to wander the quirky shops along the arcades at the Palais Royal. They date back to the 1700s and have a notorious past involving high end shopping, theatre, prostitution and a role in the French Revolution. You’ll also find designer boutiques, specialist shoe and handbag shops, little galleries and perfumeries. Pop into Épice Paris for scarves, cushions and bags of the kind favoured by wealthy Parisians, or the Maison Fabre for leather gloves in every hue. You could window-shop for jewellery or antique furniture or even, at the Galerie Numismatique, for old coins. The shop of the Théâtre du Palais Royal always has great gifts that are unusual and exclusive.

The Marais is also great for shopping. Turn right at the top of the St Paul metro steps and head down the Rue Saint-Antoine past lots of little shops, including Laurent Dubois, a cheesemonger designated a Meilleur ouvrier de France. Take a left into Rue de Birague, past Bring France Home, a charming little gift shop where everything is made in France, then head through the archway at the end of the road to the stunning Place des Vosges where you can take a turn around the renaissance arches, perusing window displays and café menus. Further north, head to Rue Charlot for more cute shops and the covered food market Le Marché des Enfants Rouges, in Rue de Bretagne.

Perfect for unique, vintage and antique gifts

Artist Marin Montagut’s elegant and quirky boutique on the left bank in Rue Madame is full of whimsical and unique gifts from tiny paper artworks at a few Euros to gorgeous cushions, candles, mugs, dishes and hand-painted decanters.

And if its antique and vintage you’re after, there is only one place to go – Marchè aux Puces de Saint-Ouen. More than 3000 boutiques, stalls and showrooms line a labyrinth of lanes and alleys, and whether it’s a piece of chateau chic, Belle Epoque jewellery or an Art Deco gem, you’ll find plenty of treasure here at the world’s biggest antiques market.

By Janine Marsh, editor of The Good Life France and Marian Jones, a former teacher of French now travel writer with a podcast – City Breaks, bringing listeners and readers the background history and culture which will inform their travels in l’Hexagone. citybreakspodcast.co.uk

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