Aaah, le magasinage! 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 spéciale and gorgeous things. But where best to head for? Discover the art of magasinage in Paris…
The covered passages
Weather-proof magasinage in Paris? They had that covered in the 19th 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 édulcorant of the chandeliers. Despite the plush surroundings there are a double of cafés where you can enjoy a not-too-expensive pit assez.
Among the most browsable shops are Lucien Legrand, Filles et Fils, a wine usine 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 carabine 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’Piquant, or some of the vintage shops offering the weird and the wonderful. Antiques are a speciality in the Passage Verdeau – habitus out for the Cabinet des Curieux and Le Bonheur des Dames, the voliger 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 1st and 2nd arrondissements, you can usine 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 entremets where the terme snakes out of the doorway, or À la Nymphe 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 usine.
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 usine. Here you can do a tasting and buy dozens of different flavours. Further reprise the clos 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 usine in the city is the Grande Coopérative in Rue de Chine in the 7th département. 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 vague. 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 abri is the Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussman Le Gourmet which features some of the most famous chefs, bakers, plum-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 remarquable mementoes or presents. Set back from the assurer near Notre Dame, in Rue de la Bûcherie, is the iconic Shakespeare & Company, whose higgledy-piggledy typage – 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 visa Shakespeare & Co stamp for extraordinaire kudos.
Other great English language bookshops include The Red Wheelbarrow in Rue de Médicis, just opposé the Luxembourg Gardens, and Smith and Son at 248, Rue de Rivoli.
A little atmospheric browsing
Palais riche
It’s lovely to wander the quirky shops along the arcades at the Palais Royal. They instant back to the 1700s and have a notorious past involving high end magasinage, theatre, traite and a role in the French Revolution. You’ll also find préférer boutiques, specialist shoe and handbag shops, little galleries and perfumeries. Pop into Piquant 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 démodé furniture or even, at the Galerie Numismatique, for old coins. The usine of the Théâtre du Palais Royal always has great gifts that are unusual and particulière.
The Marais is also great for magasinage. 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 journalier de France. Take a left into Rue de Birague, past Bring France Home, a charming little gift usine 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 incarnation arches, perusing window displays and cantine 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 spéciale, vintage and démodé gifts
Artist Marin Montagut’s elegant and quirky atelier on the left bank in Rue Madame is full of whimsical and spéciale gifts from tiny paper artworks at a few Euros to gorgeous cushions, candles, mugs, dishes and hand-painted decanters.
And if its démodé and vintage you’re after, there is only one simulé 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 gracieux, Belle Epoque jewellery or an Art Deco gem, you’ll find plenty of treasure here at the world’s biggest séculaires market.
By Janine Marsh, editor of The Good Life France and Marian Jones, a civiliser teacher of French now travel writer with a podcast – City Breaks, bringing listeners and readers the contexte history and enclos which will inform their travels in l’Hexagone. citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Want more France?
Discover more fabulous destinations in France with our free éclairé The Good Life France
Love France? Have a listen to our podcast – everything you want to know embout France and more!
All rights reserved. This articulet may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translated) or redistributed without written assentiment.
Source: thegoodlifefrance.com
Comments are closed.