Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [171]
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The Best Shopping Neighborhoods | Department Stores | Markets | Shopping Arcades | Specialty Stores
THE BEST SHOPPING NEIGHBORHOODS
AVENUE MONTAIGNE
Shopping doesn’t come much more chic than on Avenue Montaigne, with its graceful town mansions housing some of the top names in international fashion: Chanel, Dior, Céline, Valentino, Krizia, Ungaro, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, and many more. Neighboring Rue François 1er and Avenue George V are also lined with many designer boutiques: Versace, Fendi, Givenchy, and Balenciaga.
CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES
Cafés and movie theaters keep the once-chic Champs-Élysées active 24 hours a day, but the invasion of exchange banks, car showrooms, and fast-food chains has lowered the tone. Four glitzy 20th-century arcade malls—Galerie du Lido, Le Rond-Point, Le Claridge, and Élysées 26—capture most of the retail action, not to mention the Gap and the Disney Store. Some of the big luxe chain stores—also found in cities around the globe—are here: Sephora has reintroduced a touch of elegance, and the mothership Louis Vuitton (on the Champs-Élysées proper) has kept the cool factor soaring.
THE FAUBOURG ST-HONORÉ
This chic shopping and residential area is also quite a political hub. It’s home to the Élysée Palace as well as the official residences of the American and British ambassadors. The Paris branches of Sotheby’s and Christie’s and renowned antiques galleries such as Didier Aaron add artistic flavor. Boutiques include Hermès, Lanvin, Gucci, Chloé, and Christian Lacroix.
LEFT BANK
For an array of bedazzling boutiques with hyper-picturesque goods—antique toy theaters, books on gardening—and the most fascinating antiques stores in town, be sure to head to the area around Rue Jacob, nearly lined with antiquaires, and the streets around super-posh Place Furstenberg. After decades of clustering on the Right Bank’s venerable shopping avenues, the high-fashion houses have stormed the Rive Gauche. The first to arrive were Sonia Rykiel and Yves St-Laurent in the late ‘60s. Some of the more recent arrivals include Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, and Louis Vuitton. Rue des St-Pères and Rue de Grenelle are lined with designer names.
LE MARAIS
The Marais is a mixture of many moods and many influences; its lovely, impossibly narrow cobblestone streets are filled with some of the most original, small name, nonglobal goods to be had—a true haven for the original gift—including the outposts of Jamin Puech, the Red Wheelbarrow, and Sentou Galerie. Avant-garde designers Azzedine Alaïa and Tsumori Chistato have boutiques within a few blocks of stately Place des Vosges and the Picasso and Carnavalet museums. The Marais is also one of the few neighborhoods that has a lively Sunday-afternoon (usually from 2 PM) shopping scene.
LOUVRE–PALAIS ROYAL
The elegant and eclectic shops clustered in the 18th-century arcades of the Palais-Royal sell such items as antiques, toy soldiers, music boxes, some of the world’s most exclusive vintage designer dresses at Didier Ludot, and high-end hipness at Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs.
OPÉRA TO LA MADELEINE
Two major department stores—Printemps and Galeries Lafayette—dominate Boulevard Haussmann, behind Paris’s ornate 19th-century Opéra Garnier. Place de la Madeleine tempts many with its two luxurious food stores, Fauchon and Hédiard.
PLACE VENDÔME AND RUE DE LA PAIX
The magnificent 17th-century Place Vendôme, home of the Ritz Hotel, and Rue de la Paix, leading north from Vendôme, are where you can find the world’s most elegant jewelers: Cartier, Boucheron, Bulgari, and Van Cleef and Arpels. The most exclusive, however, is the discreet Jar’s.
PLACE DES VICTOIRES AND RUE ÉTIENNE MARCEL
The graceful, circular Place des Victoires, near the Palais-Royal, is the playground of fashion icons such as Kenzo, while Comme des Garçons