Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [174]
BOOKS
The scenic open-air bookstalls along the Seine sell secondhand books (mostly in French), prints, and souvenirs. Numerous French-language bookstores—specializing in a wide range of topics, including art, film, literature, and philosophy—are found in the Latin Quarter and around St-Germain-des-Prés.
Comptoir de l’Image (44 rue de Sévigné, Le Marais, 3e | 75003 | 01–42–72–03–92 | Station: St-Paul) is where designers John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, and Emanuel Ungaro stock up on old copies of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and The Face.
La Hune (170 bd. St-Germain, St-Germain-des-Prés, 6e | 75006 | 01–45–48–35–85 | Station: St-Germain-des-Prés), sandwiched between the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, is a landmark for intellectuals with a comprehensive collection of international books on art and architecture. Open until midnight. The Red Wheelbarrow (22 rue St-Paul, Le Marais, 4e | 75004 | 01–48–04–75–08 | Station: St-Paul) is the anglophone bookstore—if it was written in English, they can get it. It also has a complete academic section and every literary review you can think of. Shakespeare & Company (37 rue de la Bûcherie, Quartier Latin, 5e | 75005 | 01–43–25–40–93 | Station: St-Michel), the sentimental Left Bank favorite, is named after the bookstore whose American owner, Sylvia Beach, first published James Joyce’s Ulysses. Nowadays it specializes in expat literature and secondhand treasures. Taschen (2 rue de Buci, St-Germain-des-Prés, 6e | 75006 | 01–40–51–79–22 | Station: Mabillon) is perfect for night owls, as it’s open until midnight on Friday and Saturday. The Starck-designed shelves and desks hold glam titles on photography, fine art, design, fashion, and fetishes.
Village Voice (6 rue Princesse, St-Germain-des-Prés, 6e | 75006 | 01–46–33–36–47 | Station: Mabillon) a heavy hitter in Paris’s ever-thriving expat literary scene, is known for its excellent current and classic book selections, frequent book signings, and readings by notable authors. W. H. Smith (248 rue de Rivoli, Louvre/Tuileries, 1er | 75001 | 01–44–77–88–99 | Station: Concorde) carries a multitude of travel and language books, cookbooks, and fiction for adults and children. It also has the best selection of foreign magazines and newspapers in Paris (which you’re allowed to peruse without interruption—many magazine dealers in France aren’t so kind).
CLOTHING
Men’s Wear
Berluti (26 rue Marbeuf, Champs-Élysées, 8e | 75008 | 01–53–93–97–97 | Station: Franklin-D.-Roosevelt) has been making exquisite and exclusive men’s shoes for more than a century. Charvet (28 pl. Vendôme, Opéra/Grands Boulevards, 1er | 75001 | 01–42–60–30–70 | Station: Opéra) is the Parisian equivalent of a Savile Row tailor.
Women’s Wear
It doesn’t matter, say the French, that fewer and fewer of their top couture houses are still headed by compatriots. It’s the chic elegance, the classic ambience, the je ne sais quoi, that remains undeniably Gallic. Here are some meccas for Paris chic. Antik Batik (113 Vielle du Temple, Le Maraiss, 3e | 75003 | 01–48–87–39–46 | Station: St Paul | 18 rue Turenne, Marais, 4e | 01–44–78–93–75 | Station: St-Paul | 20 rue Vaugirard, St-Germain-des-Prés, 6e | 01–43–25–30–22 | Station: Odéon) has a wonderful line of ethnically inspired clothes. There are row upon row of beaded and sequined dresses, Chinese silk tunics, short fur jackets, flowing organza separates, and some of Paris’s most popular handbags. Azzedine Alaïa (7 rue de Moussy, Le Marais, 4e | 75004 | 01–42–72–19–19 | Station: Hôtel-de-Ville) is the undisputed “king of cling” dresses, but you don’t have to be under 20 to look good in one of his dresses; devotees include Tina Turner and Michelle Obama.
Catherine Malandrino (10 rue de Grenelle, 6e, St-Germain-des-Prés | 01–42–22–26–95 | Station: