Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [106]
1 Galerie Véro Dodat Begin the walk at the Louvre-Rivoli metro station (1er) on rue de Rivoli; go north along rue du Louvre, turn left (west) onto rue St-Honoré and then right (north) again on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The entrance to the Galerie Véro Dodat, built in 1823 by two well-heeled charcutiers (butchers), is at No 19. The arcade retains its 19th-century skylights, ceiling murals, Corinthian columns, tiled floor, gas globe fittings (though now electric, of course) and shop fronts, among the most interesting of which include the Luthier music store, with guitars, violins, banjos and ukuleles, at No 17 and the Marini France stained-glass workshop at No 28.
2 Galeries du Palais Royal The gallery’s western exit leads to rue du Bouloi and rue Croix des Petits Champs. Head north on the latter to the corner of rue du Colonel Driant – the massive building ahead of you is the headquarters of the Banque de France – and turn left (west) and walk to rue de Valois. At No 5 is one of the entrances to the Galeries du Palais Royal. Strictly speaking, these galleries are not passages as they are arcaded rather than covered, but since they date from 1786 they are considered to be the prototypes of what was to come.
3 Galerie de Montpensier The Café de Foy, from where the Revolution broke out on a warm mid-July day just three years after the galleries opened, once stood on the western side of the Galeries du Palais Royal, at what is today’s Galerie de Montpensier. Galerie de Montpensier has several traditional shops, including A Bacqueville at No 6–8, with Légion d’Honneur–style medals and ribbons, and Didier Ludot at No 20–24, with exquisite antique clothes.
4 Galerie de Valois This passage on the eastern side, where Charlotte Corday, Jean-Paul Marat’s assassin, once worked in a shop, is more upmarket, with posh galleries and designer shops such as an outlet of Hong Kong–based boutique Joyce at shop No 168–173. Other shops worth a peek include Didier Ludot’s La Petite Robe Noire boutique at No 125 and the graveur héraldiste (coat of arms engraver) Guillaumot, which has been printing family coats-of-arms at Nos 151 to 154 since 1785.
5 Passage du Perron The tiny arcade that doglegs from the north of the Galeries du Palais Royal into rue de Beaujolais is passage du Perron; the writer Colette (1873–1954) lived out the last years of her life in a flat above here (9 rue de Beaujolais), from which she wrote Paris de Ma Fenêtre (Paris from My Window), her description of the German occupation of Paris.
6 Galerie Vivienne Diagonally opposite from where you exit from Passage du Perron at 4 rue des Petits Champs are the entrances to two of the most stunningly restored passages in Paris. Galerie Vivienne, built in 1823 and decorated with bas-reliefs of snakes (signifying prudence), anchors (hope) and beehives (industry), as well as floor mosaics, was (and still is) one of the poshest of the passages. As you enter, look to the stairwell to the left at No 13 for its false marble walls; François Eugène Vidocq (1775–1857), master burglar and later the chief of detectives in Paris in the early 19th century, lived upstairs. Some shops to check out are Legrand Fille et Fils, which sells wine and wine-related paraphernalia, at No 7–11; Wolff et Descourtis and its silk scarves at No 18; L’Atelir Emilio Robbo, one of the most beautiful flower shops in Paris, at No 29–33; the Librairie Ancienne & Moderne at No 45–46, which Colette frequented; and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier’s first boutique (main entrance at 6 rue Vivienne, 2e).
7 Galerie Colbert The major draw of the Galerie Colbert, which runs parallel to Galerie Vivienne, is its glass dome and rotunda. Built in 1826 and now part of the University of Paris system, the passage served as a car workshop and garage as recently as the early 1980s. Check out the bizarre fresco above the exit to the rue des Petits Champs; it’s completely disproportionate. Enter and exit from rue Vivienne.