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she is also the author of The Riches of France: A Shopping and Touring Guide to the French Provinces (St. Martin’s, 1997). In this book, Clemente reminds readers of Paris’s long history of commerce, with its first trading outposts set up along its bridges, “where people could bargain for their essential goods as they plodded along the route from northern Europe to the Mediterranean. The actual shops during the mid-seventeenth century were merely storerooms for the goods lined up outdoors; store windows didn’t begin to appear until the end of the seventeenth century.… But somehow I imagine that the Parisians found their own alluring way of displaying their wares …” (I completely agree.) Clemente admits, “In Paris I relish the idea of entering a boutique that is quaint, enticingly decorated, and, most of all, has a soul all its own.” But don’t let this preference lead you to think this book will lend you to the passé or the démodé—there are plenty of contemporary, appealing, dynamic establishments here. As Clemente says, having a soul of its own is the most important quality of a retail shop. Organized by specialty rather than neighborhood, Clemente also includes dozens of “Riches of Paris Tips” and great sidebars with topics such as “Ten Ways to Find the French Look for You.”

Shopping Tips

Here are some good retail vocabulary words to know, especially if you’re in Paris during the national sales in January or August: soldes (sales); dégriffés (clothing where the labels have been cut out; more generally, “marked down”); moitié prix (half price); coin des affaires (the bargain section of a large store); deuxième choix (seconds); and tout doit disparaître (everything must go!). Je regarde (I’m just looking) is a useful response when someone asks you, “Vous désirez?” (May I help you?).

You might want to adopt my motto of “When in doubt, buy it now.” I learned years ago that the likelihood of being able to retrace my steps to a particular merchant when it was open was slim. A number of individual shops are closed on both Sunday and Monday, or open only on Monday afternoon, and many are still closed for two hours at lunchtime.

In short, remember that stores in Paris are not open twenty-four/seven, so if you spy a baguette in the window of a boulangerie or an article of clothing that has your name all over it, allez (go) and get it, for Pierre’s sake. One has regrets only for the roads not taken—or in this case the objet not purchased!

Spas

Spas and salons have become wildly popular, even de rigueur, in many hotels and inns, and in a city like Paris, where well-being and beauty are taken seriously, spas are plentiful. Some are quite lavish, as you might expect, but even those that are not are still something special. Only recently have I begun to appreciate how wonderful and truly beneficial spas are, especially during travels, and though it is easy enough to obtain the names and addresses of spas and salons in Paris, it isn’t so easy to compare them or know what to expect when you show up. Thank god there is now Pampered in Paris: A Guide to the Best Spas, Salons and Beauty Boutiques by Kim Horton Levesque and with photos by Kristyn Moore (Little Bookroom, 2010). If you are even remotely interested in spending some time at a spa or salon while in Paris, you positively need this book.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Levesque in New York when the Spa Vinothérapie Caudalie, in the Plaza Hotel, hosted a fête to celebrate her new guide (the Paris Caudalie spa is one Levesque recommends). We are very much kindred spirits; she told me, “I think I’m like you in that I am obsessive about pre-trip research. I always have several guidebooks and a folder of photocopies with me when I travel.” Levesque first visited France as a high school exchange student, and she returned to France every summer throughout college and worked variously as an au pair, farmhand, and cook at an auberge in Normandy (“I was cooking mainly for British travelers who wanted to get off the beaten path and experience authentic France—they didn’t know there