Paris is a city of fashion and shopping as well as culture and historical significance. Some of the World’s leading designers such as Coco Chanel and Gucci have lavish and high priced flagship stores in the city. However, there are also places for those not looking to spend the Earth on their wardrobes. The following will provide a guide to shopping in Paris.
The Faubourg Saint-Honoré district is the centre of Paris’ high quality and high priced fashion. It is part of the Louvre-Tuileries neighborhood and is close to Paris’ department store Boulevard Haussmann. The Saint-Honoré fashion district is littered with World renowned fashion designers such as Versace, Hermes, and Yves Saint Laurent. There are also more boutique based, contemporary concept shops such as Colette which epitomises hip, modern Paris.
Paris is famous for its expansive and lavish department stores which allow shoppers to indulge in seemingly endless browsing. Galeries Lafayette and Pritemps department stores are the largest and on Boulevard Haussmann, concentrating top designer collections for men and women along with gourmet food shopping, home design and jewellery. Boulevard Haussmann epitomises the beauty and lavish extravagance of Paris.
If antiquities are high on the agenda then the historic Marais quarter is a must. It also has an array of fine art for sale to suit all sorts of budgets. The Marais is one of Paris’ oldest quarters dating back to the twelth century. However, its origins are suprising. Far from the cultural and artistic centre of Paris, the Marais quarter was once a swamp. In fact Marais literally translates into the word swamp in French.
The Avenue Montaigne and Avenue des Champs-Elysées are two of Paris’ most famous fashion areas. Avenue Montaigne is home to the flag ship stores of legendary designers such as Chanel and Dior.
The Champs-Elysées is not without its share of designer fashion featuring luxury designer stores such as Louis Vuitton while also being the home of a cinema, numerous bars and more main stream fashion centres such as Zara.
The Saint-Ouen flea market otherwise known as puces, literally meaning fleas in French, is the city’s largest market. It dates back to the 19th century and is located at the very northern district of Paris. Although it is a metro journey’s distance away from the centre of Paris, it is well worth a visit and has antique furniture, odd objects and vintage clothes. Originally ‘les puces’ was a place where artistic masterpieces were bought and sold however, it is unlikely that anything of monetary value will be acquired from an afternoons browsing.
If intellectualism is valued above all else, visiting one of St. Germain des Prés’ many boutiques and ‘yuppy’ bars is essential. This is the area where the cliché of the French, black beret wearing poet was born and the area is indeed a mass of coffee bars and modern artistic flair. The district is also home to boutiques of designers Sonia Rykiel and Paco Rabanne along with the famous department store Le Bon Marché which includes a gourmet market that, although pricey, is both entertaining and imaginative.
For diversity in a shopping experience, the Viaduc des Arts is the hub of cutting edge, creative fashion ideas. The setting provides a unique and atmospheric shopping venue where genuinely different designer creations flourish in a scene that is a world away from the hegemony of the malls and shopping centres.
If all the diversity of shopping options becomes too much to handle shoppers can recover at metro Les Halles. Metro Les Halles is a monstrous underground mall that is dominated by global chain stores for the more global shopper.
For shopaholics, Paris is indeed a paradise that is unrivalled anywhere else in the world.