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Happy chapeaux: Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen

Paris for bargain hunters
Beautiful boutiques, formidable flea markets – it’s a rummager’s paradise

Couture frocks cost as much as a cottage in the Limousin, but there are plenty of affordable buys amid the deluxe designer creations. Fashion stylists and designers cite the sprawling Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen for inspiration and interesting finds. Made up of 16 markets in and around the rue des Rosiers in the 18th, the world’s largest flea market houses 2,500 dealers selling furniture, vintage clothing and bric-a-brac.

Of course, there’s no shortage of luxe salons to max out your credit cards, but moderately priced labels to look out for include chic basics line APC and Japanese range Irie Wash, whose USP is that everything, even silky frocks, can be chucked in the washing machine. Fans of Isabelle Puech and Benoît Jamin’s embellished handbags can find one-off and archive items at the Jamin Puech Inventaire store, from as little as €50.
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The most varied browsing territory for small, mid-priced fashion and interiors shops is in the Marais. Rue des Rosiers and rue Vieille-du-Temple are packed with boutiques. For interesting home stores, hit rue François Miron: two of Robert Sentou’s seminal modern design galleries showcase jelly baby-bright tableware and sculptural lighting – you can pick up colourful coffee cups for as little as €7. Azag is brilliant for inexpensive gifts by Parisian designers.

To the north on rue Charlot, there’s a growing selection of eclectic shop-ateliers and boutiques, including Agathe Buchotte’s clutch of cool clothes shops AB33 and N°60, and edgy, ’80s-influenced designer Gaspard Yurkievich. A new arrival is Plagg (Swedish slang for clothes), showcasing Scandi designers.

As you’d expect from one of the world’s fashion capitals, there are designer discount shops dotted around the city, selling secondhand and end-of-season stock. Some of them can be a bit conservative (Chanel suits and handbags), while others, such as Le Mouton à Cinq Pattes, are sold sans labels. The small, friendly Griff’troc near Parc Monceau is stuffed with immaculate secondhand and new Hermès, Lacroix (yellow jacquard sundress €150) and Chloé – it’s especially good for bags. Vintage aficionados swear by Wochdom, which leans towards graphic 1980s styles.

Where to eat
The concept of brunch has caught on, judging by the weekend crowds at the Rose Bakery which serves Anglo-French food, prepared with quality, mainly organic ingredients, and classic English cakes. Tokyo Eat, the dining space in the hangar-like Palais de Tokyo, complete with resident DJ, is a fashionably fun place to spend an evening – the waiter brings a playlist to your table along with the modern brasserie menu so you can order songs with your supper. The 1920s beau monde flocked to La Coupole to see and be seen – and the place is still beloved by locals for its spectacular seafood platters and reasonable prices. Classed as a historic monument, it features 32 art deco columns painted by different artists of the epoch.

Where to sleep
Where can the style-conscious weekender find a cool spot to crash without having to pay a fortune in hotel bills – or taxi fares? The LGH mini-chain fills this gap. A trio of budget boutique hotels have fashionable locations, slick retro furnishings and a generous (and surprisingly good) buffet breakfast. Flagship Le Général, which also boasts a sauna and fitness room, is two steps from République; Le Quartier République, Le Marais is, despite the name, near the bar haven of Oberkampf; and the recently refurbished Le Quartier Bastille, Le Faubourg is where its name suggests.

Addresses
AB33 and N°60 33 & 60 rue Charlot, 3rd (00 33 1 42 71 02 82/00 33 1 44 78 91 90) Métro Filles du Calvaire. Open Tue-Sun 11am-8pm.

APC 3 & 4 rue de Fleurus, 6th (00 33 1 42 22 12 77/www.apc.fr) Métro St-Placide. Open Mon-Sat 11am-7.30pm.

Azag 9 rue François Miron, 4th (00 33 1 48 04 08 18) Métro St Paul. Open Mon 2.30-7pm, Tue-Sat 11am-7pm.

La Coupole 102 bd du Montparnasse, 14th (00 33 1 43 20 14 20) Métro Vavin. Open Mon-Thur, Sun 8.30am-1am,
Fri, Sat 8.30am-1.30am.

Gaspard Yurkievich 43 rue Charlot, 3rd (00 33 1 42 77 55 48/www.gaspardyurkievich.com) Métro Filles du Calvaire. Open Tue-Sat 11am-7pm.

LGH Hotels (00 33 1 47 00 41 57/ www.lghhotels.com) Doubles from €92 at Le Quartier République, Le Marais; €115 at Le Quartier Bastille, Le Faubourg; and €168 at Le General.

Griff’troc 119 bd Malesherbes, 8th (00 33 1 45 61 19 47) Métro Monceau. Open Mon 11am-7pm, Tue-Sat 10.30am-7pm.

Irie Wash 8 rue du Pré-aux-Clercs, 7th (00 33 1 42 61 18 28) Métro Rue du Bac or St-Germain-des-Prés. Open Mon-Sat 10.15am-7pm. Closed three weeks in Aug.

Jamin Puech Inventaire 61 rue de Hauteville, 10th (00 33 1 40 22 08 32) Métro Poissonnière. Open Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 12noon-7pm.

Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen Av de la Porte de Clignancourt, 18th (www.parispuces.com) Métro Porte de Clignancourt. Open Mon, Sat, Sun 9.30am-6pm.

Le Mouton à Cinq Pattes 138 bd St-Germain, 6th (00 33 1 43 26 49 25) Métro Odéon. Open Mon-Sat 10am-7pm.

Plagg 41 rue Charlot, 3rd (00 33 1 42 78 37 60) Métro Filles du Calvaire. Open Tue-Sun 11am-7.30pm.

Rose Bakery 46 rue des Martyrs, 9th (00 33 1 42 82 12 80) Métro Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Open Tue-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 10am-5pm. Closed two weeks in Aug.

Sentou Galerie 24 rue du Pont-Louis-Philippe and 29 rue François Miron, 4th (00 33 1 42 77 44 79/00 33 1 42 78 50 60/www.sentou.fr)
Métro Pont Marie. Open Tue-Sat 10am-7pm.

Tokyo Eat Palais de Tokyo, 13 av du Président-Wilson, 16th (00 33 1 47 20 00 29) Métro Alma Marceau or Iéna. Open Tue-Sun 12noon-3pm, 8-11.30pm.

Wochdom 72 rue Condorcet, 9th (00 33 1 53 21 09 72) Métro Pigalle or Anvers. Open Mon-Sat 12noon-8pm.

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