Paris

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Shopping tips and trends

Paris has been the world‘s fashion mecca at least since the reign of Louis XIV, when the Sun King sent ambassadors bearing dolls dressed in the latest looks to neighbouring European courts.

Market values
No trip to Paris is complete without a wander through one of its many markets. Every arrondissement has a produce market, and the larger ones have several. The foodie’s favorite is the Marche d’Aligre, which is comprised of an old-fashioned food hall as well as the streets around it; bibliophiles will while away many an hour at the Marché aux Livres Anciens in the parc Georges Brassens. For addresses and opening times of all the city’s markets, large and small, log on to www.paris.fr.Neighbourhood watchThe two Goliaths in the department store world are on boulevard Haussmann. Galeries Lafayette and Printemps have both undergone renovations in recent years; they offer, respectively, a brand new createur and shoe section, and the continent’s largest beauty department. Not to be outdone, Le Bon Marché, the Left Bank’s only department store, has recently unveiled a redesign known as L’Appartement de la Mode, which presents best-edited fashion floor (next door you’ll find the chicest gourmet epicerie in the capital).

Meanwhile, each neighbourhood has shopping axis. If, like the locals, you find that rue des Francs-Bourgeois, at the northern edge of the Marais has become too saturated in tourist traffic, venture a few blocks north on the rue Vieille-du-Temple to explore the 3rd, which is fast becoming the Soho of Paris. The neighbourhood, once a working-class area filled with family-run shops, has blossomed with ateliers, designer boutiques for all ages, vintage troves, hot art galleries – and, of course, eateries. Despite its newfound hipness, it still feels enough like Vieux Paris. In addition to harbouring the world’s biggest fashion names, the Golden Triangle – encompassing avenue Montaigne, avenue George V and the Champs-Elysées – is doing its best to shake off its bourgeois image with the arrival of hip young labels Zadig & Voltaire and Paul & Joe, plus a fistful of concept stores along the ‘world’s most beautiful avenue’. This may be the historical heart of high-end shopping in Paris, but plenty of other equally burnished triangles offer stiff competition.

 

The stretch from the Elysée to the Palais-Royal along the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore and rue Saint-Honoré is home to more than a seasoned shopper can reasonably cover in a weekend – and that’s not including the buzz within the magnificent galleries of the once-tranquil Palais-Royal (two words: Marc Jacobs). Then there’s the Left Bank’s own Golden Triangle – roughly delineated – but not limited to – the boulevard St-Germain, rue de Rennes and rue des Saints-Pères (a high concentration of shoe shops can be found along the rue de Grenelle and rue du Cherche-Midi; the Bon Marché anchors its westernmost point). For quirky charm, head for the rue Oberkampf, the canals of the 10th and the slopes of Montmartre.Shop talkVAT of 19.6 per cent is included in the price of most items. If you’re visiting from outside the EU, most major retailers will provide a tax refund receipt that you can have stamped and drop off at a designated booth at the airport on your way out of the EU.

 

Opening hours vary wildly, according to size of venue and season: mid-size and smaller shops may close at lunch time (between noon and 2pm) year-round; many family-owned businesses (shops and restaurants) close for three weeks in August. Department stores are open until 9.30pm once a week. On Sundays, shopping is confined to major tourist areas such as the Carroussel du Louvre and the Champs-Elysees (plus flea markets).

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