It’s as though no time has passed since Françoise used to come in here to buy porcelain dolls as a girl. When the boutique was put up for sale in the early 1980s she decided to take it over herself and has been running the shop ever since with the help of her antiquarian husband Gilles. The result is a pretty, uncluttered boutique with a quaint vintage vibe.
La Maison de Poupée has retained much of its original charm with stone walls, beautiful wooden beams and a grandfather clock ticking away in a corner. The windows are hung with long red velvet curtains and house gorgeous displays of dolls, toy animals, tea sets and paintings. Most of the objects for sale date back to the second half of the 19th century, the heyday of porcelain doll making under Napoleon III. Traditional girl dolls with elaborate hairstyles and intricate floor-length dresses stare out from the shelves alongside men dolls sporting top hats and suits.
The friendly owners talk passionately about their dolls, happy to discuss the ins and outs of finding each piece and selling it on. Some of the objects are rare and all are fragile, a world away from today’s throwaway plastic toys. So take a trip back in time and get a sense of what childhood was like back in the 1890s – oh, and be careful not to knock anything over as you do.