Chapter One
BEST OF PARIS
J'ADORE PARIS
I hope you are reading this as you plan a trip to Paris. While the dollar-euro ratio isn't great, it's not that bad either, and the newspapers are filled with articles about how many Americans are traveling to Europe. If crowds are swarming around you, you'll need this book more than ever, because I've added many insider's tips and noted out-of-the-way places that aren't too touristy.
In these pages are shopping lists that will help get your jus flowing. Paris is filled with great things to look at and buy. If you shop wisely, you may even save money.
Putting the best of Paris into one list is an impossible task; it seems that every store I visit is the best in Paris. Every magazine has pictures of merchandise I must own because, surely, it is the best in Paris. Now that I spend several months a year here, I run around with a notebook in my handbag so that I can write down my latest finds to share with my readers. The notebook is bigger than this edition.
With that in mind, the selections in this chapter have been chosen for people in an incredible hurry, who have no time for leisurely strolling and shopping. If you have more time, you owe yourself the luxury of checking out the finds described elsewhere in this book. However, if you must hit and run, I hope these choices will be rewarding.
Best Specialty Perfume Shop
Salons Shiseido 142 galerie de Valois, Jardin du Palais Royal, 1er (Mtro: Palais-Royal).
This tiny shop, with high ceilings and royal purple decor, is the showcase of makeup genius Serge Lutens. He used to create makeup for Christian Dior and has now been with Shiseido for decades. His perfumes are also divine; even if you buy nothing, just look around and breathe deeply. The Jardin du Palais Royal is another terrific shopping experience, so check it out while you're here. Plan to spend several hours in this little piece of hidden Paris, a shopping heaven.
Runner-Up
Frederic Malle 140 av. Victor Hugo, 16e (Mtro: Victor Hugo).
Come here for the specialty scents, a smelling booth, and do-it-yourself or custom-made fragrance.
Best Duty-Free Perfume Shop
Catherine 7 rue Castiglione, 1er (Mtro: Tuileries or Concorde).
This small, intimate shop is family-run and can get crowded because it's very popular (good news travels fast). Catherine has an excellent selection of scents and specializes in hard-to-find perfumes. The salespeople will also help you to choose a new fragrance based on your skin type and lifestyle, or they'll help you pick a fragrance for a gift. There are also makeup and beauty goods by Chanel, Dior, Lancme, and Sisley-which are the steal of the century at French prices. Also note the excellent handbags, watches, and souvenirs.
Confused about the whole duty-free issue? There's lots more information in these pages (see p. 53 for starters).
Best Mass-Market Perfume Shop
Sephora 70 av. des Champs-Elyses, 8e (Mtro: Franklin D. Roosevelt).
I don't care if you have Sephora at your local mall. The French stores are different, partly because Sephora is a large French chain and the flagship is right smack on the Champs-Elyses. This branch is even open on Sunday.
Everything in the large shop is color-coordinated. Fragrances have their own section, with scads of testers and lots of scent strips. There's far more than perfume; in fact, you're better off not buying perfume here, since you'll get a better price from a discounter or duty-free shop. Sephora is good for bath and beauty products (an enormous selection, including its own line of shampoos and body lotions, makeup, and hair accessories).
This is a great place for girls, preteens, and women of all ages. The inexpensive sample-size products make fabulous gifts. You'll also find books, a parapharmacie, a mix-your-own perfume counter, and a computer to teach you everything you need (or want) to know. There's also a good dtaxe rebate here (14%).
Aside from the flagship on Champs-Elyses and the many other Sephora locations, there is a relatively new shop on rue de Rivoli (no. 99) that's geared toward teens and tweens (it's located in one of the former Samaritaine buildings). Most branches have the same feel to them; it's just a matter of size, selection, and belles and whistles. (The belles wear uniforms and white gloves.)
Best French Gift Statements
Glass and/or crystal items from the big French makers, such as Baccarat or Lalique. No, not stemware-silly you. These brands now make fashion statements and accessories, such as Lalique belts and stickpins. "Exotica" is the Lalique line of leather belts with smoky glass buckles; they run about 200 [euro] ($230), but you can apply for a dtaxe refund. Lalique's stickpins, named "Nerita," are also quite chic and cost a bit less. The newest product is a thin leather cuff bracelet on which you place a Lalique crystal slide; the two parts are sold separately and cost about 180 [euro] ($207) for both.
While we're on the subject of handbags, try the brand Just Campagne, which makes sporty bags in styles you've never seen in the U.S.-they'll make your friends drool and sigh. A large tote is about 200 [euro] ($230).
Best Status Gifts Under $25
Herms soap, sold in the Saddle Shop.
Lanvin chocolates, available in any grocery store.
Champagne. In addition to the ones you've heard of, there are several good champagnes that aren't as well known in the U.S.-I swear by nv (nonvintage) Alain Thienot, found at Nicolas or Monoprix.
Anything from Diptyque, the candle, soap, and scent maker. This luxury brand is not that well known in America (its first U.S. shop opened recently in Boston), but is a cult item among celebs and serious shoppers (p. 229). Also available at Au Printemps.
Best Gifts for $10 or Less
Anything from Sephora, preferably the house brand of bath goodies. See above and p. 205.
Le String is the French version of the thong-it has been banned in French high schools because local girls were doing a Monica Lewinsky with theirs. Sacr tush! Sloggi is a popular brand (it's Italian) although I buy the Sloggi wannabe, Scandy, because they make elasticit extrme (extreme stretch) in a microfiber string that is a dream for comfort and travel-it dries in hours. From Monoprix.
Hot-chocolate mix (5 [euro]/$5.75) from Angelina, 226 rue de Rivoli, 1er (Mtro: Tuileries), the most famous tea shop in Paris.
A box of Mre Poulard cookies (1.40 [euro]/$1.60). These indescribably good butter cookies are imported from Mont St-Michel. Available in any grocery store.
A bag of real French coffee (2.20 [euro]/$2.55). I buy Carte Noire, and there are other good brands; Grand Mre has a cute package, but is considered just a morning coffee by locals. Available in any grocery store.
A jar of hard-to-find flavored mustard (2.20 [euro]/$2.55). I buy Maille brand, either cassis and red fruits or one named Provenale. Most fun when bought at Maille's own store, place de la Madeleine, 1er (Mtro: Madeleine). Most grocery stores or gourmet markets have a large selection of unusual mustard tastes-even blueberry.
A box or bag of tea ... but nothing British or easily found in the U.S. We're talking about the famous mix of red fruits, or French herbs or flavors not known to the American palate. Grocery stores carry Elephant brand; Mariage Frres is a luxury brand with its own tearooms and distribution in department stores. My favorite is the Monoprix brand of fruits rouge.
A bar of milled soap, from a made-in-France brand (bien sr), teamed with gant de toilette, a French-style wash-cloth. The two pieces together don't have to cost more than 10 [euro] ($12). I like Roger & Gallet soaps, especially the more unusual scents, such as the cherry-and-tomato combination.
Best Gifts for Kids
Monoprix, a chain of "popular stores," is packed with items, ranging from a selection of books (Disney translations are nice) to LEGOS(r). I also buy kids' clothes here.
Sephora carries little animal-shaped bath-gel thingamabobs for .50 [euro] (60) each. Each animal shape is a different scent, and there must be 20 of them in all.
Best Store for Teenage Girls
Etam, Cite de la Femme 73 rue de Rivoli, 1er (Mtro: Pont Neuf).
An entire department store of style: fashion, beauty, even home touches and a cafe. It occupies a makeover of one of La Samaritaine's landmark buildings. Low prices.
Runners-up for Teens & Tweens
H&M 54 bd Haussmann, 9e (Mtro: Havre Caumartin).
The Swedish phenomenon has copies of the latest looks for men, women, and children at affordable prices. This is the flagship; there are other, smaller branches around town.
Le Shop 3 rue d'Argout, 2e (Mtro: Etienne Marcel).
The music is too loud for me-but this is a great concept store (tons of boutiques inside one big store) and is very trendy, very with-it, and a must-do for anyone under 40.
Best Kitsch
It's not hard to find kitsch in Paris-just stroll the tourist traps along the rue de Rivoli.
Best Whimsy
Mr. Gas 44 av. Etienne Marcel, 1er (Mtro: Etienne Marcel).
Gas has been around for years: It's a teeny-tiny jewelry shop that sells colorful, creative whimsies. Now, "Mr. Gas" has added a clothing store next door. Funky, exotic, and hip. Large sizes need not apply.
Best Arts & Crafts
Crea 55 rue St-Placide, 6e (Mtro: St-Placide).
If you think Arts and Crafts is a design period, you are not a do-it-yourself (DIY) kind of person. The crafty ones will fall into fits of glee when they step inside Crea.
Best Fashion Icon: Traditional
Blame it on Pablo Picasso or Coco Chanel, but the traditional striped fisherman's T-shirt has become an iconic fashion statement.
This time, the colors are not so traditional (although you'll have no trouble finding navy-and-white or red-and-white stripes). The wacky colors are usually sold in specialty stores. Brands to check out include Le Phare de la Baleine, passage l'Havre, 9e (Mtro: St-Lazare), part of a small chain that specializes in marine looks from Brittany; Amour Lux, a line sold all over France (I buy mine at Galeries Lafayette) that makes the shirts in wild colors; and St-James, 13 rue de Rennes, 6e (Mtro: St-Germain-des-Prs), which has free-standing stores and perhaps the best colors, but the highest prices. You may be shocked by the prices-often 40 [euro] ($46) or more-but in this case, you're paying for quality (they wear forever) rather than la mode.
Best Fashion Icon: New Age
Herve Chapelier 390 rue St-Honor, 8e (Mtro: Concorde). 1 rue du Vieux-Colombier, 6e (Mtro: St-Germain-des-Prs). 3 rue Gustave Courbet, 16e (Mtro: Victor Hugo). 53 bd de Courcelles, 8e (Mtro: Courcelles).
Kate may be pass, so take a look at Herv Chapelier, a French classic that makes brightly colored nylon tote bags. The major department stores stock a lousy selection, so head to the free-standing stores. The best location is the flagship, not far from the rue Royale in the heart of the best shopping in town. I use the large tote bag for my dog.
Best One-Trick Pony
The trick is the very French look of black and white teamed together for casual or dress-up. Both of these brands sell only white or black shirts, blouses, and tops.
Anne Fontaine 64 rue des Sts-Pres, 6e (Mtro: Svres-Babylone). 50 rue Etienne Marcel, 2e (Mtro: Etienne Marcel). 12 rue Francs-Bourgeois, 3e (Mtro: St-Paul); and many more.
Ms. Anne has shops all over town and boutiques in the major department stores. She sells only two things: white blouses and black blouses. She also has shops in select U.S. cities and an outlet store at La Valle.
Rayure 8 rue Francs-Bourgeois, 3e (Mtro: St-Paul).
Rayure is not as expensive as Anne Fontaine, and doesn't have as many stores (though the line is also sold in department stores). It carries more white shirts than black, but is competitive with Anne Fontaine in terms of styling.
Best New Department Store
Lafayette Maison 35 bd Haussmann, 9e (Mtro: Opra or Havre Caumartin).
You don't come across many new department stores anywhere in the world, so it's a great pleasure to welcome Lafayette Maison, in the space once occupied by Marks & Spencer, right across the street from the flagship Galeries Lafayette. This home store offers five floors of home style-I think the most interesting ones are the ground floor, which resembles a snazzy Target, and the lower level, for cooking demos.
Best New Retail Block
Get a look at the corner of boulevard Malesherbes and rue Royale-not the part that indents, but the real street part at the beginning of Malesherbes, in the 8e. Here you'll find three totally new buildings filled with wonderful things to see, sniff, and touch. The stores are Sia (home style), Rsonances (gifts and novelties), and Shiseido (the Japanese beauty maven). The whole new energy that's come to this corner of Paris makes you think that U.S. marketing concepts can work on other shores. (Mtro: Madeleine or Concorde.)
Block to Watch
Check out the two parallel streets rue St. Roch and rue du 29 Juillet in the 1er (Mtro: Tuileries)-they are filling up with adorable tiny shops. To get my drift, pop into Dominique Denaive, 7 rue du 29 Juillet, 1er ([??] 01-42-61-78-22; www. denaive.com), for resin jewelry and accessories.
Best Marketing for Travelers
We shoppers are the winners here-despite the temporary loss of CDG airport terminal 2E and its fabulous shopping, there are many other new stores in Paris train stations, including a Monoprix in the Gare du Nord (for Eurostar shopping) and a brand-new Sephora in the Gare de Lyon (for trains heading to Provence and Cte d'Azur). These stores offer great last-minute gift shopping and browsing opportunities while you're waiting to depart.
Best Ethnic Fashion Store
Mia Zia 4 rue Caumartin, 9e (Mtro: Havre Caumartin).
Lest you forget that many parts of the U.S. were once French colonies, note that numerous stores throughout Paris reflect French roots in other parts of the world. Mia Zia sells clothes and home style with a touch of North Africa, which makes them great for resort wear without being costume-y. [??] 01-44-51-94-45. www.miazia.com.
Runner-Up
R by 45RPM 4 rue du March St-Honor, 1er (Mtro: Tuileries).
For an interesting runner-up, but with clothing from Japan (which, of course, was never under French protection), look inside this small shop. Here, jeans and clothes are made from block-printed Japanese fabrics and bandannas. [??] 01-47-03-45-45. www.45rpm.fr.
Best French Brands for Large American Bodies
While I do not consider myself immense, let's face it, if you are larger than a size 6, you do not have a French body. Most French clothes are made up to size 44 (American size 12) and some go to size 46 (size 14), but they are cut small and, even if purportedly large enough, many don't fit. Do not panic. There's a report on plus sizes on p. 188, but here's my secret list of brands that have their own size system or go up to size 52-these are all available in the major department stores: Lilith, Weill, Weinberg, and Yohji Yamamoto.
For casual clothing, I often visit the men's department. Warning: A French men's XL in mass-market clothing may still be too small.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop Parisby Suzy Gershman Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission.
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