Paris Weekend Break

Where to shop in Paris

Paris is generally thought to be the best city in Europe when it comes to shopping with its mix of up-market boutiques and lavish department stores. In fact very few of its estimated 120 million visitors fail to do some shopping during their stay.

There is no best place to shop in Paris, however the famous Boulevard Haussmann is a great place to start. This one and a half mile long street runs from the eighth to the ninth arrondissment (district) and dates back to the Napoleonic Empire. The Boulevard comprises apartment blocks, many with stores at ground floor level and two of the cities most renown department stores, Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps.

Galleries Lafayette has its largest and most opulent store in this zone and it boasts no less than ten floors of shopping. It is a highlight for many who visit this city and some shoppers spend an entire day wondering around this single enormous store.

Au Printemps has a number of stores in Paris, but the largest of them and the flagship, can be found on Boulevard Haussmann. This store has a stunning stained glass dome that rises above the tea room and restaurant along with an impressive façade, but it is the many departments within the store that attract is numerous shoppers.

Other popular stores in Paris include the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, often referred to as the BHV, which lies close to the Metro underground station. This store is actually owned by the same company that operate Galleries Lafayette and is only a short walk away from it.

More shopping districts

The Marais quarter is a well known shopping locality for those interested in arts, crafts and antiques. This area sees jewellery stores, small galleries and a number of boutiques. It is often seen as an early stomping ground for the up and coming designers of tomorrow and many big names of today once had a more modest boutique in this quarter.

A part of Paris known as Faubourg Saint Honore which includes the streets of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Rue de la Paix, Place Vendome and Rue Saint-Honoré is the main fashion center of the city. This district sits by the Louvre which makes it easy to jump between culture and fashion, or for one member of a group to visit the gallery whilst another does some shopping. Famous names found in this area include the likes of Versace and YSL.

Another trendy shopping area, when it comes to fashion wear and accessories, is the Avenue Montaigne and Avenue de Champs Elysees. This neighbourhood has many well known designers, some large international retailers and fragrance houses like Chanel. This area has grown rapidly in popularity as a place to be seen shopping and is internationally famous and frequented by many celebrities.

The les Halles and Rue de Rivoli district is best known for a large outdoor market that specialises in food stuffs of just about any and every variety. For this reason alone it is worth a visit, however it also has a number of boutiques, a massive underground shopping mall and is home to many of the city's brightest designers.

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