Paris Shopping Tips by sourbugger

Name of Shop: Bookshop, everywhere


What To Buy: I visited La Defence some years ago, and was impressed by the collection of very modernist architecture. Standing over the river, but directly in line with the Arc de Triomphe and Paris' main thoroughfare the 'cube' of the La Defence arch could be said to be perfect cube, in four dimensions - as opposed to the religious perfection of Notre Dame.

Interestingly, this product of the secular mind is used on the cover of a book by the thinker George Weigel who basically argues that the problems of the 20/21st century can be left at the door of Europe's elite (unlike America) who abandoned God.

Taken from www.townhall.com :
According to George in The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God, history must not be gleaned through a glass darkly but examined through the eyes of faith. In his book, Weigel, distinguished author and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, outlines the contrasting worldviews that have shaped Europe and America. The current European civilization that produced the modernist "cube" of the Great Arch of La Defence in Paris is in stark disparity to the older civilization that produced the "cathedral," Notre Dame. Weigel contends that Europe's embrace of secularism has led to "a crisis of civilizational morale" that threatens its future.

"Europe's problem," Weigel says, must be understood from a cultural perspective. He believes that Europe's decline has its roots in the 19th century, when intellectual leaders accepted atheistic humanism as a viable worldview. European elites falsely believed that true liberation would come from jettisoning God from the public square. The natural outgrowth of this philosophy has ravaged Europe, giving birth to two world wars, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, Auschwitz, the Gulag, and the Cold War.

And there was me thinking it was just an impressive moderm building.


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Theme: Books

Name of Shop: Galeries Lafayette

I've written about the architeture on another page.

This is a tip written by shopaphobic who had to visit Paris with a Shopaholic.

1) It sells tons of perfume on the ground floor - see tip on local customs

2) You can escape the shop for a while by going to the roof for a great view of Paris

3) There are a number of restaurants, canteens and a McDonalds in which you can hide for a while

4) It has a 'tourist' section where you can by all your crappy souveniers in one place.

5) It has a nice staircase.

Oh, and tons of stuff to buy if you like that sort of thing.



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Theme: Department Store
Address: 40 Blvd Haussmann
Directions: Near the opera
Website: http://www.galerieslafayette.com/

Name of Shop: Egouts de Paris bookshop

The Egouts (sewers) of Paris are one of the more unusual sights to visit in the city - but a trip there has been a popular activity for a couple of hundred years.

If you are fascinated by the workings of sewage then you will be delighted by the range available at the bookshop as you leave the museum.

The attentant manning the shop came second in the "All-Gallic nations most bored looking man of the year contest" in 2003.



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Theme: Books
Address: Egouts de Paris

Name of Shop: Vache & Cow

This is a shop that is totally dedicated to cows. Whatever product you can think of, the chances are that this company has been there before you.

A plate, a mug, or pencil is fair enough, but how coes a cow dressing cow grab you at 80 euro ? or a full cow suit with rubber udders ? My Mother-in-law bought one whilst I was there. The temptation to work that into a joke is very strong (in a Benard Manning kind of way)....but I will resist...if only for my own personal safety.



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Theme: Other
Address: 12 street of Ferronerie , Paris 1st
Website: www.vacheandcow.com