Paris Shopping Tips by BeatChick Top 5 Page for this destination

Le Repaire de Bacchus: Cheap Wine on Mouffetard

I never ventured beyond the threshhold of this shop as I purchased the wines sitting outside in the woven baskets. The signs boldly diplaying the cheap prices caught my eye and I couldn't resist so I purchased 2 of those!

This is a chain of wine shops, much like Nicolas, with 29 stores in Paris:
7, rue Gomboust 75001

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88, rue Montorgueil 75002

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40, rue Bretagne 75003
14, rue Rambuteau 75003

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112, rue Mouffetard 75005

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29, rue Clerue 75007
74, rue Grenelle 75007
122, rue St Dominique 75007

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12, cité Berryerue 75008

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11, rue Martyrs 75009

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56, rue Oberkampf 75011

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79, bd Diderot 75012
4, rue Rendez-Vous 75012

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197, av Maine 75014
104, rue Raymond Losserand 75014

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66, rue Commerce 75015
228, rue Convention 75015
85, rue Lecourbe 75015
75, rue des Morillons 75015
110, rue St Charles 75015

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58, rue d'Auteuil 75016
11, rue Le Marois 75016

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39, rue Acacias 75017
6, rue Bayen 75017
51, rue Lévis 75017
30, rue des Moines 75017

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40, rue Damrémont 75018
1, rue Joseph de Maistre 75018

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218 bis, rue Pyrénées 75020

What to buy: Very inexpensive wines (and good, too).

What to pay: 2€ per bottle

Photo: November 2007

Address: 112, rue Mouffetard 75005 PARIS

Directions: I found this shop on rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter south of Place de la Contrescarpe between Square Vermenouze & rue de l'Arbalete.

Métro: Censier-Daubenton (Ligne 7)

Phone: 01 47 07 39 40

Theme: Food and Drink

Boulevard des Bulles: Comics on Bd St-Germain

This is a French comic book shop that I popped into looking to buy the men in my family some French manga.

What to buy: Comics, manga comics, comic-related items such as posters & t-shirts

Photos: February 2006

Address: 50, Bd St-Germain 75005 Paris

Directions: Located in the Quartier Latin on the Boulevard St-Germain across from St-Nicholas-du-Chardonnet church.

Phone: 01 53 10 83 30

Theme: Books

Lavrut Dessin Beaux-Arts Papeterie: Paper Products in Passage Choiseul Passages Review

Located in one of the beautiful passages in the 2nd arrondissement, Passage Choiseul, is a papeterie called Lavrut, where I picked up some "moleskine" notebooks, the kind Hemingway used, for Mr. Connolly and a pink pen with fluffy feathers on the end for my daughter. I know moleskin notebooks may be purchased in the US but it's just more fun to purchase them in Paris. Besides, they wrap them up so beautifully if you tell them "un cadeaux, s'il vous plait".

I love shopping in these little shops that only the locals seem to know!

What to buy: I purchased blank, lined, a graph lined moleskine notebooks along with a fun pink pen with fluffy feathers! Perfect for inexpensive gift items.

Photos: February 2006

Address: 52, Passage Choiseul 75002 Paris

Phone: 01 42 96 95 54

Theme: Stationery

Didier Ludot: Home of the Little Black Dress

Didier Ludot's hallmark is La Petite Robe Noire, the quintessential "little black dress" copied from various vintage designs. He also has a shop across the gardens of the Palais Royal that sells haute couture vintage, such as the lovely peacock blue Dior I saw in the window from 1960, along with Vionnet, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Courrèges with accessories from Hermès, Prada, Gucci, and Dior. I never purchased anything that day, just did a bit of window shopping (and drooling).

La Petite Robe Noire shop is located at 125, Galerie de Valois, Jardin du Palais Royal in the 1st arrondissement and is open Monday-Friday from 11am-7pm.

He sells his little black dresses in Printemps in Paris as well as at Barney's in NYC.

What to buy: Little black dresses & vintage clothing.

Photos: February 2006

What to pay: Several hundred euro to several thousand!

Address: 20-24, Galerie de Montpensier (Palais Royal) 75001

Directions: Located in the gardens of the Palais Royal in the first arrondissement, a shop on each side.

Métro: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre (Ligne 1)

Other Contact: wallis@didierludot.com

Phone: 01 40 15 01 04

Theme: Women's Clothes

Les Antiquaires de Village St-Paul: Antiques Shopping in the Marais

Situated near the 13th-century Middle Ages Philippe-Auguste Wall, this is an Antiques area much like the Village Suisse area in the 15th arrondissement, popularly called just the Village St-Paul.

This is a wondrous collection of interlocking courtyards inlaid with cobblestones and filled with those great ancient archways, which to me invokes the idea of medieval Paris. Filled with antique shops that you can just meander through, you'll want to uncover one courtyard after another. Apparently, once the parish of French kings (started by Charles V who bagan living here in 1360) the courtyards were the cloistered areas, and this place continued as the royal parish until 1559.

A very-much hidden spot, you'd pretty much walk right by it and not know there were these great hidden cours if it weren't for the colorful "Village St-Paul" flags hanging off the building. Indeed, I walked past here without knowing what lay behind the doors the first time I explored this area (2003). It was after that trip that I read about the antique shops so I was determined to delve into this area again. And since it was in close proximity to one of the Before Sunset locations, it became a must-see for this trip.

Photos: February 2006

What to buy: Antiques

What to pay: However much you can spend.

Address: Jardins St-Paul area

Directions: Located in the Marais, bordered by rue des Jardins St-Paul, rue Charlemagne, rue St-Paul and rue de l'Ave Maria.

Theme: Antiques

Maison de Paris: Best (& Cheapest) Souvenirs in Paris!

MAISON DE PARIS
"la boutique de vos souvenirs pour vous offrir le meilleur de Paris"

The shop of your memories to offer the best of Paris to you!

I found this pretty little souvenir shop on the Left Bank, around the corner from my fave hotel. The shop is cute and the proprietor, Pierrick Brunel, is VERY charming and exceptionally nice who speaks excellent English, and was ever-so-willing to help me with my rudimentary French. He even was kind enough to steer me away from the cheesy stuff and gave me good deals on items I bought in bulk, such as small Eiffel Towers (10ff in 2001), then he threw in some Eiffel Tower key rings for free. He also gave me advice on how to spot quality souvenir items should I decide to buy them elsewhere.

Monsieur Brunel sells high-quality yet relatively inexpensive souvenirs. For instance, those Eiffel Tower key chains that you buy from the sellers near the Eiffel Tower for 2€ each can be bought at Maison Paris at 10 for 2€ total here.

Needless to say, I try to get here every year!

What to buy: They have everything so it's a one-stop shop: a wide range of postcards, t-shirts, sweatshirts, Christmas ornaments, Eiffel Towers in varying sizes, keychains (ET & otherwise), miniature monuments, snowglobes, Paris bells, colored bath salts, Provençal lavender-filled sachets, Limoges ware, cool Parisian aprons, just a grand assortment of things.

Really, really pretty postcards here. Items ran from the very inexpensive typical cards to some arty, art noveau die-cut "postcards" by l'Ombre Bleue that you mail in an envelope. My Mom & Nanny (grandmother) enjoyed receiving the latter.

I don't know about you but I always feel compelled to get little inexpensive souvenirs (they DO have lovely real Limoges ware) but only want to shop for it once. And it's all here! :D

Photos: Feb 2006 & April 2003

What to pay: This is the cheapest place I've found them and of good quality, too; all cheaper than anyplace I've come across near Notre-Dame, the Bir Hakeim near Eiffel Tower, or in Montmartre.

You should be able to haggle/bargain with the owner.

Address: 5 Quai de Montebello, Paris, France 75005

Directions: It is situated at 5, Quai de Montebello between rue Frederic-Sauton & rue Maitre Albert on the left bank side facing Notre Dame running along the Seine, roughly about 5-10 minutes walk east from Shakespeare & Co. & almost at Pont de l'Archeveche.

Other Contact: maisondeparis@parissouvenirs.com

Phone: 01 46 33 20 53

Theme: Gifts

Debauve et Gallais: Chocolates Fit for a Queen!

Debauve & Gallais, their first shop established in 1800, were official chocolatier to French royal family. Marie Antoinette commissioned them to make a special chocolate for her to take with her medicine, called Pistoles de Marie Antoinette.

Not only were the chocolates divine here, the sales people were incredibly nice people and didn't mind me taking as many photos as I wanted inside, pausing to let me capture pics before scooping up chocolates to give to customer!

When I was in Chicago this past autumn, I popped into a pâtisserie called Vanille Pâtisserie that had hand-painted chocolates just like the palet au thé ones here, so they were obviously influenced by this famous chocolatier!

What to buy: Palet au Thé chocolates, tea-flavored chocolates; I bought the Peche Abricot Chocolat
Demi Rondelle d'Orange, candied orange slices dipped in chocolate
Chataigne Pâté de Marron au Rhum - Chestnut & rum-flavored chocolates
Rocher - Specialty of D&G, chocolate and bits of hazelnut

Photos: February 2006

Address: 30, rue des Saints Pères 75007 Paris

Directions: On the border between the 6th & 7th arrondissements halfway between rue Jacob & bd St-Germain.

Métro: St-Germain-des-Prés

Other Contact: 01 45 48 21 78 (Fax#)

Phone: 01 45 48 54 67

Theme: Food and Drink

Website: http://www.debauveandgallais.com/

Village Voice: I MET DAVID SEDARIS IN PARIS!!

After tromping around all day in St-Germain-des-Prés, I was ready to call it a day but I hadn’t been to the Village Voice yet. I was scoping out the place to buy a book. This place is great for books & book readings.

Anyway, it JUST SO HAPPENS that David Sedaris, who was to give a reading from his latest book Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim, instead gave a reading from an upcoming NY Times story; it was fantastic.

BTW, founder Odile Hellier is the nicest person; if you get a chance to talk to her, do so!

For those of you unfamiliar with this author, David Sedaris wrote Me Talk Pretty One Day. He has an NPR show. His sister is actress Amy Sedaris who was in the movie Elf and who is equally hilarious. His humor stems from quirky situations with his family.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I walked in & David Sedaris was there! It's so funny because I didn't know he was going to be there. Imagine if I'd decided not to go to the Village Voice that night. I was telling Mr. Connolly the week before I left for Paris about David Sedaris' story "The City of Light after Dark" (from Me Talk Pretty One Day) I’d read in a compilation book called Paris in Mind by Jennifer Lee. It concerns David living in Paris, not caring about the famous sites but loving Paris cinema. In the story, he creates his day based upon different movies that are shown in the city. Where someone else might create an itinerary going from site to site, he creates his by going from one movie in one section of the city & then rushing to another section to catch another film! In the story, when people visit him that he doesn't show them the sites, he attempts to take them to a movie. Actually, he loves old American movies shown in Paris movie theatres.

What to buy: Bought his book, he signed it (I read his book on métros & cafés the next 3 days, enraptured, laughing my butt off, inviting stares). I shared with him that I'd told someone about the story & that we both thought it was hilarious. That was when he asked me if I'd seen any films in Paris and he urged me I needed to run, RUN to the nearest cinema to see a movie in complete & utter silence, something completely different than what we get in America - which I did the following night.

David was so nice, charming, engaging & extremely hilarious! While signing our books he told us that undoubtedly "some smart-ass American kid" would ask him a question in French because they’re always testing his skill in French. He said he'd let it go through his interpreter, answer in English & let the interpreter relay it back in French! So who's the smart-ass now?

During his reading, he told us this tidbit about the difficulty in translating books from English to French. He used the name Britney as an example. In America, if you use the name Britney it conjures up a certain image, a girl of a certain age who loves to shop. So it was up to his translator to find a French name to equivocate that. The translator came up with Marie-Chantal. So Mr. Sedaris asked a French friend what she thought of when she heard the name Marie-Chantal. She replied that "Marie-Chantal is the type of person who, when her ashtray is full, buys a new car."

Incidentally, David revealed that due to work, he now splits his time equally between Paris & London. He lives in the same building as the first incarnation of Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare & Co. (8, rue Dupuytren from 1919-21 when she moved it to 12, rue de l’Odeon).

Photos: November 2007

Address: 6, rue Princesse 75006 Paris

Directions: Near Place St-Sulpice; from the métro, walk west and turn left at the 1st street. You'll find it halfway down the block on the right-hand side.

Métro: Mabillon (Ligne 10)

Other Contact: voice.village@wanadoo.fr

Phone: 01 46 33 36 47

Theme: Books

Website: http://www.villagevoicebookshop.com/

Lush Bath & Beauty Products: Lush in St-Germain-des-Prés

If you don't live in London, where Lush originates, nor have one in close proximity, then pop in here for your Lush bath products!

Just across the street from Cacao et Chocolat - what better way to treat yourself than with chocolate & bath products?

Much like the Body Shop (also London), their focus is animal- & globe-friendly natural products such as soaps, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, bath bombs (those are quite literrally "da bomb!" - you drop them into the water, they fizz and release a wonderful scent while you bathe), facial & skincare products and the loveliest of scents.

I stepped inside to buy one of their solid shampoos (called Godiva with the most wondrous jasmine/hibiscus/ylang ylang/gardenia scent - ahhh) that looks like a round, yellow bar of soap but works up a lovely lather in one's hair!

Before they had shops all over the world, I gave $25 to a friend of mine traveling to London to purchase various bath bombs for me - sigh!

What to buy: Godiva solid shampoo
Bath bombs:
Waving not Drowning - lavendar & fennel, very relaxing
Tisty Tosty - heart-shaped with rosebuds & rose scent
Sex Bomb - jasmine, ylang ylang & clary sage - mmm
Golden Slumbers - lavendar & neroli, another that's very relaxing

Photos: February 2008
Godiva solid shampoo is yellow round bar on top.
Clockwise from top:
Golden Slumbers (Lavendar & Neroli)
Sex Bomb (Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Clary Sage)
Tisty Tosty (Rose scent with 7 rosebuds - great for Valentine's Day)
All that Jas (Jasmine, Vanilla, Vertivert & Gardenia)

What to pay: 8.35€ for solid shampoo, bath bombs for 4-5€.

Address: 30, rue de Buci 75006 Paris

Directions: Lies between r de Bourbon le Château & Bd St-Germain

Métro: Mabillon (Ligne 10)

Phone: 01 43 25 33 17

Theme: Bath and Beauty

Website: http://lush.com/

Rue Mouffetard: Chromatic Bis Rue Mouffetard Review

Hi, the store (bijouterie fantaisie) is called:
Chromatic Bis

address:
92, rue Mouffetard 75005

ph#:
01 45 87 02 01

What to buy: According to the forum, they sell scarves, jewelry much like Kazana.

Address: 92, rue Mouffetard 75005 - PARIS

Directions: Metro : Censier-Daubenton

Phone: 01 45 87 02 01

Theme: Jewelry