Secrets of Paris
Dr Vernon Coleman
1. Know where to shop
Most visitors to Paris assume that the best shops are to be found on the Champs-Elysées. This is not true. The Champs-Elysées is a splendid thoroughfare which contains a number of excellent and traditional Parisian cafés (the best known among them being Fouquets - which can be found about half way up on the left hand side looking up the hill) but contains more airline offices and car showrooms than decent shops. There are several arcades (The Lido arcade being the most interesting by far) and one or two spectacular megastores but you will find much better shops elsewhere in Paris.
The best big stores in Paris are Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, which are conveniently placed next to one another on the Boulevard Haussemann, just behind the Place de l'Opera. If you can’t find what you want then you probably won't find it in central Paris. Outside these stores there are some excellent pavement stalls selling cheaper products - ties, scarves, watches and those peculiar kitchen implements which look so good when being demonstrated by an expert but which invariably prove unusable when you get them home.
Even if you don't want to purchase anything you really should visit Galeries Lafayette. There is nowhere in the world quite like it. The food and toy departments are particularly amazing. And for a breath taking moment, go into the main store, pass the counters selling perfumes and watches and look up. The inside of the store is a huge atrium which is, at Christmas time, filled with an enormous Christmas tree. Just how they get such a huge tree into the store is a mystery akin to the old ship in the bottle puzzle. If you're in Paris in the weeks before Christmas it is also well worthwhile taking a long look at the shop windows of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Both stores usually fill at least some of their windows with special displays for children. The stores even erect raised platforms so that small children don't have to be held up by their parents but can stand and watch the moving puppets and other toys. Galeries Lafayette usually has the best Christmas lights in the city.
The best fashion stores are to be found in the Avenue Montaigne where you can find Christian Dior and Chanel for example, and the City's best boutiques are found along the rue St Honore. Whether you are looking for luggage, jewellery, stationery or a sandwich you'll find it along here.
Finally, we're delighted to report that small shops survive and thrive in Paris. The short street where we live, which is by no means unusual, contains a mattress maker, a laundry, a plumbing supplies store, an architect, two picture framers, a furniture restorer, four traditional cafés, an estate agent, a dress shop, a furniture store and a shoe cleaning shop where the owner will polish your shoes until they look better than they did when you took them out of the box.
2. The best way to see Paris
Without a doubt, the best way to see Paris is to walk. Unlike many other capitals Paris is remarkably compact. Technically, the distance from the Eiffel Tower in the West to Sacre Coeur in the north is less than four miles (though in practice you should at least double that to allow for sidestepping other pedestrians and getting lost a few times en route). The `official' distance from the Arc de Triomphe in the far west to the Bastille in the extreme East is the same. It is, remarkably, just over three miles from the Palais du Luxembourg in the south of the city to Sacre Coeur in the north. You can walk right across Paris in a day (though you might want to take a taxi back to your hotel if you do) and since those who control the city decided long ago to limit the number of skyscrapers to one (the Montparnasse tower) you can spot major landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur from just about anywhere in the city. If we lose our bearings we use these iconic landmarks to help us find out where we are and how to get where we want to be if that isn't where we are. If you see what we mean. The general lack of tall buildings casting unwanted, ugly shadows over the city also means that the famous Parisian light is still one of the city's best features.
For years one of our favourite pastimes in Paris has been to walk aimlessly, following only our inclinations and the sight of an interesting piece of architecture, a curious courtyard, an enticing park or a fascinating view. We walk until we manage to lose ourselves, strolling along boulevards and alleyways and through parks galore and then find our way back home without using the metro, a taxi or a map.
There are, incidentally, plenty of old-fashioned shoe repairers in Paris. Just keep an eye open as you walk around near your hotel and you'll probably soon find one. Alternatively, just ask at the hotel reception.
If you walk around Paris you will discover and see all sorts of things that are lost to those who travel everywhere by bus or taxi. The French even have a word for a person who wanders through Paris. They call him a flaneur - someone who strolls, saunters, or wanders the streets at random - looking for experiences rather than knowledge.
NOTE
Taken from `Secrets of Paris’ by Vernon Coleman
Secrets of Paris by Vernon Coleman is available through the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com To buy a copy CLICK HERE
Copyright Vernon Coleman March 2025
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