Paris is universally recognized as the fashion capital of the planet. So many design stories started here, that it is but natural that the city was given this title. The fashionable Avenue Montaigne is brimming with shops of all kinds, including chic boutiques of exclusively produced branded outfits, designer shops, huge department stores, shopping mallas and flea markets where you can buy exclusive things for a song. For the ultimate shopping experience in Paris be sure to browse around the legendary Champs Elisees area of the city. Stunning evening gowns by Dior, stylish Chanel tweed wear, daring and extravagant Christian Loubotin, posh Louis Vuitton, chic and dramatic Christian Lacroix and classic and feminine Chloe are all there for you in vibrant and comfortable trading outlets of Champs Elisees. Some of the Italian and American designers like Calvin Clein, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and others can also be shopped for in Paris. And, of course, every woman knows that in Paris there is a luxurious and unique Sephora shop, an exclusive place for the famous and rich to choose scents and cosmetics.
Hip and trendy stores of the Marais area will hold you entranced for hours of delightful shopping. In this area shoppers can find an all en-vogue designer store by a talented Japanese couturier Issey Miyake located in Place des Vosges. Another shop in this area worth dropping in is an all-exclusive shop by Liza called Costumiseé Par Liza on Rue Charlot. Here they sell inimitable fare every piece of which has an air of a costume.
Where else on earth can you go for a department store whose history dates back to the late XIX century? In Paris you can shop in two department stores of this kind, those being Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette both of which are located on Boulevard Haussmann of the Opéra district. Au Printemps first opened its doors in 1864 while the first shoppers attended Galeries Lafayette in 1894. Ever since that time the two stores have been extremely popular among both tourists and natives. Here you can find an outfit for either an evening party or a casual piece of clothing at the prices that range from unaffordably expensive designers' bids to more reasonable figures for ordinary shoppers. Both Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette are built in originally Parisian style of the Third French Republic style with ornate facades and domes topping the magnificent buildings.
A shopping area in Paris with an indigenous Parisian bohemian slant is situated on the Left Bank of the Seine. Here you can utterly shop till you drop, as this area is brimming with small shopping outlets, stalls and flea markets arranged alongside the river. An internationally famous students' district of Pairs that goes by the name of the Latin Quarter is full of exciting shopping opportunities and by no means the best place to run across the best bargain for quality stuff. In a close neighbourhood of the Latin Quarter there is the oldest street market area in the city known as Rue Mouffetard. Here tourists can feel the very fragrance of Paris lifestyle vibrant and ever changing, cosmopolitan and yet truly Parisian with the multitude of food stalls scattered alongside narrow winding streets. This area is full of great options for book worms. Find the diversity of books ranging from banal comics to rare issues of classics.
Great news for those who are looking for something special to bring from the trip to Paris - a vast choice of antiquities is there for you for diverse prices at Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen in the neighbourhood of the Porte de Clignancourt. Keep in mind that the place is closed at workdays except Monday. On Monday, Sunday and Saturday the place is humming with hundreds of tourists. In fact, Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen consists of more than a dozen smaller market areas with the oldest market called Marché Malik where you can find precious vintage clothes, bijouterie, artworks and old furniture pieces. |
