La Grande Épicerie
7TH ARR · Food Hall
The food hall attached to Le Bon Marché. Save room for the pastries — their bakery is excellent. Have a Saint-Honoré. The cheese counter and prepared foods are worth the detour.
Paris · An honest guide · April 2025, updated August 2026
Shopping
Shopping
The best shops are not on the Champs-Élysées. They are in the covered passages, the quiet streets of the Marais, and the arrondissements tourists have not yet discovered.
E. Dehillerin
1ST ARR · Kitchen Equipment
The professional kitchen shop supplying Paris chefs since 1820. Copper pots, carbon steel pans, equipment that will outlast everything else you buy in Paris.
Dover Street Market
1ST ARR · Fashion & Perfume
Rei Kawakubo's multi-brand concept store. The perfume store in a separate space is particularly worth visiting. The fragrance selection is unlike anything in a conventional boutique.
Mariage Frères
4TH ARR · Tea
French tea since 1854, and the best tea house in the world — competing with Fortnum & Mason in London and, honestly, winning. The Marais flagship on Rue du Bourg-Tibourg is the one to go to. Buy a tin of Marco Polo and one of whatever they're recommending that season.
Jacques Solovière
2ND ARR · Shoes
Handcrafted shoes made in France. The last is the most elegant available in Paris at this price point. The loafers are the thing to buy.
Debauves & Gallais
7TH ARR · Chocolate
The oldest chocolatier in Paris, supplying the French royal family since 1800. The pistoles — thin discs of flavored chocolate — are the reason to go. On the Rue des Saints-Pères.
Maître Parfumeur et Gantier
1ST ARR · Perfume
Ambre du Népal is the best candle in Paris. This is not a small claim. The house has been making gloves and perfume since 1988.
Charvet
1ST ARR · Shirts & Ties
Place Vendôme since 1838. The shirt maker that all other Paris shirt makers are measured against. The tie selection alone justifies the visit even if you buy nothing.
Cifonelli
8TH ARR · Bespoke Tailoring
One of the great bespoke tailoring houses in Paris. The Augusto Cifonelli shoulder is one of the most recognized details in European tailoring. By appointment.
Jovoy
1ST ARR · Niche Perfume
The best niche perfume shop in Paris. François Hénin's selection is extraordinary and his knowledge of the houses is genuine. Allow two hours.
Palais Royal Arcades
1ST ARR · Shopping Arcade
The arcades that wrap the Palais-Royal garden are still the best hour you can spend shopping in Paris. Didier Ludot has closed — a genuine loss — but what remains is serious: Rick Owens, Stella McCartney, Lemaire, Maison Kitsuné, Serge Lutens. Walk the full perimeter before buying anything. Then go back.
Barthélémy
7TH ARR · Cheese
The finest fromagerie on the Left Bank, supplying the Élysée Palace. The Saint-Nectaire and the Comté are the benchmarks.
L'Éclaireur
8TH ARR · Fashion
A multi-brand concept store that has been ahead of the curve in Paris retail for thirty years. The Champs-Élysées location has the best selection.
Puiforcat
8TH ARR · Silver & Tableware
The silversmith to the French court, operating since 1820. The tableware and flatware collections are among the finest produced in France. Avenue Matignon.
Épices Roelinger
2ND ARR · Spice Merchant
Chef Olivier Roelinger's spice shop on the Left Bank. The blends are specific, considered, and impossible to replicate at home without coming back here.
Chapal
8TH ARR · Leather & Aviation
The heritage leather brand that supplied the French Air Force. Aviator jackets, leather goods, and clothing with a genuinely specific point of view.
Dries Van Noten
7TH ARR · Fashion
The Belgian designer's Paris flagship, worth visiting for the space as much as the collection.
Husbands
2ND ARR · Menswear
A small menswear brand near the Palais-Royal making relaxed, considered clothes in good fabrics. The linen suits are the reason people find it.
Saint Laurent Babylone Bookstore
7TH ARR · Books
The Yves Saint Laurent Foundation bookstore near the museum. The design and fashion book selection is the finest in Paris.
Ex Libris
4TH ARR · Books
A bespoke bookplate atelier in the 7th that handcrafts personalised ex-libris — the small decorative stamps that mark a book as yours. Founded by Lauren and Igor to revive a 450-year-old tradition. Order one with your name or a custom design. The kind of Paris gift that requires no explanation.
Lemaire
3RD ARR · FASHION
The quiet French luxury house that does restraint better than anyone. The Rue de Poitiers store is small and worth the detour if you are serious about tailoring done without announcement.
L'Étrange
3RD ARR · CURIOSITIES
A curiosity shop near the Marais that sells antique perfume bottles, scientific instruments, and taxidermy. Buy nothing, look at everything, leave thinking about one thing the whole afternoon.
Rubirosa
1ST ARR · BARBERSHOP
The barbershop in the 1st that has been cutting hair properly since before proper haircuts became a trend. Book ahead.
Papier Royale
4TH ARR · STATIONERY
Handmade paper, marbled notebooks, and the particular pleasure of spending money on something entirely useless and completely beautiful. On the Île Saint-Louis.
Le Prince Jardinier
1ST ARR · GARDEN & LIFESTYLE
Garden tools, linen shirts, and the kind of horticultural aesthetic that makes you briefly want to move to the countryside. In the Palais Royal. Hard to leave empty-handed.
La Boutique at Hôtel Le Crillon
8TH ARR · IN-HOTEL SHOP
The in-hotel shop that does it right: small selection, excellent things, no pressure. The candles and the ceramics are the best arguments. Good for gifts that don't look like souvenirs.
Old Fashioned Club
6TH ARR · VINTAGE MENSWEAR
The vintage menswear dealer that sources properly. American workwear, military surplus, the occasional hunting jacket that is better than anything new. Worth going through the racks slowly.
Pouchard Paris
6TH ARR · LINEN
Table linen, bath linen, bed linen — all in weights and colours that the mass-market versions approximate and fail to replicate. Near Saint-Sulpice. The kind of shop that makes you think about your own house differently.
Mellerio
1ST ARR · JEWELLERY
The oldest jeweller in Paris, on the Rue de la Paix since 1613. Come to look, stay to learn something about the history of French jewellery. Not cheap, not trying to be anything other than what it is.