The Shopping Scene

For bargain cosmetics, try out French dime-store and drugstore brands like Bourjois (made in the Chanel factories), Lierac and Galenic. Vichy, famous for its water, has a skin-care and makeup line. The newest retail trend in Paris is the parapharmacie, a type of discount drugstore loaded with inexpensive brands, health cures, beauty regimes, and diet plans. These usually offer a 20% discount.

Foodstuffs – Nothing makes a better souvenir than a product of France brought home to savour later. Supermarkets are located in tourist neighbourhoods; stock up on coffee, designer chocolates, mustards (try Maille or Meaux brand), and perhaps American products in French packages for the kids.

Fun Fashion – Sure you can buy couture or prêt-à-porter (ready to wear), but French teens and trendsetters have their own stores where the latest looks are affordable. Even the dime stores in Paris sell designer copies. In the stalls in front of the department stores on boulevard Haussmann, you'll find some of the latest accessories, guaranteed for a week's worth of small talk once you get home.

Business Hours

Usual shop hours are Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm, but hours vary, and Monday mornings don't run at full throttle. Small shops sometimes close for a 2-hour lunch break and may not open at all until after lunch on Monday. Thursday is the best day for late-night shopping, with stores open to 9 or 10pm.

Sunday shopping is limited to tourist areas and flea markets, though there's growing demand for full-scale Sunday hours. The department stores are now open on the five Sundays before Christmas. The Carrousel du Louvre, a mall adjacent to the Louvre, is hopping on Sunday but closed on Monday. The tourist shops lining rue de Rivoli across from the Louvre are open on Sunday, as are the antiques villages, flea markets, and specialty events. Several food markets enliven the streets on Sunday. The Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées, a big teen hangout, pays a fine to stay open on Sunday.

Popular Shopping Neighbourhoods

1st & 8th Arrondissements – These two arrondissements adjoin each other and form the heart of Paris's best Right Bank shopping strip – they're one big hunting ground. This area includes the rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, where the big designer houses are, and the Champs-Elysées, with hot mass-market and teen scenes. At one end of the 1st is the Palais Royal, one of the best shopping secrets in Paris, where an arcade of boutiques flanks each side of the garden of the former palace.