Paris is world-renowned for its perfume, wine, cheese, chocolate, haute couture, fine jewelry and antiques. But visitors should also be aware that the city offers some excellent, high-end crafts, including Limoges porcelain, Lalique crystal, enamel, handblown glass and cookware.

Opera & place Vendôme.
Department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps are almost side by side on the Bd Haussmann. Father east is the place des Victoires, bordered by XIXth century covered passages lined with boutiques selling clothes and accesories.
The Place Vendome is home to more fine jewelers, including Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Marais and Place des Vosges
On the right bank the Marais is the city's oldest existing neighborhood has a mix of boutiques offering the upscale, the kitschy and some brands. Most shops are open Sunday, particularly those on and around the rue des Francs Bourgeois.

St Germain des Prés
Shops with fashion, books and home design are located around St Germain des Prés Church and the left bank boulevard. Smaller boutiques are on the rue du Four, rue des Saint Pères and the streets surroundings St-Sulpice church.

Champs Elysees surroudings
Paris equivalent of New York Fifth Avenue, known as the golden triangle extends from the are around the avenue Montaigne to the rue Royale, rue du Fbg St Honoré.
For haute couture, head for the XIIIth district, particularly the avenue Montaigne (Dior, Ungaro, Nina Ricci) or the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore (Lanvin, Louis Ferraud, Hermes). Many shops on the XIIIth district's Rue Royale specialize in high-quality jewelry.


If at all possible, plan to spend at least half a day at Paris' famed markets. The Marche aux Puces (Flea Market) has more than 3,000 sidewalk stands and permanent stalls where, each weekend, tens of thousands of Parisians browse and buy.

More fascinating markets: the outdoor food markets held each week in every arrondissement, the flower markets on Ile de la Cite (among others) and the stalls of old books, prints and maps along both banks of the Seine. (Look especially on the Quai du Louvre and the Quai de la Megisserie on the Right Bank, and the Quai des Grands Augustins and Quai Malaquais on the Left Bank).