Paris is a wonderful city to stroll around. It’s full of gardens, monuments and beautiful unique stores. I love the galleries, boutiques, perfumeries, bookshops, antiques, bric-a-brac and, most of all, the really quirky shops in Paris.
Wandering aimlessly in a city the size of Paris can seem a bit daunting, so I created this self-guided walking tour centred on some of Paris’ more unusual and historic shops. The point isn’t so much to tick each one off the list, but to give a general direction to your wandering, knowing you’ll discover so much more along the way. Here are some of the most quirky shops in Paris; a self-guided walking tour taking in all of them is about 7km and takes about 1½ hours if you don’t stop. But the whole point is you will stop and make your own discoveries and detours along the way. Bon Chance!
Shakespeare & Company (5th arr.)
This English language bookshop in a 17th century warren of rooms near Notre Dame opened in 1951 and quickly became a centre for expat literary life, even offering accommodation to travelling writers on portable beds among the shelves. A ‘Kilometre Zero’-stamped book from here is a great souvenir.
E.Dehillerin (1st arr.)
Copperware fans will love this unassuming warehouse that’s supplied Parisian cooks with tools of the trade since the early 1800s. Alongside traditional cookware (and much lighter to pack) is an impressive array of silicon moulds, from pineapples and strawberries to pearls and flowers. Nearby Nelson Mandela Gardens are beautiful too.
Galerie Fayet (9th arr.)
The covered passages of Paris offer some unique shops, not least this beautiful one dedicated to walking canes in Passage Jouffroy. Silver, pewter, bronze, horn and exotic woods appear in all manner of creations atop antique and modern canes. There are beautiful umbrellas and parasols too.
Les Drapeaux de France (1st arr.)
With over 30,000 hand-painted tin soldiers from every historic period of France, this shop at the gateway to the beautiful Palais Royal is like an Aladdin’s cave. Beyond the military are cartoon characters and a lovely collection of handmade Steiff soft toys, from bears to wolves and kangaroos!
Le Cabinet de Porcelaine (7th arr.)
At first glance this looks like another tiny florist shop, then radishes, peas and chestnuts catch your eye and you realize everything is porcelain! Made by two artisans near Limoges in southwestern France who have revived this 18th century art, the flowers are more lifelike and the vegetables more whimsical. There are many antique shops nearby to explore too.
Updated 19 Dec 2024
