book review: "chic shopping paris"

I hope no one is tiring of my seemingly endless posts relating to Paris and France. I can't help it; I am smitten.

Today I'll review a wonderful book I picked up at the Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City. They had a table full of cookbooks and travel books on sale. You can imagine how long I toiled over this table. So many books to choose from! I picked up this great little book called Chic Shopping Paris.


The book features the author's bonnes addresses (a personal list of one's favorite shops) arranged by Parisian arrondissement. Paris is arranged into 20 neighborhoods, or arrondissements. Each has its own unique culture and shopping. For example, the 4th arrondissement is home to the Marais district, with a lively gay culture and the center of Paris's Jewish community. the 18th arrondissement, my favorite, is where Montmartre is located and known as the artists district.

This book contains lively descriptions and beautiful photographs, highlighting some of Paris's greatest shops. Each shop featured lists an address, nearest metro stop, phone number, hours, and website (if available). The book was published in 2008, so it may be somewhat outdated, but it makes a great coffee table book if nothing else. It's a handy size, easy to pack in a suitcase and carry in a purse. There is also an index in the back listing shops by type, making it convenient to find whatever you're looking for. Since it is a bit outdated, I would recommend looking the shops up online before visiting them.

While skimming Chic Shopping, I really noticed how specialized shopping can be in Paris. Astier de Villatte sells only rustic, white dinnerware. Causse sells only handmade gloves. Laguiole sells knives. La Petite Robe Noire focuses on "the little black dress". Alexandra Soifer is a store that sells only umbrellas. Cire Trudon is a candle shop that was once the royal purveyor of candles for Louis XVII. I could go on and on. Shop owners often pick one thing they do well and stick to it. It's an idea so far removed from the big box stores and concrete shopping malls that are part of the American culture. It feels distinctly European.

This book has reawakened my desire to go back to France. I recommend it to any lover of France, anyone traveling to Paris and anxious to shop, or those who are just addicted to shopping.

I just had to add some photos of the inside of the book to highlight the beautiful photography.

A two-page photo of the little black dress shop.

A children's shop.

And here's an example of the information provided for each shop.

some favorite vacation photos

I love these mermaid fountains at the Place de la Concorde. The spot is infamous for being the place where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were guillotined.

This is my favorite photo from my trip to Paris. It's from the gardens of the Musee Rodin. The gold dome is the Invalides, where Napoleon is buried.

I got lost in Montmartre one day (not hard to do) and stumbled upon this. It is Paris's only vineyard.

My camera doesn't take very good nighttime photographs, but I loved how this one turned out. The Eiffel Tower is really an eyesore during the day, but the night changes everything.

The Notre Dame gives you many great photo opportunities. These are prayer candles inside the cathedral. They are everywhere and it makes the interior just as enchanting as the exterior.

What an amazing city.

If you are ever in Paris, taking the Notre Dame's gargoyle tour is a must. Yeah, the ancient, crumbling steps to the top really start to suck after awhile (there are over 400 of them), but once you get up there, it's so worth. You can see the whole city.

Every Thanksgiving my Dad takes us the Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and every year it continues to wow me. It's definitely something everyone should see in their lifetime.

The Sacre Coeur is my favorite landmark in Paris. Everything about Montmartre is wonderful...

Walking up those God awful steps to Montmartre. They may not look bad in this photo, but just get a glimpse of my face and you'll understand.

What's a vacation without taking cheesy tourist photos? This is at the Louvre in Paris.

I found this great fountain in an alley behind an art studio in Laguna Beach, CA.

I love food. This was a delicious peach melba at a quaint cafe in Montmartre. Yum.

Despite the fact that this is an incredibly creepy photo of myself, I like it. It's somewhere in the Belgian countryside at a farm where they produce honey and beeswax. It makes me look brave.