Shopping

This text is taken from the 1993 edition of the guide.

Paris shops have a unique style and tend to have a flair for presentation, so much so that some of the displays become works of art. Although a lot of attention is paid to clothes and fashion, any visitor should take time to experience and taste the delights of their food markets and shops. Food is especially well presented, decorated and packaged. The French have managed to maintain their local traders which have largely been lost in Britain due to pressure from the large department stores and supermarkets. Although this allows for a wonderful variety of stores, many with specialist products, Paris has a good number of department stores as well.

Although shopping enthusiasts will probably just want to let their spirits run free and a great deal will depend on where you are staying, we have listed a few areas where there are lots of shops close together. These are basically around:

The shopping itinerary outlined in the chapter on recommended itineraries in Access in Paris is centred on the second area, stretching from boulevard Haussmann to the Louvre end of the rue de Rivoli.

La Samaritaine, 75 rue de Rivoli (on the corner of rue du Pont Neuf), 75001. It spreads itself across intervening roads into four separate buildings. Some entrances have two or three steps, but all the buildings have unsigned flat or ramped entrances as well. Each building has large lifts which serve all floors. Samaritaine 4 can be reached by a first floor bridge across rue du Pont Neuf from Samaritaine 2, and vice-versa. Inside access is fairly good, although some areas are congested. There are ramps inside to get around most of the split levels. At the time of surveying, Samaritaine 3 appeared to have misplaced its wooden ramp, so part of it was +4.

Despite numerous attempts to convince us otherwise, we found a wheelchair loo (D100 ST100) on the first floor of Samaritaine 2. Because there's no signposting, and the staff we asked were unaware of its existence, we're describing its location in some detail. There are three red lifts in the centre of the building: one is long and narrow, whilst the other two are more typically square in shape. If you turn left out of the square ones on the first floor, go 10m then turn right, go another 10m then turn left, you should find a fire exit and stairwell. The wheelchair loo is on the right-hand side of the stairs, unmarked.

Au Printemps, 64 bd Haussmann, 75009. Tel: 01.42.82.50.00. This vast department store sells virtually everything, or so it seems. The only parking nearby is in the Galeries Lafayette underground car park with flat access via a large lift (D120 W140 L150), except from the first level down. There is a taxi or car dropping off point outside. Entrances are flat and there are eleven floors, of which ten are accessible by lift (D130 W170 L170). The top floor which includes the terrace and restaurant can only be reached by escalator. Most of the floors are tiled or carpeted, but the ground floor is marbled and can be quite slippery. Men's and women's loos (D53 no ST) exist on alternate floors. The roof restaurant with movable tables and chairs offers a panoramic view, but has access problems as mentioned earlier. In general the store is well laid out and signposted.

Galeries Lafayette, 40 bd Haussmann, 75009. Tel: 01.42.82.34.56. This is another big department store. An underground car park with lift (D120 W140 L150) has flat access except from the first level down. Note that there are ten underground levels of parking, so it's important to remember your floor and colour location. Because of its central location the car park is often crowded, but is probably less so during July and August. Entrances are flat and access inside is good with large lifts serving all nine floors. The sixth floor restaurant is accessible and there is a wheelchair loo (D85 ST120) opposite the restaurant entrance. Although it is by far the best department store in terms of access, signposting is not particularly good.