< Introducing Paris

Shopping

Family Guide
The stylish Galeries Lafayette department store
Paris is a delightful city in which to shop, with lots of independent stores in some of the loveliest parts of town. There are many to interest kids, including some charming, classic toy shops. Travel light – always the best option with kids – as you will find everything you need here, and leave some room in the suitcase for souvenirs, as even the kitschest Eiffel Tower will end up in pride of place on the children’s shelves and keep memories of the holiday alive.

Opening hours

Shops are usually open from 10am to 7pm Monday to Saturday. For Sunday shopping, try the Marais, the area around the Champs-Elysées, the Carrousel du Louvre and Bercy Village. The Monoprix on the Champs-Elysées is open until midnight Monday to Saturday. Sales take place in January and June.
Family Guide
Visitors inside the Carrousel du Louvre

Where to shop

The old wine warehouses of Bercy Village are a lively place to shop and eat, with lots of things going on for kids. For something chic, there are designer outlets for children around the Champs-Elysées, where there are also branches of the leading international chains. The wide pavements make it easy to negotiate with a pushchair. Montmartre and the Marais are full of quirky and interesting shops, and a pleasure to walk around. Rue Vavin and Rue Brea, near the Jardin du Luxembourg, is an enclave of children’s shops, while Les Passages are quaint, 19th-century covered arcades full of fascinating little shops and are great on a rainy day.

Art, craft and hobbies

With so many small, specialist shops, Paris is a treasure trove for children who have hobbies.
La Maison de l’Astronomie is packed with everything a stargazer needs, and also arranges field events. Nature et Découvertes is the shop for science and nature buffs with an endless supply of experimentation kits. It has a branch in the Carrousel du Louvre, and also organizes nature walks. La Maison du Cerf Volant near Bastille is the place for novelty kites.
Entrée des Fournisseurs, in the Marais, sells a selection of knitting kits and cute buttons. Near the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Esquisse has a huge range of art materials, while EOL, near the Louvre, is a model-maker’s paradise. Take young stamp collectors to the Marché des Timbres near the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées on Thursdays, weekends and public holidays.
Entrée des Fournisseurs 8 Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 75003
EOL 3 Rue du Louvre, 75001; 0143540143; www.eolmodelisme.com
Esquisse 3 Rue des Beaux-Arts, 75006; 0143260686; www.esquisseparis.fr
La Maison de l’Astronomie 33–35, Rue de Rivoli, 75004; 0142779955; www.maison-astronomie.com
La Maison du Cerf Volant 7 Rue de Prague, 75012; 0144680075; www.lamaisonducerfvolant.com

Books

There are lots of books about Paris for children, and many of the classic children’s characters such as Astérix, Babar, Madeline and Petit Nicolas have had adventures in Paris. The contents are widely available and make for great holiday bedtime reading.
Shakespeare and Company is a Paris institution with a great atmosphere, just across the Seine from Notre-Dame. It sells new and second-hand books, including children’s books, in English, in a medieval house with rickety staircases. Boulinier is a great place for browsing through a vast collection of comic books and has a few second-hand books in English.
W H Smith, near the Jardin des Tuileries, may be less characterful but it has the largest collection of English-language books for kids in Paris. Brentano’s, near Opéra Garnier, also has a good children’s selection. Chantelivre, near Le Bon Marché department store, is an excellent bookshop, with a vast array of children’s books in French. Oxybul Junior is devoted to children’s books and toys. It has branches in Bercy Village, near Rue Vavin and on Avenue Victor Hugo. They organize activities and story-tellings – in French – on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Brentano’s 37 Ave de l’Opéra, 75002; 0962625895
Chantelivre 13 Rue de Sèvres, 75006; 0145488790; www.chantelivre.com
W H Smith 248 Rue de Rivoli, 75001; 0144778899; www.whsmith.fr

Clothes and shoes

For chic Parisian kids there are many shops with unusual designs and classic clothes. Look for funky kids’ clothes in Monoprix and Du Pareil au Même. Several boutiques have children’s versions of adult clothes little girls can look just like their mummies at Maje, Antik Batik, Les Petites and Isabel Marant, all with branches in the Marais. Also in the Marais, Petit Pan has clothes with an Oriental touch, and workshops for budding designers. Designer outlets for kids include Baby Dior and Rykiel Enfant. There are more classic cuts at Tartine et chocolat, which has six shops in Paris, and Petit Bateau. For cheap chic try the Bonpoint Stock discount store near the Musée d’Orsay and, for classy shoes, Six Pieds Trois Pouces.
Antik Batik 26 Rue St-Sulpice, 75006; 0144076853; www.antikbatik.fr
Christian Dior/Baby Dior 26 Ave Montaigne, 75008; 0149520145; www.dior.com
Bonpoint Stock 67 Rue de l’Université, 75007; 0145556370; www.bonpoint.com
Du Pareil au Même 14 Rue St-Placide, 75006; 0145440440; www.dpam.com
Isabel Marant 47 Rue Saintonge, 75003; 0142781924; www.isabelmarant.tm.fr
Les Petites 41 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75004; 0144593654; www.lespetites.fr
Maje 2 Rue Scribe, 75009; 0140060378; www.maje.com
Petit Bateau 9 Rue du 29 Juillet, 75001; 0142962815; www.petit-bateau.com
Petit Pan 7 Rue de Prague, 75012; 0977081655; www.petitpan.com
Rykiel Enfant www.soniarykiel.com
Tartine et chocolat 266 Blvd St-Germain, 75007; 0145561045; www.tartine-et-chocolat.fr

Hairdressers

Finish off the look with a French hairdo. There are some fun stylists in town with plenty of distractions to keep little ones occupied. 1, 2, 3 Ciseaux is conveniently close to Parc Monceau, while Simon is in the little enclave of children’s shops in Rue Vavin. Bruno Lienard is in Le Bon Marché. There are also hairdressers in Village Joué Club and the Bonton concept store (also see Toys).
1, 2, 3 Ciseaux 10 Blvd de Courcelles, 75017; 0142120360; www.123ciseaux.com
Bruno Lienard 8 Rue de Commaille, 75007; 0145481010
Simon 16 Rue Vavin, 75006; 0153100812

Department stores

Paris has three department stores. The oldest is Le Bon Marché on the Left Bank, which has a reasonably good children’s clothes’ section and a kids’ craft area. Galeries Lafayette and Printemps sit next to each other just behind Opéra Garnier. Though pricey, they sell just about everything. They are not the easiest place to shop with kids but are worth a visit as they are 19th-century treasures. Printemps has a gorgeous roof terrace with lovely views across the city.
Family Guide
Outside Le Bon Marché department store

Games and DVDs

FNAC, with branches all over Paris, is the place to shop for anything to do with computers. The store on the Champs-Elysées sells only DVDs and computer games, but all branches have games, family and children’s DVDs, as well as PCs, laptops and their accessories.

Lifestyle stores

Not So Big is a concept store for children that sells clothes, toys and furniture. Bonpoint has turned an old mansion near the Jardin du Luxembourg into a magical children’s store complete with a tea room. Do not miss the quirky Antoine et Lili stores, or the stylish Colette near the Jardin des Tuileries. The striking Water Bar café is also here, and is a lovely place to relax after shopping.

Markets

There are some lovely trinkets to be found in Paris’s open-air markets. The lively Marché Edgar Quinet , by the Tour Montparnasse on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, has a good selection of handbags, jewellery and other items at pocket-money prices.
Paris is also famous for its flea markets. The largest, Marché aux Puces St-Ouen sells everything from T-shirts to rare and expensive antiques. The smaller Marché aux Puces de Vanves is more fun for children, and offers better bargains (see also Drinks for food markets).

Souvenirs

Paris abounds in quirky souvenirs and collectables that kids will find irresistible, from snow globes and fridge magnets to some highly imaginative memorabilia. How about an Eiffel Tower biscuit cutter? Or the famous monuments of Paris made out of pasta? And who can resist a light-up Eiffel Tower? The main monuments, galleries and museums have gift shops but prices are, unsurprisingly, slightly elevated at the Eiffel Tower. A great memento is a colouring book; look out for Je colorie Paris.

Toys

Probably the trendiest place in the city for children’s toys, as well as clothing and accessories, is Bonton, a concept store with a chic and contemporary range of playthings for newborns and kids up to the age of 12. Village Joué Club is Paris’s largest toy store, and more affordable. It has taken over the entire, glass-roofed colonnade of the Passage des Princes in the Boulevard des Italiens. Its birthday party selection is excellent. There are branches of the toy store La Grande Récré across Paris, including an outlet just off the Champs-Elysées. Paris has boutiques full of wooden toys, such as Arche de Noé on Ile St-Louis, while doll’s house fans will adore Pain d’Epices in Passage Jouffroy by the Musée Grévin. L’Ours du Marais sells only teddy bears.
Arche de Noé 70 Rue St-Louis-en-Ile, 75004; 0146346160
Bonton 122 Rue du Bac, 75007; 0142227769; www.bonton.fr
Village Joué Club 3–5 Blvd des Italiens, 75002; 0153454141; www.joueclub.fr

Supermarkets

Everyday shopping is simple and convenient in Paris. Although supermarkets in the city centre are smaller than their out-of-town cousins, it is possible to buy, at the very least, a range of good quality food and drinks, as well as toiletries and baby products. Larger stores also sell electrical goods, household items, and anything else you would expect. All the city’s branches of Monoprix have food halls and are an institution. Several supermarkets, notably Carrefour Market, are open late and on Sundays.
Carrefour Market www.carrefour.fr