If you are a shopaholic, Paris is the right place for you as it is one of the world’s premier shopping cities filled with every imaginable style and fashion. This fashion trendy city is home to several international fashion icons such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Hermes, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. Even people who are not interested in shopping tend to find something that they would like to buy from the many shopping venues in Paris that include exclusive designer stores, department stores, flea markets and open air markets among others.
High end exclusive stores are located along places such as the Avenue Montaigne, the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the Rue des Saints-Pères and Rue Etienne Marcel where glamorous designer stores like Versace, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent can be found.
The city is also home to many glitzy shopping malls. Two of the most famous ones include the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette which are situated side-by-side on the Boulevard Haussmann. These malls carry both designer and private label merchandise, and attract streams of local as well as international shoppers. Another popular choice preferred by tourists among the city’s many malls includes the Le Bon Marché department store which is famous for its trendy shopping and delicious food.
Shopping in this dream city would not be complete without making a stop at the flea markets which offers a very French based experience of the city. Lying at the base of the old city gates are 3 main flea markets where you most definitely will be able to purchase some treasures amid the heap of merchandise sold here. The markets lie close to the old gates of the city. The most renowned flea market is the Saint Ouen flea market.
Champs- Elysées, a former shopping haven still consists of a few good stops for shoppers to make. The Guerlain Parfumerie with its elegant setting, the neo classical Virgin mega store for recorded music and the Les Halles shopping center are all found here. Bookworms should visit the row of book stalls that are lined up near the Seine River to find a good read.
The Millennium Hotel Paris Opera, amid the many hotels in Paris, is a comfortable and elegant base from which to explore this fashionable city with its world class shopping venues and is a preferred choice among many travellers.