Trip 49

January 24, 2025

The light drizzle continued today and still somewhat windy , making it a bit of a dreary day. We haven’t done any real shopping in Paris as yet, so today is the day.

On the way to Polène, we noticed a shopping arcade (Passage) we’d not seen before Passage de Choiseul. We’ve been through a few other passages in Paris; all unique.

The passage was built between 1826 and 1827 and it’s a mixture of small restaurants, clothing stores, a stationary store. The ground floor is mainly retail and the upper floors are primarily residential. It is the longest covered passage in the city, at 190 meters long.

From here, we walked to the shop Polène, a fashion handbag designer. Unlike some of the other high end retailers, Polène is still handmade (Spain), while a better known retailer , Louis Vuitton, may not be (or completely so). For these prices, buyers want the quality vs mass production. There’s a line for entry and it’s not a large shop, which is nice since you get more individualized attention.

The shop is across from the National Library and a small park (Square Louvois).

Two contiguous mansions once stood on this site, one of which belonged to François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois. In 1793, a theater replaced them and was bought by the state in 1795 and became the first theater to have seats for spectators! In 1820, the assassination of the Duke of Berry, in front of the theater, led to its closure, then its destruction. In 1836, a first square was built, The fountain, by Louis Visconti, was erected in 1844. It was decorated with sculptures symbolizing the Seine, the Loire, the Saône and the Garonne, works by Jean-Baptiste-jules Klagmann (1810-1867).

After making our purchases, we had a late lunch before heading towards the Mothership (Hermès, 24 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré) , first stopping behind the Opéra Garnier to buy tickets for the Roissybus (13€ each) , loading them onto our Navigo.

This is a beautiful shopping passage with high end retailers. They always have beautiful, tasteful seasonal decorations. Just outside of the passage was a pop up boutique for Lalique, whose main store on rue Royale (running between the Place de la Concorde and the Place de la Madeleine) is being renovated.

Hermés is just out to the left from the exit from Le Village Royal. The store was busy as usual despite the weather.

We stopped for a macaron at LaDurée on rue Royale before heading back to the hotel.