Shopping for Kids

Oh, my, I guess I should be exploring this a little before we get to Paris. Looking at the map around the toy store that Penny mentioned, Au Nain Bleu, I ran across a branch of the kids clothing store: Du Pareil au même or DPAM. Their website is in English but I think the company is French but the clothes seem relatively inexpensive so they are probably all imported. DPAM has three lines: DPAM kids, DPAM baby and DPAM shoes (sort of like a French Kids-, Toys- and Babies 'R Us) and they have many locations in Paris, one over by the big department stores and one up on rue St. Antoine. They even have books in French for kids. I better make sure I know Isabel's sizes!

And, oh golly, looking around for advice about kids' clothes in Paris led me to this website: Les Coulottes Courtes - essentially a guide and blog to children's fashion: what's up and coming and where to get it. For instance, you can check out the Junior Gautier collection for this summer.

Vingt Paris Magazine offers another list of clothing stores for kids: Kids Clothes for the Fashionistas.

I was walking in Shadyside today (2/15) and went into the small children's boutique called The Pickett Fence to browse. They have clothes from Deux par Deux and they are quite nice. Unfortunately it is a Quebec company and they don't have a boutique in Paris.

BHV (Bay Ash Vay)

Maybe this posting should have come before the Quincailleries since I'd heard about the BHV basement with all the do-it-yourself items a long time ago. But I had to explain BHV to Fernando so I thought I'd explain it to my blog readers as well. Plus I got a new laptop computer that I have to get used to before the trip. (My, the type is SO small - do I dare change the resolution?)

In any case, BHV stands for the grand magasin (department store) called Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville. It is located next to the Hôtel de Ville, Paris' City Hall, and very near our apartment. It is famous for its basement which contains a hardware store and even a hardware-themed cafe. By the way, it is owned by the Groupe Galeries Lafayette which also owns the Galeries Lafayette department store and the Monoprix supermarkets.

Why would we want to go to a hardware store? Well, supposedly they have key chains with paris street signs on them. And I think they have other signs in French, like Chat Bizarre and beware of dog.

And they have Paris themed playing cards, if you need souvenirs for someone who plays bridge. They have the Cris de Paris, which apparently are cards with backs illustrating the ancient peddlers and hawkers in a Parisian street market who would cry out: "Herring! Pickled herring! Peaches! Turnips! Look at my berries, my fine wild berries!"

I learned about this from
Colleen's Paris: Made in Paris which also mentions a couple other stores we might want to visit (although they are on the left bank). One is La Tuile a Loup, with handicrafts from throughout France, and the other is Artisanat Monastique, with handicrafts from over 250 French monasteries.

Quincaillerie

I was out strolling in google maps in the vicinity of Crêperie Bretonne at 67, rue de Charonne in the 11th arrondissement (east of the Bastille) because it was one of David Lebovitz's favorite crêperies and I wanted to check out the neighborhood to see if we could come up with some sort of walk over there. In the street view I noticed a store with all sorts of nameplates and latches in the window and thought it might be worthwhile to visit some hardware stores (besides the basement in BHV) just to see what we couldn't live without. If you do a "search nearby" for "hardware" on a google map location, it will pull up a bunch of quincailleries (and no computer stores -- imagine that!). If you want to know how to pronounce that, go to Forvo and you can hear what it sounds like. If you want to get an idea of what sorts of treasures we could find in a French quincaillerie, check out this one: A la Providence Quincaillerie Leclercq, where there are all sorts of knobs and handles and hooks to choose from. TimeOut Paris even has an entry for it. And there's another one down the street: Le Jeune Freres, which specializes in decorative hardware for furniture and doors from the sixteenth century, just in case you have any of that hanging around.

I'm not the only one enthused by quincailleries. Paris Postcard has a posting: Why I love my quincaillerie.

The Riches of Paris

Did you think I was going to talk about the Louvre? Or the Musee d'Orsay? Not at all. The Riches of Paris by Maribeth Clemente is a shopping and touring guide to the finest shops and boutiques of Paris. Most of the shops are for fashionable clothing but there are a few others that might be interesting to visit if we walk past them. For instance, A La Mere de Famille which is a chocolate shop that children love and which has a location on the rue Montorgueiul. (And it is one of the few flash websites that works really well.) I'm afraid their chocolates are still awfully expensive (€37 for a 400 gram box) but we could lick the windows.

Then there is the caviste Lucien LeGrand Filles & Fils where they are supposed to have about 100 different corkscrews and there is a quaint parfumeur called Detaille. Listen to the description of this perfume: A few green touches, an armful of flowers, jasmine, Ylang Ylang, narcissus and orange flower, and in the background, the exquisite softness of vanilla and benzoin, the mystery of precious wood, sandalwood and patchouli. I can see why it costs €85 for 100ml but I'm afraid it's beyond my budget, and I don't care for patchouli. That's why I'm thinking that we'll be doing a lot of window shopping, like we did in San Francisco as children, and that my favorite store might be the Monoprix five and ten.

But The Riches of Paris also mentions two Provencal fabric stores on the left bank (6th arrondissement): Les Olivades at 95 rue de Seine and Souleiado at 78 rue de Seine. We've been so happy with the round table cloth that I got in Lausanne that I wouldn't mind getting another one. In France they call this fabric Indienne because the paisley design was originally from India. Souleiado also has dishware and clothes (the teapot is 70,00 € but maybe they'll have a sale). I wonder if any of these stores would have a terra cotta cicada.

Clemente also mentions that you can get the hand painted terra cotta santons from Provence for nativity scenes in stores around Saint Sulpice, specifically G. Thuillier (10 Place Saint Sulpice) and Au Service de la Liturgie (8 rue Madame). I don't imagine we can afford any but they would be nice to look at. Yes, I know it sounds like I should be going to Provence and not Paris.

Clemente mentions another parfumeur in the Latin Quarter: L'Artisan Parfumeur that sells handcrafted terra cotta balls filled with aromatic vegetable ambergris (not quite sure what that would be). Again something interesting to look at but unaffordable ($90). I wonder if we can go into the store and sample the perfumes like in an american department store. Probably not.

E. Dehillerin and G. Detou

I did a previous post on the professional kitchenware store E. Dehillerin near the old Les Halles market site but now I'm reading The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz (which, by the way, is available in a Kindle edition) and he doesn't have such a positive view of the store. He thinks you'll end up buying things you won't ever use and recommends instead going to G. Detou (J'ai de tout) across the street on rue Etienne Marcel. You'll use everything at G. Detou because it is all edible, and it seems to have a lot of chocolate, candied fruits and Russian teas.

Here's his posting from 2007 on G. Detou in Paris, in which he describes all the lovely mustards (in a pail), sardines, hand-peeled fruits, honeys, sugars, cake decorations (the silver kind), spices. If that isn't enough information, here is a posting from Clotilde Dusoulier: The Magic Baker's Store. It's really too bad that I'm not much of a baker, but there's always the chance that this store will encourage me to change. On the other hand, maybe they can just recommend a nearby patisserie...

Only it appears that the store is really on rue Tiquetonne (what a lovely name). We might have to make a day of the old Les Halles neighborhood -- but didn't we initially want to stay on Rue Montorgueiul anyway? (And we can always sit Fernando down in a park with a can of sardines.)

Paris Souvenirs

Here are a few sites that can give us ideas so we'll have our eyes peeled for unique souvenirs.

Paris Escapes: Eight souvenirs under 20 euros
We don't want to forget to bring some gifts home. Besides the scarves ("Inside the Galleries Lafayette browse and determine what the styles/colors of the season are, then step outside and purchase a similar item from the vendors on the sidewalk.") and eiffel tower replicas they recommend café-ware from La Vaissellerie.

BootsNAll: Unique and Affordable Paris Souvenirs
They suggest 1-2 Euro canvas shopping bags from the boucherie. But do you think Fernando will let us pass up the pigs' snouts? Also Monoprix supermarket products and postcards from the Bouquinistes along the Seine (which might only be open on the weekends).

Girls Guide to Paris: Top 20 or More Items to Bring Back
These are premium items like Macaroons from Pierre Hermé and or Ladurée. But we do need to get a little beret for Isabel, although probably not a copper pot for Camila and Will...

WhyGo Paris: Finding Non-Touristy Souvenirs: Paris Travel Tip #14
"Find non-touristy souvenirs at Monoprix. Monoprix is Paris’s inexpensive grocery/department store where you can find such items as reasonably priced lingerie, clothes for kids, dish towels and some houseware/kitchen products – without breaking the piggy bank."

WhyGo Paris: Super Chic Paris Souvenirs for 20 Euros or Less!
Although I prefer the 5 euros or less category, here are some ideas for the chic people in our lives, like Laina and Camila. And they suggest the BHV for table linens.

French Souvenirs: Ideas for gifts and mementos
Cookware, food, knives from all over France.

HiP Paris Blog: Paris Souvenirs: What You Shouldn’t Leave France Without
Again this covers France in general but refers to her own experience in Paris which includes food and nivea cream, but also links to a posting on La Vaissellerie: Kitschy French Kitchen Supplies.

Shopping

I'm browsing through Patricia Well's 1999 edition of The Food Lover's Guide to Paris, trying to verify whether the establishments she lists are still in business. One, Flo Prestige, a carry-out food shop, has apparently been absorbed recently by Fauchon, but many of the other ones still exist and even have websites (Cafe Verlet, Hediard). Most of the specialty food shops sound only like look-see locations and I think her guide is written for tourists in hotels since she doesn't have separate chapters for boucheries, triperies and charcuteries but only "prepared foods to go." Accommodations really must have changed in the last decade since one runs across SO many Paris apartments for rent now.

One of the more interesting places she mentions, Tantifla, a poissonnerie/epicierie Provencale, I cannot find. It was at 7 Rue Bretagne so I went to Google Map's street view and browsed the street, unsuccessfully. This is near the Marche des Enfants Rouges. You too should browse Google's street view of rue Bretagne just to see how quickly winter turns to spring in Paris!

In my verification process I also ran across EuroCheapo's blog posting on Paris: 6 favorite museum gift shops (with cheapo tips), in case we want a Parisian sailor outfit or a Rodin snow globe.

And Eurocheapo also has a recent introductory article on supermarkets: A guide to supermarkets in Paris (9/21/2010). Two of the supermarket chains that the 1999 edition of Lonely Planet listed are no longer in business. But EuroCheapo also has an article on when not to be cheap: 12 things worth splurging on in Paris.

E. Dehillerin

Fernando will bug me forever about getting new knives so maybe I should get them at E. Dehillerin in Paris. Then I MUST remember to check my luggage through and not carry it on and NOT to put the knives in my backpack... (Although I hear from Paris Breakfast that they do not carry German knives...Only Sabatier)

Clotilde Dusoulier talks about this professional kitchenware store in her blog Chocolate & Zucchini. She bought some knives there and she says: "I liked that the ones the sales guy recommended were really affordable, so I went for these. My oh my, I had read that good knives change your life, but had not realized how much!" Am I ready for a life change? There are also a lot of comments on that blog posting, including one that said: "What you didn't mention is that they are most gracious and helpful. I shopped and one of the employees kept the kids occupied."

If the clerks are willing to babysit, then maybe they won't chase out three third age Americans who are just browsing! And maybe we can pick up that Mandoline for Camila finally!

Clotilde also lists 3 other kitchenware stores that are in the area on rue Montmartre:
A. Simon (48 rue Montmartre, 75002 Paris)
La Bovida (36 rue Montmartre, 75001 Paris)
Mora (13 rue Montmartre, 75001 Paris) - David Lebovitz says that Mora is a must for pastry chefs and bakers visiting Paris.
E. Dehillerin is at 18 rue Coquillère, 75001 Paris.

Look at all the Arôme concentrés you can get at Mora! I wonder what "barbe à papa" is. Aha! it is "cotton candy", literally "father's beard", and according to wikipedia, Barbapapa is a character in a series of French children's books of the 1970s: "Barbapapa himself is a generally pear-shaped, pink shapeshifting blob-like creature who stumbles upon the human world and tries to fit in." Well, that's one flavor I won't easily forget.


Wait! Wait! I'm not done with this post yet. Paris Breakfast finally told me how to pronounce Dehillerin: Day-ler-ran. I hope she's right.