Ah, the Parisian Grands Magasins, celebrated shopping institutions that seem to fend off a savage online competition! Their classic architecture, smart fashions, and enticing windows make them (almost) as popular as Mona Lisa with visitors of the capital.
My mother loved shoes and was partial to the Galeries Lafayette. Dad favored the BHV because of its superior offering in the bricolage department. Me? I gravitate toward Le Bon Marché. Il en faut pour tous les goûts.
Le Bon Marché is located near Sèvres-Babylone, on the Left Bank. Established in 1852, it was the very first department store in the world and inspired Emile Zola to write his novel Au Bonheur des Dames. It’s the smallest and, in my mind, the quietest of the four main department stores in Paris. Occupational hazard always led me to La Grande Epicerie, their excellent gourmet store located on the west side of rue du Bac: if they displayed a brand I already carried, it validated the selection I had included in the Joie de Vivre catalog.
I’m also a big fan of their windows. They remind me of shadowboxes. Quite small compared to the floor to ceiling vitrines at Le Printemps or GL, they force the merchandisers to tell a simple story: stylish, humorous, playful. But what I really, really love is the natural light that bathes the main floor: a large atrium topped by a splendid glass and steel verrière, flanked by elegant white escalators. It’s a fantastic space for bold art exhibits, like this poetic cloud of kites that I captured on film while riding one of the escalators. Who said that commerce and culture can’t mix?
Vocabulary
Le grand magasin: department store
Le bricolage: home improvement
Il en faut pour tous les goûts: to each his own
La vitrine: window display
La verrière: glass roof