IMG_9589“Le Bon Marché” (= “The good deal”) is a department store located on the Left bank in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.

 

Actually, a huge luxury department store. Very upscale. Very pleasant to wander through. Grand and elegant. High-end products… with the matching prices. 

Fashion, beauty, a food hall…, several restaurants, cafes and tearooms, VIP services (Personal stylists, valet parking)…

Marguerite et Aristide Boucicaut

Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut

A little History : It’s the  oldest Paris department store It was  founded by Aristide Boucicaut, in 1852. It sells a wide range of high-end goods and has a food department called “La grande Epicerie”. It was enlarged in 1872 with help from the firm of Gustave Eiffel, creator of the Eiffel Tower (for part of its internal structure made of cast iron).

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Andrée Putman

The central escalators were designed by Andrée Putman (1925-1973 – French interior and product designer – (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrée_Putman). It has an Art deco glass ceiling and a beautiful balustrade.

Le Bon Marché is divided into 2 parts : a building with fashion, beauty…etc and La Grande Epicerie (the food and all what’s linked to the home)

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Scarves in Le Bon Marché

Fashion, beauty…etc

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Le Bon Marché

  • Ground Floor :
    • Small boutiques selling the most prestigious brands : LV, Dior, Chanel…
    • Fashion accessories : scarves, jewelry, hats, bags, gloves, watches
    • Beauty department : make-up, perfumes, 
  • Lower ground-floor : the Men’s department
  • 1st floor
    • fashion department (an excellent selection of well known designer labels : Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Roger Vivier, Claude Pierlot, Christian Dior, …)
    • an impressive lingerie department with the very best brands
  • 2nd floor :
    • fashionBeauty department
    • furniture department
  • 3rd floor :
    • Children’s department  : fashion, books, toys
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La Grande Epicerie

La Grande Epicerie (= Le Bon Marché’s food hall) A visual experience.

At the ground floor of La Grande Epicerie of Le Bon Marché : the freshest ingredients from the very best brands, a cave which is a must-see, a beautiful pastry counter, an amazing cheese counter, products from around the world : italian goods, American goods…, Lavender mustard, chestnuts in honey, more than 100 types of chocolate..

At the 1st floor : kitchen section, tableware, furniture collections…

 

 

Video : discover La Grande Epicerie

The restaurants and cafés of Le Bon Marché :

La Table : The new restaurant at the 1st floor of La Grande Epicerie (see below) – French cuisine – Du lundi au samedi, de 10h30 à 19h30. www.lebonmarche.com/media/pdf/carte_la-table_01-2015.pdf

Le Balthazar : 1st floor Mon-Sat 10.30am to 8pm

Sunless Howard : coffee shop – Mon-Sat 10am à 7pm

Rose Bakery tea room : a tea room – stay or take-away – 2nd floor – 10.30am to 6.30pm – 

Primo Piano : for a light lunch or a drink and/or a pastry. 2nd floor mon-frieday 10am to 7pm

Le Comptoir : light lunch Mon-friday 12am to 3pm

And 3 other places to have a meal…

IMG_6757Practical details : 

Address : 24, rue de Sèvres – Paris 7  www.lebonmarche.com 8.30am-9pm Mon-Sat

Metro stop : Sèvres Babylone – Line 10

Opening hours : 10am-8pm Mon-Tues-Wed-Sat // 10am-9pm Thurs-Fri

La Grande Epicerie (Le Bon Marché’s foodhall : www.lagrandeepicerie.fr, 8.30am-9pm Mon-Sat)

Reading : Emile Zola : “Au Bonheur des Dames” : the 11th novel in the Rougon-Macquart series : a novel about changes in society during the Second Empire and about the birth of modern retailing

 

 

My advice :

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  • Definitely, my favorite Paris department store
  • In my opinion, the most user-friendly, much less crowded compare to Les galeries Lafayette or Le Printemps. The atmosphere is much more relaxed. A luxurious experience. A nice and efficient service; the staff is very helpful. The products are displayed in a much more tasteful manner. And it’s in a very nice neighborhood (nearby Saint Germain des Prés) and right next to a metro station (Sèvres Babylone)
  • Worth the visit. Definitly the department store where I would go for shopping or browsing if  visiting Paris. A very pleasant experience even if you just look around and do not buy anything.Though, I would still go to Les Galeries Lafayette for its beautiful Art Nouveau architecture and to Le Printemps for its terrace and its view over Paris. 
  • Don’t forget to bring your passport in order to have tax-free/duty-free shopping.
  • Don’t miss the food hall. Street entrance. Amazing. 

 

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Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel adjusts the armhole of a model's dress with an assistant. ---1961 Paris

Coco Chanel adjusts the armhole of a model’s dress with an assistant. —1961 Paris

As Chanel once said : “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise, it is not luxury.”

N°5 ChanelAhead of her time :

The first designer to create élégant and comfortable clothes for women. She innovated by the use of jersey fabric. She worked until her death in 1971 at the age of 88. She is still influencing women’s lifestyles and clothing.

She created : 

Sophisticated outfits paired with great accessories, such as several strands of pearls

Her little black dress

The legendary Chanel suit,with collarless jacket and well-fitted skirt. Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly fell in love with her stylish cardigan suits.        

Her perfumes. In 1922, she launched Chanel n°5.

 

 

Chanel - Quote1

 

Coco Chanel in 1960

 

Her life 

Born Gabrielle Chanel in 1883, in the Loire Valley. Her mother died when she was 6 . Her father sent her to the orphanage of the Catholic monastery where she learned the trade of a seamstress. When she was 18, she took up work for a local tailor. In 1910, she opened her first shop (hats) « Chanel Modes » in Paris : 21 rue Cambon – Paris. In 1913 she opened a shop (hats) in Deauville, then in 1915, in Biarritz. In 1919, she opened a house of fashion in Paris

By the 1920’s, she opened her shop in Paris : 31 rue Cambon (near Place de la Concorde), which remains Chanel headquarters to this day.

She has lived (until her death in 1971) at the Ritz Hotel in Paris for over thirty years.

The best things

Chanel vs Dior - 1959

 

 

Would you like to visit Coco Chanel’s Paris apartment  ?  31, rue Cambon – Paris 1(Not opened to the public)

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Coco Chanel at her apartment

Coco Chanel at her apartment – 31 rue Cambon – Paris 1

She also lived 30 years in the Ritz Hotel until her death in 1971

Chanel at the Ritz

Coco Chanel at the Ritz

Some movies featuring Chanel:

Coco Chanel (2008) : a television movie starring Shirley MacLaine as a 70-year-old Chanel.

Coco before Chanel (2009) : French actress Audrey Tautou played the designer as a young woman.

Simplicity

If you enjoyed watching Coco Chanel working and her models on the cat walk, read more below

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