Famous Boutiques Near La Madeleine & Place Vendôme

Paris as you can well imagine, is full of the most famous haut couturiers,  jewelers, and houses of gastronomy. The vast majority of them have their maisons meres, or home houses in this distinctive and luxurious district.

I was in pursuit to see their holiday windows decor, thinking they would be as glorious as their names.  I guess all in all, I  was expecting too much, because with a few exceptions, they lacked the grandeur I was looking for.

Maybe , when you are in the big wings of high fashion, or renown jewelers/watch makers, holiday windows are deemed somewhat superfluous and maybe even distracting from the revered name of the house.

I wasn’t the only one wanting to see the rich and famous designers who have made their mark on the world.  Loads of foreign tourists could be heard on Faubourg Saint Honoré, where most designers have at least one boutique and around Place Vendôme where the glorious jewelers and watch makers shine.

Faubourg Saint Honore is a long narrow street that starts east of Rue Royal, which has the majority of  world acclaimed  designers.  It also is where you will find the entrances to the Embassies of the United States, United Kingdom and further down the Élysée Palais of the French president.

Rue Royale starts at the top of Place de la Concord and goes straight to the massive steps of the magnificent Madeleine church.   The best view is from the top of the steps of the church as seen in the photo.

It was Napoleon I who built the Madeleine in the neo classical style that he admired.  At that time it was designed it to be a Masonic Temple , and it wasn’t till 1845 that the building was consecrated a church.

The streets that line all sides of the church, with the exception of Baccarat Crystal, are literally loaded with various bastions of gastronomy that are a must for any one like me, who can’t resist going in to at least take a look!

Before I moved here and knew where to get better prices, it was de rigueur that I stopped at Fauchon to load up with cheeses, and all sorts of goodies the day before leaving.  Though definitely not the best prices, is was an easy all in one stop for last minute haves to take home.

Standing near the magnificent church of the Magdalene taking photos, I was approached by some Russians wanting to know where is the street with all the famous designers.  On the east side of Rue Royal is Rue Saint Honoré, that becomes Faubourg Saint Honoré on the western side, so It can be confusing.

The church was exquisitely illuminated with red lightning than slowly changed to blue that brought out even more her splendour.  By the way, on the east side of the church remains the loveliest and genteel public toilets of Paris designed in Belle Époque.

Underneath the church is a wonderfully inexpensive restaurant open for lunch only. The honest and simple fare is served though under softly lit vaulted arches that has an unusual but warm ambiance.

I arrived late in the afternoon and stayed till evening in order to see the lights that I so love about Paris. So let me take you there on my little window shopping journey that the French laughingly describe as licking windows ; “lèche vitrine”.

Givenchy on Faubourg Saint Honoré had several indoor  Christmas trees decorated with a myriad of colourful butterflies.

Dior near the Madeleine also made some effort to brighten up their windows with Christmas baubles.

Cartier decorations on both Saint Honoré and Place Vendôme had  only little red bowed boxes, but again a whole array of lovely necklaces  rings, pendants ect, as you might imagine.   I wonder though, who would want to wear their panther?

 

 

Chanel has four boutiques in the area, one of which is the original on Rue Cambon.    The Saint Honoré one looked like the most unadorned, though their mannequins sitting in their windows had very pretty fashions!.  Who knows, maybe Coco Chanel never wanted her boutiques to window dress for the different holidays,  as to never distract from her exquisite apparel.

Hermes, started by a saddler Thierry Hermes,  has been in business since 1837 .  Their very large boutique on Faubourg Saint Honoré, had multiple windows, all looking very understated with few if any decorations.

Caron perfumes at the far end of the street  had a  holiday spirit.  You will not see Yves Saint Laurent, because his Faubourg Saint Honoré boutique was under renovation, leaving the only other one in front of Saint Sulpice.

Rue Royale remains one of the prettiest sights because of views Place Concord and the Madeleine church at the other end.  Here you will find the most once sought after restaurant Maxine’s, that has a cute boutique next door.   Christophe silver is here too with their stately display and Lalique crystal  with an absolutely divine vase of sculpted nudes.

Saint Louis crystal  makes some of the most beautiful and sumptuous crystal, and chandeliers in the world, but I thought their boutique windows were rather whimsical and amusing, especially displaying a beautiful carafe surprising holding several paintbrushes!

Baccarat crystal across from the church had a wonderful display of their ruby red crystal butterflies dangling on a tree and their lovely stemware and expensive crystal pendants in others.

Place Vendôme is always spectacular at night and even more so encircled with shining Christmas trees. The Vendôme column was for some strange reason covered up, with a photo of it and publicity on the other sides.

Most obvious besides all the famous name jewelers and watch makers were the multiple outdoor guards that constantly were scrutinising passersby and passing cars.   These in addition to the indoor guards have been in place since several recent  very costly heists occurred here.

 

Bulgari windows had soft purple decor to highlight the absolutely exquisite purple amethyst necklace seen in the photo, that could be had for a mere 63,000 euros.

Another utterly expensive treasure that could be found on the western side of the Madeleine church were a few smokey mounds of eatable black gold.  Whole fresh black truffles looking so  innocently displayed next to  foie gras were selling for a unbelievable sum of only 2490 euros a kilogram at the Maison de Truffles.!

Hediard on the same side had flashy white palms in front.  Fauchon on the opposite side was adorned with purple lights and as usual displays of  luscious pastries and inside their fantasy land of gastronomic delights.

One of my favourite pastry/tea salon is Laduré is on Rue Royale and last but not least is the adorable old Maille mustard store where they will pump up various flavours of their fresh mustard for you.

I can admire the tremendous beauty of those magnificent jewels, but I only wear sentimental or religious jewelry.   Hermes scarfs are a small affordable luxury,  but can’t fathom paying thousands of euros for a piece of clothing.  On the other hand, I love fine crystal and silver, but after breaking two Baccarat and one Saint Louis wine glass that I was using daily, I am reluctant to use them, except for special meals.

I do frequent the  Maille shop because I love the fresh mustard, and yes,  steal more pastry ideas from Fauchon than buy from them.  Truffles shavings work just fine for me and even a few are reserved for very occasional special dishes.

I returned home without  buying anything, but without feeling at all empty handed.   For me windowing shopping is fun enough, but most of all, I walked away dazzled by all the resplendent beauty and the glorious lights of Noël in Paris!