Paris's Covered Arcades

Paris's Covered Arcades

Before there were the grands magasins, there were the passages couverts, covered arcades that offered the early-19th-century Parisian shopper a little bit of heaven: a hodgepodge of shops under one roof, and a respite from the mud and grit of streets that did not have sidewalks. They would later be called the world's first shopping malls and for several decades, until the rise of the department stores in the latter part of the century, they would rule as the top places to wander, as well as shop. Technical and architectural wonders of the time, the vaulting iron and frosted glass structures inspired artists and writers such as Emile Zola.

Of the 150 arcades built around Paris in the early 1800s, only about a dozen are still in business today, if just barely, and mostly in the 2e and 9e arrondissements. Two arcades still going strong are the fabulously restored Galerie Vivienne (4 rue Petits Champs, 2e) and the Galerie Véro-Dodat (19 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1er), both lined with glamorous boutiques such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and shoe-maker-to-the-stars Christian Louboutin.

Three other modest passages that still charm, though their looks have faded, can be found end-to-end off the Grands Boulevards, east of Place de l'Opéra. Begin with the most refined, the Passage Jouffroy (10 bd. Montmartre, 9e), which contains the Musée Grevin and a selection of shops and bistros, as well as the well-regarded budget Hotel Chopin at No. 46. Pop out at the northern end of Passage Jouffroy and cross the Rue de la Grange-Batelière into the Passage Verdeau (9e), where you can browse old glamour shots of Paris and New York at Photo Verdeau at No. 16, or pick up some antique candlesticks—or a cow skull—at the quirky red-walled Valence gallery at No. 22. On the southern end of the Passage Jouffroy, across Boulevard Montmartre, is the Passage des Panoramas (2e). The granddaddy of the arcades, built in 1800, it was the first public space in Paris equipped with gaslights in 1817. Though the vacant storefronts betray a sad modern history, master engraver Stern is still going after 174 years at No. 47. The ornate invitations in the windows offer a glimpse of what aristocratic life was like back when a weekend stroll through the passages was de rigueur.