Can anyone name a few good stores in Paris for those of us who like to cook?

The area around metro station Etienne Marcel is full of cooking supply stores, though some may be more suitable for professionals (huge stainless vats, for example). Cullinarion is a lovely, small chain with very nice stuff. You might also check out Porcelaine Blanche (many locations) for cheap, cute cooking supplies and dishes. For food, the Bon Marche food store is gorgeous (as nice if not nicer and certainly less snooty than Fauchon and Hediard). There is a Maille mustard store in place de la Madeleine (yes, you can buy Maille in the US, but not all those funky flavors and not in such cute containers). Visit an outdoor market and look for the provencal olive/soap man (he tends to hit all the roving markets)for olives, blocks of Marseille soap, olive oil, herbs and herb grinders.

Patricia Wells has a book called Eat Well (I think thats the title, Amaz.com can check) listing all sorts of places for cooks in paris. Bon Appetite!

These are the ones I usually recommend <BR>BHV 52-64 rue de Rivoli, metro Hotel de Ville. Some fashion, excellent for hardware and <BR>household goods. <BR>Cookware: Dehillerin, 18 rue Coquillere, 1st, metro Etienne-Marcel <BR>Some say it's the best cookware supply house in the world. Will ship. <BR> <BR>A. Simon, 36 rue Etienne-Marcel, 2nd, metro E-M or Les Halles. Appliances, pottery, cutlery, metalware. <BR> <BR>Au Bon Marche 22 rue de Sevres metro Sevres-Babylone Excellent grocery dept, said to be the largest in Paris. <BR>Also, one of the covered shopping arcades Passage des Pavillons, 6 rue de Beaujolais, 1st, metro Palais Royal <BR>has shops with gourmet foods, as I recall. <BR>Monoprix (a chain of discount stores) also have very nice grocery departments. <BR> <BR>

francesca, I'll be the drooling American haunting the Metro station Etienne Marcel this September; stop by for a coffee. <BR> <BR>Bill, Dehillerin at 18 - 20, rue Coquillière - 51, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 1ere arr has great cooking stuff; I stumbled upon a Porcelaine Blanche after spending a whole day shopping and had to pass up all kinds of cool stuff (did buy a cute little butter dish, though). <BR> <BR>Galeries Lafayette also has an incredible food store; make sure you check out the housewares departments in any of the stores for all kinds of gadgets (like cool sieves), potholders, dish towels... <BR> <BR> <BR>