Favorite Purchase in Paris
 

What is your favorite purchase you made in Paris? If you go to Paris often, what can you not leave the city without buying?

My favorite purchase was 2 prints of Paris that we bought along the Seine.

I have to say that my daughter bought bowling shoes there (2002) & has loved them. I know... not the thing I would have bought but she had searched for them in the US & they were not popular. She got a pair for $15 in Paris & has worn them like crazy. Of course, not long after she got home every store here started carrying them.

I think those colorful, artsy coaster sets (6 coasters total) are a fun and inexpensive gift to bring back to friends and family. I have bought them each time and 2 years ago they were 2 euros, this last week I found them for 4 euros (still a bargain!). They have Van Gogh paintings/designs, Monet, Toulouse-Latrec, and other art deco designs. They can be purchased from nearly any of the vendor stalls lined up and down alongside the Seine, or in the gift shops. Also, those cute little sequined coin-purse size purses are a darling little gift for a child or a teen. I found them nearly 1 1/2 years ago in both Italy and France, and have just recently seen them being sold in Macys and some of the other larger department stores on the west coast.

The vintage necklaces I have gotten at La Rampe -- 25 rue saint Andre des Arts. I continue to send my husband for more pieces when he goes there on business trips.

My favorite that I bought and consumed while in Paris:

It's a tie between crepes and La Duree macaroons. They were both so decadent, I think I could have survived on nothing else the entire time. :)

To bring home - prints for the wall and fabric to make pillows for the couch. They will be there for a very long time to remind me of our wonderful trips to Paris.

A gallery poster from a guy putting them up on walls, storefronts, etc. in the Marais for 2 euro and a red, toy mini cooper from the market at Richard Lenoir on sunday morning.

I have two of those gallery posters too! Love em!
My current favorite is a pair of jade drop earrings.
Perfume, and something to wear..usually a piece of jewelry made by a Parisian jeweler.

I have many favorites. One of the top ones was a small corner sink for our powder room. My dear husband packed it and lugged it back in our suitcase. We installed it and the accompanying faucet and it was really cute. Alas, we sold the house and left it there (but the new owners, also Paris afficionados, appreciate it).

We found a beautiful old chandelier in the flea market. We brought it home wrapped up in newspaper and in a plastic bag and put it in the overhead of the plane. We had the electrical cord and plug changed, and it is the centerpiece of our home!

I have two favorite purchases:

1. When I was 14 my parents took us backpacking through Europe. We were in Paris and at this point in our travels my brothers had begged my parents to buy them everything they saw that struck their fancy in Europe (including a cat!). I didn't ask for a single thing on the whole trip. So while we were at the Bon Marche they decided to get me a bottle of my favorite perfume: Poison by Christian Dior. It was one ounce of pure perfume. I still have it 14 years later because I can't bear to waste it!

2. A couple of years ago I was in Paris with my boyfriend (now my husband) and we were walking along the Seine and looking at all the posters and watercolors for sale when I saw the cutest poster of cartoon cats. The cartoon cats were at a pub with the cat bartenders serving milk and the cat "patrons" holding money in their paws, and pictures of cats framed on the wall. Its a cute scene. I wanted it for my kitchen so I bought it for 10 Euro!

During my visit last year I was looking for a gift for my young son and found a wonderful little world globe with all of the printing in French. For me it's a reminder that we're all citizens of the world, no matter what language we speak. For my son, well, he just loves to spin the thing. :)

I have so many, but one that holds a special place is the "Viens Poupoule" poster we bought at a brocante on rue Cler four years ago.

It's a reproduction of a late 19th century dance hall poster, absolutely no value other than sentimental.

We hung it in our kitchen. Soon afterward, a French friend of ours came over. When she saw it, she started singing "Viens Poupoule, Viens Poupoule", which is apparently an old tune.

Turns out that "Viens Poupoule" translates as "Come Here Little Whore".

My favorite purchase was a regular Bic pen -- but a French one, which is of a slightly different design than the American Bic. For my honeymoon in Paris I had brought along a travel journal and a Bic pen. My Bic ran out mid-trip, so I stopped at a stationer on the Left Bank and asked for a Bic by name. I have not used my French Bic since my honeymoon; it's a treasured souvenir and sits on my desk.

i agree on the macaroons(sp) however a painting of a paris scene has been a favorite, either from an artist near the seine or louvre. also a trip to the flea market on sat will surely find you a treasure, my friend got several antique corkscrews which he treasures. also lilac sachets are easy to pack and bring home as gifts.

We have purchased prints and posters from Galerie Documents, on rue du Seine, for the last 30 years. Now owned by Murielle, the daughter of the original owner, this shop supplies many US dealers. You pay the same price a US dealer pays. If you are polite she may give you a modest price discount. JP

Two wonderful posters from a small gallery while walking back from Sacre Coeur and..... a pair of boxer shorts for my son with the paris metro system on them! He loves them to death!

I watched an artist paint a small (8x10) Parisian windowbox scene at the Place du Tertre in Montmartre and then bought it from her. She packaged it so I could tranport it wet and I had it framed when I got home. It is my favorite souvenir from all my trips to Europe, I think.

Perfume from Caron just off the Champs Elysee-it's a gorgeous, tiny little perfume store (they make there own) with Baccarat decanters of their perfume. It's quintessential Paris to me.

My favorite is a tie between a Hermes scarf & Annick Goutal fragrances.

Can't leave Paris without a new Hermes scarf, though!

I also succumbed to a Seine artist...a Mid-eastern man selling his paintings of watery (ponds, little rivers, mills, etc.) little village scenes of towns in France, outside of Paris ... he wanted American money to start his "bank" because he really wants to come here...I paid with a brand new $20. The picture is in my office now and on the "bad" days, I can see it and think of France.
On a more humorous note, the sales woman at Le Samaritaine who "suckered" me..she sprayed me all over with one of the Creed scents. I bought it. I was to learn once I got home, ITS A MAN"S SCENT!
How she must have giggled at me. (But she threw an amazing amount of freebies into the bag). I show her tho.. I wear it!