I understand that the Samaritaine has been sold and the free rooftop observation deck has now been closed. Does anyone have anymore info about this? It has always been a favorite on my first day to Paris to go up there and take a good look around, usually at sunset.

Hi Opaldog, I don't know anything about the ownership of the store or the reasons behind or duration of the closing of the observation deck but when I was in Paris two weeks ago the roof was closed. The restaurants on the higher levels were open though.

Oh, that's too bad if the roof is now closed. A friend and I were up there on October 14 and really enjoyed the view.

How can both you (lynn and starspinnners) have been there at the same time and one said it was open and one closed? I didn't go last summer when I was in Paris, but I know the store was sold to LVMH a couple years ago and they are revamping its imagine and marketing plans. that is a "luxury" good company and they own Sephora, Vuitton, and some other companies -- I think they own Bon Marche which is my favorite dept. store. I do admit I didn't enjoy shopping at Samaritaine and thought it dreary so it could do for some fresh ideas. they closed the home repair section, for example.

So, I don't know if the closing is temporary or permanent. I read they are trying to get their image to be more upscale, so its possible that deck which appealed to tourists a lot, might not be where they want to go. There is a view from a terrace at the top of Galeries Lafayette, also--go to the 7th floor.

Christina, I was there on October 21 and October 23. Looks like I just missed it. As I said I don't know the duration of the closure, it may have been for the winter, for that day only, for the time I was looking at the stairs, only for me, for ever......

For what it's worth, I was there on October 6, and it was open. But I think it always closes down sometime in the fall and doesn't reopen until early spring.

I was there on October 12, 2003; we were able to visit the restaurant but the free observation deck was not open.

I can't access this web from work - what does it say?
www.atkielski.com/PhotoGallery/Paris/ General/SamaritaineSmall.html

I have been there in December and the rooftop was open, but the food terrace was not. Too bad about the closure; hope it's not permanent.

I was there on Thur Oct 16 and the directory sign indicated that the terrace was closed but the restaurant was open.

Christina,
Although I'd read about its roof top view, October 14 was the first time I'd actually been to Samaritaine and I didn't realize until I was there that the store occupied several buildings. Is there more than one observation area?
All I know for sure is that after my friend and I were finished shopping in the Sephora on rue de Rivoli we asked the guard there how to access the roof top and he directed us to the building next door (where the woman's clothing is). We took the elevator to the top most floor and then walked up a short flight of stairs onto the roof's terraced area. It was a beautiful,clear, day...we enjoyed the view, took a few snapshots, and had a cup of coffee.

Can somebody post Sephora's address on Rue de Rivoli? Thanks.

Hey Maira!

I see 3 rue de Rivoli addresses for Sephora:
75 rue de Rivoli
83 rue de Rivoli
99 rue de Rivoli (Carrousel du Louvre)

What the URL I asked about above was saying is this: (paraphrased)

In 2002, the LVMH conglomerate purchased La Samaritaine and dramatically converted it into a very upscale, very overpriced department store with a restricted selection of fashionable junk featuring prominently in the inventory. The old Samaritaine is thus gone, although two of the three buildings are still occupied by the store . . .Apart from the merchandise, one of the attractions to this department store was the nice restaurant and the open observation deck on the roof of the main building. Thanks to the excellent location of the store, it was possible to get a fabulous view of the center of the city. You could eat while admiring the scenery, too . . . The restaurant is still open (although I imagine that the prices have gone up). LVMH, in its wisdom, has CLOSED the rooftop observation deck. That, plus the massive change in the store's "atmosphere," means that I can't really recommend it to visitors today, but I'll try to keep an eye on it, just in case things improve. In the meantime, at least it is of historical interest.

As to Galleries Lafayette, there is a another view and a little cafe down the street on the roof deck of the second Au Printemps [La Maison]. Good spot for snapshots in the AM. The first Au Printemps [la Mode] is the one with Cafe Flo under the glass dome.

Thanks Beatchick!

I think that Semaritaine has really made a mistake in closing the observation deck. It must have brought in a lot of tourists who later dined there or bought something. We were crushed to find, last summer, that their food market in the basement is now gone. When we stayed in an apartment in 2001 we did almost all our food shopping there. The produce seemed less expensive than that across the Seine [but perhaps less fresh?].

I guess you all got the answer -- as far a I knew, there was only one observation place in Samaritaine, but there is another at Galleries Lafayette. I didn't think Samaritaine's merchandise was so great myself, so don't lament its change like that article does. I also thought it was bought in 2001, not 2002. I just looked on the www.lvmh.com website and their 2001 annual report says they bought Samaritaine in Jan. 2001. They also say their strategy is to turn it into a Right Bank store like Bon Marche.

LVMH also owns Le Bon Marche. I never saw the view from Samaritaine but the observation deck at Galleries Lafayette is great. For that matter go up to the towers at Notre Dame for an equally good view....

By the way the transformation of Samaritaine by LVMH sucks. The great hardware dept is gone!

Does anyone <b>know</b> if the observation deck is open again?
Is there a fee to access it?
Is the cafe on the 9th floor still casual? Thanks...!