12 Best Places to Shop in France

Tea lovers will adore this art-centric tea boutique and salon set in a 17th-century stone building in the upper Marais, near the Centre Pompidou. In contrast to the behemoth sellers—Mariage Frères, Palais des Thés, and Dammann Frères—who focus on quantity over quality, this shop's hand-selected varieties come from surprising places around the world (oolong from Georgia, anyone?) and small artisanal producers. The friendly owners, a husband-and-wife team, love to share their extensive knowledge, and a tasting flight of four pots in the adorable tearoom is a delight. Upstairs is reserved for artists' books and limited-edition artworks. There's also a tempting array of handmade porcelain teaware.

At her multibrand concept store, jewelry designer and general fashionista-about-town Marie Gas does the work for you, mixing women's wear designers you already know and love (Spalwart, Ulla Johnson) with French and European créateurs that you definitely want to know (and will love). Browse a seasonal collection of everything from ready-to-wear to jewelry, leather goods, perfume, and design objects for the home.

Ex-fashion designer Laure Traverso (Marc Jacobs, Paul & Joe) escaped the Paris treadmill to open her own wildly creative concept store that spotlights all things French that are also sustainable, ethical, design-conscious, and just plain cool. Discoveries abound: look for chic emerging fashion labels, beautiful leather and straw bags, shoes, belts, avant-garde jewelry, lingerie, handmade home furnishings, and organic cosmetics made in Provence. There's even a grocery corner with local microbrews, chocolates, and teas.

Part charming café serving lunch, snacks, and coffee, and part concept store, CQFD (Créations Éthiques Franco Décalées) is hands-down Avignon's chicest shopping destination. Its spacious rooms brim with a curated selection of whimsical clothing and jewelry, chic stationery, tableware, soaps, cosmetics, and handmade housewares (including eco-paints and hand-blocked wallpapers). Everything is eco-conscious—and made in France.

Harking back to the Victorian era, when every chic household had a stuffed bird or small mammal, this outstanding cabinet of curiosities mixes jewel-like butterflies and insects with astonishing specimens of wild animals, including giraffes, lions and tigers, polar bears, antelopes, zebras, and exquisite birds. (Note that all of the animals died of natural causes in zoos.) More comical or whimsical pieces include pastel-color chickens, winged monkeys or mice, and the Poe chandelier, complete with a raven. All items come with certification for easy export and can be shipped anywhere.

This popular shop has been mixing herbal treatments on the same premises since 1805. At the laboratoire, trained herbalists use dried local and exotic herbs or plant extracts to customize a concoction for whatever ails you—from sleep issues to digestive troubles. At the contemporary tearoom across the street, you can sip an infusion and purchase packaged herbal teas, loose herbs, spices, coffee, honey, beauty products, books, and traditional candies.

This well-stocked boutique sells organic jams, olives oils, wines, and traditional dishes. It belongs to Charles Antona, who's been in business for more than 30 years.

Hélene Vié's unique floating boutique, La Maison de la Violette, celebrates the flower that has been emblematic of Toulouse since Napoléon's time. A box of crystallized violets or a bottle of violet liqueur makes a suitably imperial souvenir.

White tea, green tea, black tea, tea from China, Japan, Indonesia, South America, and more: you can expect a comprehensive tea experience here. Try one of the flavored varieties, such as Hammam, a traditional Turkish recipe with date pulp, orange flower, rose, and red berries.

Mariage Frères, with its colonial charme and wooden counters, has 100-plus years of tea purveying behind it. Choose from more than 450 blends from 32 countries, not to mention teapots, teacups, books, and tea-flavor biscuits and candies. High tea and light lunches are served here and at several other Paris locations.

Aix's most celebrated santon (miniature statue) maker was established in 1936.