Le Bon Marché (24 rue de Sèvres, seventh arrondissement)
We spent quite a few hours in this fabulous department store, and had a great deal of trouble dragging C away from the toy department (where the staff were absolutely lovely and encouraged the kids to play with all of the toys on display).
Do not miss the children's book/craft section at Le Bon Marché! I spent so much time in this section and found so many incredible books (I'll talk about some of the illustrators I found in later posts). In the end it was a good thing that I can't read French and that I couldn't convince G that I really really needed beautiful French children's books that I can't read, otherwise my wallet would have been much much lighter and my suitcase much much heavier.
Don't forget there is a branch of La Droguerie (buttons, ribbons, fabric, wool) on the top floor of Le Bon Marché!
Jardin du Luxembourg (sixth arrondissement)
A
beautiful park with glorious flowerbeds and sprawling lawns, perfect
for small children - entertainment for the small ones was sweetly
old-fashioned (think carousel rides, puppet shows and go-cart rides).
The park is scattered with lovely pale green chairs to relax in and
comes complete with a stern uniformed park warden chasing cyclists who
dared to ride through the park!
Image by me.
Two of my favorite places in Paris - thanks Sam! xo Jone
Posted by: jone | August 27, 2009 at 09:45 PM
I live in Paris and I love those two places also :)
Posted by: Julia* | August 27, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Sounds blissful! And I'm not sure I'd be able to resist the books despite the languge barrier... K x
Posted by: kristina | August 28, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Tripped across your blog and I love your photos from Paris. Makes me want to go back immediately (not that I ever need encouragement). I loved La Grande Epicerie Le Bon Marche. We treated ourselves last time we stayed in Paris to quite a few meals from there that we would put together back at our apartment not far from that great department store. Love it. I'm definitely going to check out that book you used. Sounds fantastic.
Posted by: Eileen | August 28, 2009 at 05:19 PM