Les grands magasins

Today I was in (or hanging around outside) every grand magasin in Paris!  I quite impressed myself.

The grands magasins are department stores, pretty much the first modern department stores in the world.  They were all founded in the mid to late 1800s and still exist today, I think in the same locations they originally had.  The buildings are old and gorgeous.  They are absolutely HUGE and are known for being tres chic, expensive, and major hubs (outside of designer boutiques) for French fashion - of course making them main hubs for world fashion as well.  They each have only one location in France, I believe, though some have a store in other countries.

Le Bon Marché - Widely known as the first department store in the world.  It was founded in 1838.  Despite its name, which means "well priced" or "good deal," Le Bon Marché is the most expensive of the grands magasins, and, again outside of designer boutiques, that probably makes it the most expensive store in France.  The family I work for lives only a couple of blocks from the store so I am around it every day.  I'm counting today as a "visit" because I took M to the park there.

http://www.lebonmarche.com/?gclid=CN-KxaHe46sCFYIMfAodw2BZPg#e-boutique/marques/LE_BON_MARCHE,149

Galeries Lafayette - Founded in 1893 - the newest but the biggest of the grands magasins.  There are three stores that make up the Galeries - one is home stuff (4 stories), one is just women's fashion and other stuff (10 stories), and one is just men's fashion and stuff (no clue - probably in between).  I believe it's the only one that allows its things to be sold in other stores - for example you can find things from its collections in BHV, etc.  It ranges from fairly good prices to outrageously expensive.  J had a cooking class here today in the houseware building so I was there for a while.

http://www.galerieslafayette.com/

Printemps - Right next to the Galeries Lafayette, this store was founded in 1865.  Its name means "spring" [like the season].  In my mind this store has the most high fashion reputation, and although it has a lot of other products clothing is its main thing.  The prices are very, very high, rivaling Le Bon Marché.  While I was waiting around during J's cooking class - it was two hours - I wandered around Printemps for a bit.

http://departmentstoreparis.printemps.com/

Those three at the main ones, the true "grands magasins."  There is one other that is much newer and has edged into the category of "grand magasin" but it is not as prestigious (or expensive).

BHV - Or, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville [bazar/store affiliated with the town hall].  The Galeries Lafayette corp actually owns this, but it was originally, as is obvious, part of the buildings of Paris' town hall.  It similarly has all kinds of things, and lots of high fashion, but not as much designer stuff and it's much more affordable.  For the latter reason it's my preferred department store here.  J had a cooking class here today as well so I walked around - and bought a cookbook with 500 soups!  Yay!

http://www.bhv.fr/

If you have any interest at all, check out the websites or search for pictures of the buildings.  They're very cool, and are icons of Paris.  These grands magasins are a large part of the reason Paris is, and has been known for more than a century, as a major center of Western culture, particularly fashion.

Anyway - today was a record for me, visiting them all in the same day!