Pour Mémoire

We’ll always have Paris—or at least the cuddly stuffed Eiffel Tower and the tacky T-shirt! If you’re looking for the perfect gift or souvenir, forget the kitsch and start your quest in the upper echelons of style.

You don’t have to be a paying guest to snap up a classy bicycle complete with monogrammed scarlet saddlebags from the gift shop of the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, or a leather Eiffel Tower key ring from the Hôtel de Crillon, or an adorable pair of Moroccan-style baby slippers from the Hôtel Meurice.

Legendary watering holes Le Flore and Les Deux Magots also cater to discerning gift-givers. The Deux Magots sells its logo tableware in-house or at www.lesdeuxmagots.fr, while Le Flore has its own gift shop just around the corner at 26 rue St Benoît, where everything on sale—from porcelain espresso cups and miniature milk pitchers to bistrot-style tables and chairs—can be shipped worldwide.

The gift-and-bookshop at the Assemblée Nationale—France’s House of Representatives—gets my vote for offering the most stylish stuff at the most reasonable prices. Top picks for highly original gifts: red leather métro pass and credit-card holders with discreet Assemblée logos, and paperweight busts of Marianne, the lovely lady in the Phrygian cap who has been the symbol of France since the 1848 Revolution. There’s delightful tongue-in-cheek humor in red, white and blue “Vive la République” champagne flutes, and the politically-charged cufflinks—one says “gauche”, the other “droite”—are almost as good as the “zero euro” cufflinks from the French mint, La Monnaie de Paris, designed for the skinflint in your life.

If you look long and hard in the labyrinthine Châtelet-les-Halles Métro-RER station you might find the official RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) boutique near the RER exit marked Place Carrée. The shop is full of terrific souvenirs with the distinctive Paris métro map reproduced on mugs, umbrellas and dishtowels. There are also eye-catching beach towels in the form of green métro tickets—real collector’s items, as Paris transport buffs will know, because the green tickets were phased out years ago.

Gourmet gifts for foodie friends? Renowned fromageries such as Androuët and Alléosse offer perfectly ripened cheeses which can be vacuum-packed for travel, while Ladurée’s famous macarons and Fauchon’s caviar and foie gras are all tastefully gift-wrapped. (Note: U.S. Customs restricts the import of certain foods.)

Top Parisian chocolatiers also pay tribute to the city’s national monuments—Jean-Paul Hévin does an edible Tour Eiffel, but fashionistas will doubtless prefer Hévin’s glamorous chocolate stiletto designed by star shoemaker Rodolphe Menudier. Joséphine Vannier, a tiny chocolate shop behind the Place des Vosges, specializes in fantasy chocolats inspired by everything from the Arc de Triomphe to Matisse’s cut-out collages.

For wannabe chefs, zany culinary accessory boutique Artgato does a silicone Eiffel Tower cake mold. Dehillerin, a professional culinary supplier founded in 1820, stocks everything from truffle slicers to the finest copperware. Or try neighborhood store La Vaissellerie for cut-price escargot platters, fondue sets and porcelain pics à fromage to perk up your cheeseboard.

Christofle stocks chic silver-plated bookmarks engraved with graphic patterns that are actually sliced images of the city’s major monuments—the Eiffel Tower, Sacré Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe. Traditional faïence maker Gien does charming Joli Paris dinner plates with illustrations of city street scenes. Perfumer Fragonard, with several shops around town, offers a bevy of delightful, reasonably priced gifts including a Paris Chéri throw cushion embroidered with the Mona Lisa, Notre Dame and the Panthéon. At the absolute top end, choose from the Une Journée à Paris collection at Van Cleef & Arpels—jewels inspired by such landmarks as the Tuileries Gardens, the Opéra and the Ile de la Cité.

Among the most successful Parisian gifts I’ve given in the past were a music box playing a tinkly version of La Vie en Rose from the tiny Anna Joliet boutique in the Palais Royal; an original black-and-white poster for François Truffaut’s film Jules et Jim unearthed at a Seine-side bookseller’s stand; and a retro-style can of crème de marrons from my local supermarché. Last but definitely not least, male shoppers should drop any thought of an “I Heart Paris” T-shirt in favor of a pair of elegant strappy sandals by Anne-Valérie Hash adorned with metallic mesh in the form of the Eiffel Tower’s iron latticework, available at L’Eclaireur—a souvenir that swears true allegiance to Parisian style.

ADDRESSES

Hôtel Plaza Athénée 25 ave Montaigne, 8th

Hôtel de Crillon 10 pl de la Concorde, 8th

Hôtel Meurice 228 rue de Rivoli, 1st

Le Flore boutique 26 rue St Benoît, 6th

Les Deux Magots 6 pl St Germain des Prés, 6th

L’Assemblée Nationale boutique 7 rue Aristide Briand, 7th

La Monnaie de Paris boutique 2 rue Guénégaud, 6th

RATP boutique www.souvenirs-metro.fr

Androuët 37 rue de Verneuil, 7th

Alléosse 13 rue Poncelet, 17th

Ladurée 16 rue Royale, 8th and other locations

Fauchon 26 pl de la Madeleine, 8th

Jean-Paul Hévin 231 rue St Honoré, 1st

Joséphine Vannier 4 rue du Pas de la Mule, 3rd

Artgato 5 ave du Docteur Arnold Netter, 12th

Dehillerin 18 rue Coquillière, 1st

La Vaissellerie 92 rue St Antoine, 4th and other locations

Christofle 9 rue Royale, 8th

Gien 18 rue de l’Arcade, 8th

Van Cleef & Arpels 22-24 pl Vendôme, 1st

Fragonard 196 blvd St Germain, 7th and other locations

Anna Joliet 9 rue de Beaujolais, Palais Royal, 1st

L’Eclaireur 8 rue Boissy d’Anglas 8th

Originally published in the May 2008 issue of France Today

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