Christmas shopping in Paris

“The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her.”
Mercelene Cox

Paris boasts some of the world's most breathtaking department stores, where visitors can browse the latest trends in designer fashion, enjoy a meal on dramatic terraces, browse gourmet food shops, or attend free fashion shows.

The city's historical department stores are not just shopping shrines, but architectural treasures and peddlers of plenty of exclusive clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, home furnishing, and gourmet items, making them ideal stops for holiday shopping if you can withstand the crowds.

This past week I have been enjoying the always-colorful and creative holiday window displays at Paris' department stores. Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Le Bon Marché, BHV, you name it....I've been there!

There has been quite some hype about the ongoing Christmas decoration competiton between Galeries Lafayette and Printemps which are located side by side. I must admit Printemps takes the cake this year with its Chanel lights and Lagerfeld window displays. Not even Jean Paul Goude with his 10 years of experience as the Galeries artisitc adviser with his "Rock n' mode" featuring Iggy Pop managed to top this year's Printemps "Chanel extravaganza" inaugurated by Karl Lagerfeld personally along with Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Depp's French wife.

Take a look for yourself:

Printemps

Inauguration des vitrines de Noël from Printemps on Vimeo.

Galeries Lafayette

You decide!