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Department Stores
Blvd. Haussmann is the home of the department stores Au Printemps,
opened in 1864, and Galeries Lafayette, opened in 1894. Galeries
Lafayette has a magnificent stained glass dome. It carries all
the great fashion names, and has great (free) fashion shows each
week. It is always very busy so best to go in the morning. There
is a a nice self-service restaurant on the 6th floor with views
over the Opera. Au Printemps also has a weekly fashion show which
is held in the 6th floor tea salon beneath a Belle Epoque blue
stained-glass rotunda.
The Grand Boulevards
The Grand Boulevards were built in 1705 where the the old walls
around Paris were demolished and by about 1750 the Boulevard (the
original name) had became fashionable where the nobility and rich
built their homes and Parisians would sit and watch the horse carriages
and riders pass by. The east end, the Boulevard du Temple, became
a center of theatres and dance halls, circuses, waxworks, puppets,
dancers, acrobats, mechanical figures, cafes, restaurants, booths
and barrows. This lasted for about 100 years.
There are some pretty covered passages off the Grand Boulevards, as
Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau (book and print dealers).
Musée Grevin
Wax museum (approximately 500 characters) scenes from French history
and the present day.
Pigalle
Stretching from the place de Clichy up to Monmartre, Pigalle is
a red light district with live peep shows, erotic videos, and sex
shops. The famous ‘Moulin Rouge’ is here and the Musee
de l'Eroticisme, which is actually quite interesting. Further along
on Boulevard de Rochechouart was the nightclub Le Chat-Noir, made
famous in the poster by Toulouse Lautrec.
Continued...
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