PALAIS-ROYAL NOW

MENU: 2.1.6. Palais-Royal now

 

AT PALAIS-ROYAL, A BRAND OCCUPIES FIVE ARCADES AND THE IDEA OF LUXE ITSELF HAD CHANGED   

Until about 2000 "luxury" meant articles that were unique or produced in very small series, of perfect quality. Now it means wares bought for their brand.  

Stella McCartney

 114-120 galerie de Valois

A few boutiques maintain traditional luxury in a cadre of unchanged beauty. 

Adapted from a Mappy plan

Echos

• Evolution

• The ambiance of a Balzac novel

• Remembrance of things past

• A sumptuous covered passage remains

• The walk ends in a salon

• A restaurant whose elegance prolongs the mood

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Evolution

EVOLUTION

BRANDS' MARKUPS ALLOW HUGE RENTS, WHICH RAISE ALL RENTS: WHEN OWNERS OF TRADITIONAL SHOPS RETIRE, 

MERCHANTS OF COMPARABLE SPIRIT LACK THE MEANS TO REPLACE THEM

Take what used to be a historic café, where furious debates took place during the Revolution and Napoleon became a client. Until 2016 it remained a restaurant, where life- sized engravings of Louis-Philippe's family* lined the walls. 

*The head of the Bourbon junior branch and France's last king (1830-1848). Its connection with the site is explained here.

Zoom

The gardens are reflected in the window.

These engravings are much less impressive, but give the idea:  

 

Engravings sold on the web 

A brand now occupies the site. Its only connection with the luxury of the past is its cost.

Their cost, in 2019; the list is no longer posted, but prices appear on the web.

Gardens that once boomed with commercial energy and revolutionary zeal are now by nightfall silent.

 

A few shops

that propose luxuries worth their cost remain. 

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The ambiance of a Balzac novel

THE AMBIANCE OF A BALZAC NOVEL

MEDALS AND SABERS SET THE TONE UNDER THE GARDENS' ARCADES 

(GALÉRIE MONTPENSIER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE GARDENS IF YOU COME FROM THE LOUVRE)

La Galerie numismatique

 N°s 4-5 Galerie Montpensier

Next door, an establishment present since 1790 

Baqueville

Since 1790

N°s 6-7-8

Farther on... 

La Maison de l'Ambre

 N° 15 


Didier Ludot

 N°s 20-24

Vintage, since 1974

A few steps on is a gallery of primal arts that from 1993 to 2024 showed works of museum quality, then turned to mechanical toys of the early 20th century.

Gallery photo

Galérie Ivana Dmitrie

N° 36

Ivana Dimitrie

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On the other side of the garden (galerie Valois) one finds handbags, belts and shoes made by hand in France.

   

Not seeing its name ("Delage") among the Palais-Royal boutiques mentioned on the web, I thought it was gone. But before suppressing the photos, I passed by to see what had replaced it.  

"We're the same! With a workshop and seven craftspeople in Brittany!" said the cheerful owners who greeted me:

          François Croze and Jean-François Célaerio

Délage, now Bégum 

N° 15 

Expensive as one would expect hand-made shoes to be, they are much less so than the brand-name wares shown above (whose prices have risen since I took the picture in 2019).

Next to it is this boutique, since 2023:

  «  Malachite !»

Monies 

N° 149 

This handful of shops are exceptions

 to the standardized production that invades the garden.  

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Remembrance of things past

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

"MEN WHO VALUE ENGRAVINGS APPRECIATE MY VESTS," SAID THE OWNER OF A SHOP THAT UNTIL 2024 PERFECTLY FIT THE 18TH-CENTURY SETTING

La Galerie d'argent 

42 galerie Montpensier

      

Danou Jacquard, descendent of the founder of Jaquard looms, and creator of a shop that until 2025 perfectly represented classic France. 

It is now an office.

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Leave the gardens by their farther end and stroll toward this royal "place:"*

*Italics because this kind of void is specific to France and harks back to royalty, as explained here.

Place des Victoires

You will remain in 

an (almost) preserved oasis.

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A sumptuous "covered passage" remains

A SUMPTUOUS COVERED PASSAGE REMAINS

GALERIE VIVIENNE IS SO DISCREET THAT PASSERS-BY OFTEN MISS IT

4, rue des Petits-Champs

Though banality has invaded here too, some shops express the former excellence:  

Lucien Legrand
At the entrance

Founded in 1880

Japanese ownership since 2013, but the wines are the same.

Wolff et Descourtis

N° 18

The next page says more.

Catherine André
N° 26 

Alexis Mabille

 N° 34

Yukii Tori
 N° 38-40

At the end, a bookstore founded in 1826:

Librairie Jousseaume 

N° 45

François Jousseaume, the founder's descendant

It evokes a spirit that we miss.  

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The walk ends in a salon

THE WALK ENDS IN A SALON

SCARF DESIGNERS COME FOR INSPIRATION, AND LEAVE REGRETTING THE LIMITS THAT BRANDS IMPOSE

As well, the colors by Italian artisans cannot be mass produced.

Wolff et Descourtis 

 N° 18, galerie Vienne

Excellent site web and enthusiastic commentaries on the web 

Until recently one could purchase the hand-dyed scarves in the shop alone, and clients might be visitors for who included the shop on their visits to Paris.  

Now one can buy them through through the web.

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"This shop comes from my family,

which founded it after Germany occupied Alsace

after the war of 1870.

For that story, please click.

It is like my home. 

I will receive you as in my salon..."

"Of course purchases are appreciated,
 but what interests me in our meeting

 is sharing a story that helps know France better." 

-- Owner Victoria Wolff

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A restaurant whose elegance prolongs the mood