2.1.6. THE GARDENS NOW

MENU: 2.1.6. The gardens now

 

BRANDS OCCUPY ALMOST ALL THE ARCADES AND THE IDEA OF LUXURY ITSELF HAS 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.  

Most boutiques of Palais-Royal fit that evolution.

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   Adapted from Mappy

In brief

• Remembrance of things past

• Reminders of Balzac's time

• Transformation

• Recent creativity fits the site... sort of

• A sumptuous covered passage remains

• The walk ends in a salon

• A restaurant whose elegance prolongs the mood

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Remembrance of things past

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

UNTIL 2024 THIS SMALL SHOP EXPRESSED THE PERSONAL CREATIVITY THAT ONCE CHARACTIZED THE SITE, AND THAT NOW HAS ALMOST DISAPPEARED

"Men who value engravings appreciate my vests," said the owner

 of a shop that perfectly fit the 18th-century setting. 

La Galerie d'argent 

42 galerie Montpensier

 Danou Jacquard, descendent of the founder of Jaquard looms and art historian, created the shop that perfectly represented classic France.

The space is now an office.

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Evolution

REMINDERS OF BALZAC'S TIME

MEDALS AND SABERS UNDER THE ARCADES 

(GALÉRIE MONTPENSIER IS 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...

  Galérie Ivana Dmitrie

      N° 36 

Gallery photo

 

Then turned to mechanical toys of the early 20th century, which have become collectors' items and objects of decoration.

Ivana Dimitrie

 

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

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

          François Croze and Jean-François Célaerio

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

They had just forgotten to renew the name, another company had taken it, and they had to change it

The store closed in 2025.

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Transformation

TRANSFORMATION

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.

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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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Recent creativity corresponds to that time... sort of

RECENT CREATIVITY CORRESPONDS TO THAT TIME... SORT OF

 

THE INVENTIVITY AND PRESENTATION THAT HAVE RECENTLY APPEARED CAN BE WORTHY OF TRADITION

The boutiques that were the creations of their owners who were personally present, like some of those shown in the preceding pages, presented a spirit that could not copied or found elsewhere.  

What one finds now are brands.

      Monies

149, galerie Valois  

                                                              « Malachite ! » 

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Selima Optique

 43 Galerie Montpensier

Une boutique dont le décor est proche de l'ancien esprit, mais les lunettes qu'elle propose sont une marque.

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Maison Fabre

128 Galerie Valois

Rick Owens

27 Galerie Valois

Pierre Hardy

156, Galerie de Valois

Serge Lutens 

142 Galerie Valois

Photo du site web

Papier Royal 

146 galerie Valois

La présentation dans ces boutiques peut être fabuleuse, mais on ne la ramène pas chez soi. Les marques font leur « communication » et les crédules pensent que ce rayonnement rejaillit sur eux.  

On trouve une créativité comparable sur les marchés.

Ces abatjours, 

des pièces uniques faites sur commande,

 sont un exemple.A HANDFUL OF BOUTIQUES ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THE STANDARDIZATION THAT HAS INVADED THE GARDEN

At galerie Montpensier, the arcades on the left as you come from the Louvre... 

• Medals and sabers

La Galerie numismatique

 N°s 4-5

Baqueville

Since 1790

N°s 6-7-8

• Amber and vintage

La Maison de l'Ambre

 N° 15 


Didier Ludot

 N°s 20-24

Since 1974

• A boutique that sells a brand (of glasses), but whose decor expresses the former spirit of the site:

Selima Optique

 43 Galerie Montpensier

Boutiques in New York and Los Angeles

•  Gloves that have been here for a century

Maison Fabre

128 Galerie Valois

Since 1924

• The only boutique, like that with which we began and that recently closed,  is a personal creation and whose conceptrice is permanently present: 

 Ivana Dmitrie

Galerie Ivana Dmitrie

N° 36

From 1993 to 2024 it proposed primal art worthy of a museum, now mechanical toys of the early 20th century that have become collectors' items.  

Photo prise par la galerie

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The arcades on the other side of the garden end with exhibits by the Ministry of Culture, this one of figures who have marked the city's culture. 

Johnny Halliday, Baudelaire, Monet, Isabelle Huppert, Josephine Baker...

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