Le Bon Marché

For nearly a cetury this was the only luxury department store located on the Left Bank. When it opened in 1852 it was hailed for its architecture. It later inspired even Emile Zola to write, in 1883, "It was like the concourse of a railway station, surrounded by the balustrades of the two upper storeys, cut by suspended stairways and crisscrossed with bridges. And all this cast iron beneath the white light of the glass roof composed an airy architecture of complicated lacework." He was, of course, describing Gustav Eiffel's architectural signature. Since the early 1990's, and especially since it was bought by the LVMH Group, it has stepped up its game considerably. It now houses a museum-like food emporium, known the world-over as La Grande Epecirie, as well as newly opened luxury home furnishings departments and an extensive wine cellar. Le Bon Marché is a thoroughly luxury shopping experience.