Guest Post by Sheila Campbell, True Compass
In the early 1800s, covered shopping arcades sprang up around the city, eventually over a hundred in all. They were the precursors of today’s shopping malls, where women could walk from store to store without getting splashed by passing horses and carriages.
Some of those arcades, called passages, still exist today. My favorite is Passage Vivienne, located a block or two behind the Palais Royale. This arcade was opened in 1826. Its mosaic floors and huge fanlight windows even today evoke the feeling of a past time. Here you can shop for objets d’art, rugs, fine fabrics, jewelry, art, shoes and women’s designer clothing. I almost always stop in at Catherine André, a store with handmade clothes in stunning colors and patterns.
Passage Vivienne
On my last visit to Passage Vivienne, Donna and I had lunch at LeGrand Filles et Fils, a wine store that has been in this same location well over a hundred years. (I was delighted to notice that the name puts daughters before sons.) The store began as a grocery, and much of the shop retains the original interior. Today LeGrand specializes in very fine wines, and they’ve created a beautiful wine-tasting bar, surrounded by cases of wine. It’s open Monday through Saturday from noon to 7pm.
You can simply sit and sip glasses of white or red wines or champagnes, or have lunch from the tasting menu. The menu changes by the season, and of course a wine is recommended for each plate. The lunches are light and tend toward cold plates. On the menu were sausages, sardines, tuna, foie gras, dried beef, and smoked salmon. I had a lentil salad with smoked trout, paired with a 2005 Cuvée Claude Denogent, a white burgundy. Prices aren’t particularly a bargain; my plate of lentils and trout was €19, but it was worth it just to enjoy the space. You can sit at the bar itself, or at a couple of small tables with high wicker stools.
Legrand
Bar at Legrand
The service here is leisurely; this is no place to grab a quick bite and go. Instead, you’ll want to linger in the space, perhaps adding a green salad or bit of cheese with another glass of wine. The room where we ate was quiet; the only background music we heard was the clinking of glasses and low hum of conversation.
LeGrand occasionally has evening jazz concerts in the tasting bar; you might want to stop by and check out the schedule.
LeGrand Filles et Fils
Passage Vivienne (entrances at 5, rue de la Banque; 6, rue Vivienne; and 4, rue des Petits-Champs. Metro Bourse.
