Souvenirs from Paris

Two almond-meringue shells with a ganache or cream filling, the Paris version made famous by Ladurée in the 20th century. They keep only a few days, so buy them on your last day and carry the box flat. Real ones have a thin crisp shell, a soft inside and a filling that tastes of the flavour on the label.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Ladurée (rue Royale and the Champs-Élysées) and Pierre Hermé (several shops, e.g. rue Bonaparte in Saint-Germain).

A Paris tea house since 1854, known for its black tins with gold lettering and blends such as Marco Polo. The shops are part of the visit: walls of tins, staff who weigh loose tea for you and a tea room. The tins are the souvenir; the same tea also comes in cheaper refill bags.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: The original shop and tea room on rue du Bourg-Tibourg in the Marais, plus shops on Place de la Madeleine, rue Montorgueil and rue Cler; the city's own shop Paris La Boutique also stocks it.

The blue enamel plaque with white letters and a green frame has marked Paris streets since the 19th century. Copies with any name you like are sold everywhere; the city's own shop sells genuine plaques taken down when street furniture is renewed, in limited numbers. A real one is heavy enamelled metal, not printed tin.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Paris La Boutique, the City of Paris shop in the Hôtel de Ville (29 rue de Rivoli), which also sells old cobblestones.

The classic Paris souvenir, from key rings to heavy metal models for the shelf. The men selling them from blankets around the tower, the Trocadéro and Montmartre are unlicensed street sellers: police regularly seize their stock, and the cheap cast towers bend easily. Buy in a shop, where you can also find better-made, heavier models.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: The Eiffel Tower's own shops (on the esplanade and on the floors) and Paris La Boutique at the Hôtel de Ville.

Paris has been the capital of French perfume since the 19th century, and several houses still have their flagship here. Buying at the house itself means you can try the full range, including scents not sold at airports. Fragonard is the accessible choice; Guerlain is the grand one. Avoid 'designer' bottles sold on the street: they are fakes.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Fragonard's free Perfume Museum and shop at 9 rue Scribe near the Opéra Garnier, and the Guerlain house at 68 avenue des Champs-Élysées.

The green boxes on the Seine parapets have held second-hand booksellers since the 19th century, and their trade is on France's list of intangible cultural heritage. Besides books they sell old engravings, maps, magazine covers and posters, light to carry home flat. Look past the magnets and printed reproductions for genuine old paper; ask the seller about the date.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Along the Seine: on the right bank from Pont Marie to Pont des Arts, on the left bank from Pont de Sully to Pont Royal, every day from morning to sunset (weather permitting).

The navy-and-white striped top was French Navy uniform from 1858 and became Paris fashion when Coco Chanel adopted it in the 1910s. It is made in Brittany and Normandy, not Paris, but the city's shops carry the original makers. A good one is thick cotton knit with stripes woven in, not printed on.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Saint James (shop in the Marais at 116 rue Vieille-du-Temple, among others) and Armor-Lux shops in Paris.

The round felted-wool cap comes from the Béarn in south-west France and became the cliché of the Parisian artist. A real one is made in one piece of knitted, felted merino wool, soft and dense, with the small stalk on top; the thin acrylic ones in souvenir shops lose their shape. Laulhère, a beret maker since 1840, has a Paris shop.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Laulhère Paris, 14–16 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré (at the back of the courtyard).

Mustard is a Dijon speciality, but the Maille house has had a shop on Place de la Madeleine since 1996, where mustard is pumped fresh from the tap into stoneware pots, next to flavoured mustards you will not find in supermarkets. The pots can be brought back to refill. Fresh tap mustard is sharper than the jarred kind and best kept in the fridge.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: La Boutique Maille, 6 place de la Madeleine.

Paris has many artisan chocolatiers who make their ganaches, pralinés and truffles on the premises. They are a better gift than the branded boxes at the airport, but fresh ganache keeps only two to three weeks and melts in a warm suitcase. À la Mère de Famille, founded in 1761, is the city's oldest chocolate and sweet shop.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: À la Mère de Famille's historic shop at 35 rue du Faubourg-Montmartre (with branches across Paris).

A professional kitchen-supply shop since 1820, in its present building near Les Halles since 1890, where Julia Child bought her pans. Narrow aisles and a cellar full of copper pans, knives, whisks and tart tins: small tools travel best. Prices are shown before tax and you pay at the till before collecting your items.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: E. Dehillerin, 18–20 rue Coquillière (1st arrondissement), closed on Sundays and public holidays.