Museum shops offer the chance to stock up on unusual objects and original cultural gifts.
The permanent collections and outstanding temporary exhibitions at Paris’s major museums attract more visitors every year. To ensure that everyone retains a lasting memory of the masterpieces they have admired, the shops of Paris's most famous museums provide an attractive selection of unique items and original products.
The Louvre's shops, under the Louvre pyramid, feature refined and elegant objects, such as superb reproductions of jewellery and sculptures from the museum's collections, as well as a wide selection of artist’s monographs, essays and books on art. At the impressive Musée d'Orsay, housed in the station built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, the bookshop-gift shop is also inspired by the museum's collections and features posters, table setting objects, history books and exhibition catalogues.
At the Hôtel des Invalides, the bookshop-gift shop space of the Musée de l'Armée has a selection of more than 2,000 guidebooks and books linked to the museum's collections and military history, as well as decorative objects, postcards and toys. The opportunity to buy a replica of Napoleon's wool felt bicorne hat, made in France!
For design and contemporary art buffs, there is, as you would expect, plenty of choice. The Centre Pompidou’s shop offers design for daily life, with works and innovations from well-known and emerging creative talents. The Flammarion bookshop at the Centre Pompidou has a wide selection of publications on art and design as well as multimedia products. The ultra-fashionable Palais de Tokyo is notable for its amazing Walther König & Cahiers d'Art bookshop. It offers all kinds of rare objects and limited-edition products in a 450 m² space inspired by a petrol station in the suburbs of Stockholm. For a chic shopping experience, head to the Fondation Vuitton’s bookshop-gift shop, devoted to art and design; you’ll also find publications linked to the materials of the building designed by Franck Gehry.
To round off this overview of Paris’s major museum shops, go along to the shop at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, just at the entrance to the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution. It is packed with products relating to the collection including products with the sustainable development label and cool and educational things for kids. Finally, near the Eiffel Tower, the Musée du Quai Branly’s 170 m² bookshop-gift shop is dedicated to non-European arts and full of ethnically diverse objects that promote the values of ethical trade.
Worth noting, Paris’s major museum shops offer a wide range of their leading products online.
Some shops, like their museums, offer a selection of atypical and diverse items. They are often ideal places to find uncommon or highly specialized objects, recordings, or books. A brief overview of these singular, whimsical and surprising places.
At the shop of La Monnaie de Paris, fans of coins, medals, jewellery and tourist tokens will find a wide and quality choice to satisfy both budding and experienced collectors. Just as original, the shop at the Adresse - Musée de la Poste stocks a fine range of various objects related to the activity and history of the Post Office.
In the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, in the heart of the Marais district, the bookshop-gift shop of the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme offers a rigorous selection of objects and works on various religions, philosophy, history and ethnography. At the Institut du Monde Arabe, just around the corner from the Jardin des Plantes, the bookshop-gift shop of this Parisian institution designed by Jean Nouvel also has some real gems - a wonderful insight into Arab culture - with some 20,000 titles in French, Arabic and English, together with art and craft products.
In the Bercy district, the bookshop at the Cinémathèque Française is the Parisian expert on cinema and boasts a collection of more than 12,000 titles, from the pre-cinema era to the digital age. Film buffs can also visit the Jeu de Paume bookshop at La Concorde, a reference for photography, the visual arts and cinema, with a collection of more than 10,000 titles.
In terms of theatre, the Comédie-Française has its own gift shop-bookshop with a plethora of objects relating to the world of theatre and its rich heritage. In the evening of the event, you can even buy the text of the play that you are going to see!
The Maison Elysée boutique offers almost 300 French products, showcasing national craftsmanship through tableware, decorative items, fashion and accessories, celebrating French know-how and elegance under the Élysée - Présidence de la République brand.
The Opéra Garnier’s shop specializes in opera and ballet and works linked to the programme of this famous institution. Educational games, designer objects, books, technological objects and even signature objects and showcases make this place an iconic address. At the Harmonia Mundi bookshop-gift shop during temporary exhibitions at the Philharmonie de Paris and throughout the year at the Cité de la Musique, fans of classical, jazz and world music can pick up not easily found works among the more than 9,000 CD and DVD titles, as well as expert advice from professionals.
To improve your technical and scientific knowledge, the shop of the Musée des Arts et Métiers offers fine objects and books linked to its current exhibitions – a fascinating insight into the world of technology. The Librairie du Moniteur, at to the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower, is exclusively dedicated to the fascinating field of architecture.
For design, the shop 107 Rivoli at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs specializes in the decorative arts, fashion and design. The shop also invites celebrities and designers to suggest a selection of ephemeral and ultra-specialist objects for an exhibition or event. At the CentQuatre, the 0fr. bookshop, founded by Marie and Alexandre Thumerelle, stocks a wide choice of books on art, design, fashion, architecture, rare and out-of-print books and avant-garde magazines. Finally, just down from Sacré-Cœur, the bookshop in Halle Saint-Pierre is as surprising as its museum dedicated to art brut. In this fine space, with its iron and glass structure, you can find works about all types of offbeat contemporary design.
