Paris, 18 April 2012

Bon Marché in the 19th Century

 Someone we know once said that for them travel was a twelve-month affair.  They spent five months planning their trip, two months travelling, and five months sorting out their pictures.  Well, I suppose this is an admission that goes against my own best interests.  I leave the first part almost completely to Virginia and she does it extremely well, and she leaves the last part to me and I do it very poorly indeed.  In fact, according to Virginia, I have still not organised the photos from our visit to Paris more than five years ago.

Today, again cold and wet, we headed off to Bon Marché.  This is one of the great department stores of the world ranking right up there with Harrods, it is considered by many historians to be the first of that genre.  Although it traces its roots back to the 1830s, the current building was largely constructed in the last third of the nineteenth century. All of the collections of the top fashion designers are represented in its spacious interior. Much of the ground floor consists of a massive cosmetics department.  In it are sections for all of the brands you have ever heard of and many you may not know. We find it more elegant than the other Grand Magasins of Paris, including Gallerie Lafayette and Au Printemps.  Certainly their windows are always interesting, very edgy and avant-garde.  It is the store for Parisians and there are fewer tourists than at some of the other great department stores.

An Entrance to the Store

Le Bon Marché

In a separate building is La Grande Epicerie, the gourmet food market which stocks thousands of products from around the world.  Prices are extortionate but quality is of the best.  We look, but don't buy.  It would be like doing your grocery shopping at David Jones when there was a Coles around the corner.

White Asparagus

Bread

Pastries

As we left, Virginia headed off in a new direction.  I followed.  She had, in her planning, discovered a lovely little park in the heart of the residential district near Bon Marche.  It is the Catherine Labouré Garden. The Jardin Catherine-Labouré is a park of about 7,000 square metres in Paris's Seventh Arrondissement, on Rue Babylone. This garden with grapevines and ornamental berries was the potager of the convent of the Daughters of Charity since 1633 and has been open to the public since 1977. There is a community garden along with an arbour-covered pathway. There are two children's playgrounds. But most of all it is an oasis of quiet in the heart of a busy Arrondissement.

The Gardens

Saint Catherine Labouré (May 2, 1806 – December 31, 1876)was a sister of the Daughters of Charity and a Marian visionary who relayed the supposed request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the Miraculous Medal worn by millions of Christians, both Roman Catholic and non-denominational.

Sign at Entrance to the Garden