While you can tailor your own tour (see tour tips), my tour focused on shopping. We began on rue de Rivoli near the beautiful old Saint Paul Church.
We headed straight onto the smaller streets north of Rivoli, first stopping at Canzi, an organic scent shop created in 2002 by Stéphane Mottay. All scents are organically made without chemicals or synthetic additives. Some of the products were high-end beauty products (priced accordingly). But the highlight of the shop is its many different perfumes, lighter scents, and perfumes designed by Stéphane in his own laboratory. The scents were light, natural, and generally floral or fruity, but never too strong or sweet. Stéphane first sprayed me with a light orange blossom and vanilla spray. I also tried a very pleasant orange blossom lotion and another, spicier herbal lotion. Products here are for men and women alike.
The designer shoe store we visited next was a small boutique with gorgeous shoes by top designers, including Marc Jacobs. Here, both Richard and I admired silvery lamé sandals and a pair of pistachio-colored heels with a black stitching effect. More lamé was on view at an all-handbag shop we visited that featured a line of pink, blue, silver and gold bags.
As we wound through one small street after another, I could see that Richard had carefully culled a selection of the most interesting and unique shops. Over the course of the tour, he showed me an upscale children’s clothing shop with a remarkable assortment of colorful little shoes, several designer boutiques, handbag and shoe shops with handmade products, and a handful of quirky clothing stores.
