Opening hours
Most businesses open Monday to Saturday, often with two hours off at midday, and generally close at around 7pm. In addition, the larger department stores tend to stay open until 9pm or 10pm on Thursday nights. Almost all shops close on Sunday and some stay closed on Monday as well, though there is often a corner shop open in each neighbourhood to fill in the gap.

Bookshops
The best areas for books are the narrow streets of the quartier Latin and along the Seine, where rows of stalls are perched against the river parapet. Here we've listed a few specialists and favourites. For books in English, head for Abbey Bookshop, Shakespeare & Co or W H Smith.

Abbey Bookshop/La Librairie Canadienne 29 rue de la Parcheminerie, 5e. Mº St-Michel. Mon-Sat 10am-7pm.
A Canadian bookshop round the corner from Shakespeare & Co, with lots of secondhand British and North American fiction, good social science sections, plus knowledgeable and helpful staff - and free coffee.

Artcurial 9 av Matignon, 8e. Mº Franklin-D-Roosevelt. Tues-Sun 10am-7.15pm; closed two weeks in Aug.
The best art bookshop in Paris.

FNAC Forum des Halles, niveau 2, Porte Pierre-Lescot, 1er. Mº/RER Châtelet-Les Halles. Mon-Sat 10am-7.30pm.
Not the most congenial of bookshops, but it's the biggest and covers everything; there are numerous other branches throughout the city.

Galerie Maeght 42 rue du Bac, 7e. Mº Rue-du-Bac. Tues-Sat 9.30am-7pm.
Famous art gallery which makes its own beautifully printed art books.

Présence Africaine 25bis rue des Écoles, 5e. Mº Maubert-Mutualité. Mon-Sat 10am-7pm.
Specialist black African bookshop, with titles ranging from literature to economics and philosophy by Caribbean and North American, as well as African writers.

Parallèles 47 rue St-Honoré, 1er. Mº Châtelet-Les Halles. Mon-Sat 10am-7pm.
An alternative bookshop, with everything from anarchism to New Age. Good for info on current events and gigs.

Shakespeare & Co 37 rue de la Bûcherie, 5e. Mº Maubert-Mutualité. Daily noon-midnight.
A cosy, famous literary haunt, American-run, with the biggest selection of secondhand English books intown. Also poetry readings and the like.

W H Smith 248 rue de Rivoli, 1er. Mº Concorde. Mon-Sat 9.30am-7pm.
Paris outlet of the British chain. Wide range of books and newspapers.

Clothes
The haute couture shows may be well out-of-bounds, but there's nothing to prevent you trying on fabulously expensive creations by famous couturiers in rue du Faubourg-St-Honoré, avenue François-1er and avenue Victor-Hugo - apart from the intimidating air of the assistants and the awesome chill of the marble portals. Likewise, you can treat the younger designers round place des Victoires and in the Marais and St-Germain areas as stops on your sightseeing itinerary. The long-time darlings of the glitterati are Jean-Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa, who, in 1991, were prevailed upon to design some gear for the city's cheapest department store - Tati (whose main branch is at 13 place de la République, 11e; Mº République). Of the more recent star designers three are British - John Galliano at Dior, Stella McCartney at Chloé and the controversial Alexander McQueen at Givenchy. For smart clothes without the fancy labels the best areas are rue St-Placide and rue St-Dominique in the 6e and 7e. The department stores Galeries Lafayette and Au Printemps have good selections of designer prêt-à-porter; and the Forum des Halles is choc-a-bloc with clothes shops at less competitive prices. The sales take place in January and July, with reductions of up to forty percent on designer clothes. Designer ends of lines andold stock are sold year-round in discount shops concentrated in rue d'Alésia in the 14e and rue St-Placide in the 6e. For shoes , take a wander down rue Meslay in the 3e.

Department stores
Au Bon Marché 38 rue de Sèvres, 7e. Mº Sèvres-Babylone. Mon-Fri 9.30am-7pm, Sat till 8pm.
Paris's oldest department store, founded in 1852. Prices are lower on average than at the more upmarket Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Excellent kids' department and a legendary food hall.

Galeries Lafayette 40 bd Haussmann, 9e. Mº Havre-Caumartin. Mon-Sat 9.30am-6.45pm, Thurs till 9pm.
The store's forte is, above all, high fashion. Two complete floors are given over to the latest creations by leading designers for men, women and children. Then there's household stuff, tableware, furniture, a huge parfumerie , and much else - all under a superb 1900 dome.

Au Printemps 64 bd Haussmann, 9e. Mº Havre-Caumartin. Mon-Sat 9.30am-7pm, Thurs till 10pm.
Books, records, a parfumerie even bigger than that of rival Galeries Lafayette, excellent fashion for women - less so for men.

La Samaritaine 75 rue de Rivoli, 1er. Mº Louvre-Rivoli, Mº Châtelet & Mº Pont-Neuf. Mon-Sat 9.30am-7pm, Thurs till 10pm.
The largest of the department stores, spread over three buildings, boasts that it can provide anything you could possibly want. You get a superb view of Paris from the eleventh-floor rooftop, and from the inexpensive tenth-floor terrace café (closed Oct-March).

Food and drink
Sumptuous food stores are to be found all over Paris: the listings below are for the specialist places , many of them palaces of gluttony, with prices to match. Everyday food shopping is best done at the street markets or ...
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Music
New cassettes and CDs are not particularly cheap in Paris, but there are plenty of secondhand bargains, and you may come across selections that are novel enough to tempt you. Like the live music scene, there are albums of Brazilian, Caribbean,...
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Sport and outdoor pursuits
Le Ciel Est à Tout le Monde 10 rue Gay-Lussac, 5e. RER Luxembourg. Mon-Sat 10am-7pm; closed Mon in Aug.
The best kite shop in Europe. It also sells frisbees, boomerangs, etc, plus books and traditional toys.

Nomades 37 bd Bourdon, 4e. Mº Bastille. Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat & Sun 10am-7pm.
The place to buy and rent rollerblades and equipment, with its own bar out back where you can find out about the scene.

Au Vieux Campeur 48 rue des Écoles, 5e. Mº Maubert-Mutualité. Mon-Fri 10.30am-7.30pm, Wed till 9pm, Sat 9.30am-8pm.
Maps, guides, climbing, hiking, camping, ski gear, plus a kids' climbing wall.

Markets
Paris's markets , like its shops, are grand spectacles. Mouthwatering arrays of food from half the countries of the globe, captivating in colour, shape and smell, assail the senses in even the drabbest parts of town. In addition, there are street markets of secondhand goods (the flea markets, or marchés aux puces ), clothes and textiles , flowers , birds , books and stamps . Though all have semi-official opening and closing hours, many begin business in advance and drag on till dusk.