5 Best Places to Shop in Montparnasse, Paris

Artist and glassworker Jean Perzel started his company over a century ago and quickly became a leading creator of top-quality Art Deco lamps. Three generations later, it is still a family-run business, housed in a magnificent 1931 building commissioned by Michel Roux-Spitz and home to the workshop and a multistory showroom. If you want to take a useful and lasting souvenir home from Paris, this is the place to shop. There is a huge selection of lamps, each one handmade on-site by expert glass and metal workers, and each a collector's item which you, too, can pass on to future generations. It's adjacent to the beautiful Parc Montsouris, so you can combine a visit to the park with a stop at this unique shop.

This sophisticated concession shop specializes in antique housewares, small furniture, tableware, decorative items, linen, jewelry, and a small selection of clothing. The housewares include silver sets, ceramics and porcelain, candelabras, artwork, lamps, vases, and baskets, all carefully chosen and artfully displayed. If you're a collector or just looking for something different, you'll be sure to find something precious and useful here.

Open since 1977, this family-owned boutique specializes in high-end traditional board games such as chess and backgammon, but also two- and three-dimensional puzzles, games made of wood, and ones you’ve never heard of like Nain Jaune ("Yellow Dwarf," a very old French game) and other ancient card games. With over 2,000 items in stock, many made by French artisans, the game-passionate staff has an endless number of suggestions and advice to help you find the perfect original gift that no one else will have back home.

If this tiny 1950s and 1960s-inspired concept store has survived for four decades, it's not an accident. The owner carefully chooses fun, funky clothing, housewares, jewelry, decorative items, and anything else that inspires her to sell in her boutique. Don't miss the back room with retro posters, lamps, furniture, and kitschy wall hangings.

This small flea market is a hit with the fashion and design set. It specializes in easily portable items (like textiles or clothing) and collectible objects that include books, posters, postcards, and glassware. With tables sprawling along both sides of the sidewalk, there's an extravagant selection—just be sure to bargain with vendors. It's open only on weekends from 8 am to 2 pm, but come early for the real deals as good stuff goes fast.