How to Shop in France Like a True Parisian

Shopping in Paris can mean a leisurely stroll down the Champs-Élysées, bopping between vintage boutiques on the cobblestoned streets of the Marais, or hitting the famed, twice-yearly soldes (sales, to the uninitiated). To locals like myself, however, shopping in Paris refers more to the often daily ritual of food shopping. Whether it’s shopping for seasonal produce at the outdoor marché or running the neighborhood circuit of épicerie (a small grocery store), boulangerie (bakery), fromagerie (cheese shop), and boucherie (butcher shop), there are a few items that serve to assist—and up the beauty of—those everyday errands.

Here are a few tools to help you shop like a Parisian—wherever you are:

The shopping cart

Pro tip:

In terms of daily shopping in Paris, the best marché (or épicerie, boulangerie, fromagerie, and so on) is your local one. If you’re visiting Paris and want to hit a few marchés while you’re in town, a couple personal favorites include: Marché Popincourt, Marché Bastille, Marché d’Aligre, Marché Biologique des Batignolles, Marché President Wilson, and Marché Biologique Raspail.

L/Uniform No. 21 shopping trolley

L/Uniform’s N°21 Chariot de Courses looks just as fashionable stored in the hallway as it does leaving the boulangerie with a crusty baguette poking out the top. The Parisian brand’s chariot de courses comes equipped with a large, detachable cotton canvas bag with drawstring and flap closure, a small inside pocket, a luxe leather handle, and options to customize and monogram to make it fully your own. In a city where style matters—even when running errands—it’s an undeniably chic cart to bring on your daily shop.

Pro tip:

The best baguette in the city is, again, the one closest to your house, but if you’re willing to travel, Boulangerie Utopie and Mamiche are very good options. If you prefer your baguette crusty and nicely browned like I do, be sure to ask for it bien cuite (well cooked). Should you prefer it a lightly baked option, say pas trop cuite or bien blanche.

The net shopping bag

Filt Net shopping bag

While others make a version of France’s iconic net shopping bag, Filt, the country’s oldest manufacturer of filets is the brand to seek out. Made in Normandy since 1860, its bags can be found across Paris in a rainbow of colors and hauling everything from leafy greens to croissants to rolls of toilet paper. They don’t take up much space, hold plenty of weight, and so long as you buy objects big enough to not fall through the net, they’re the ideal shopping companion. Even when I’m not on a dedicated shopping run, I have one or two tucked in my purse or coat pocket in case I decide to pick something up en route home. An original Filt filet is easy to find in the city (pick one up on your next visit at La Trésorerie, Landline, or Merci), though they can be harder to source outside.

Longchamp Le Pliage Filet mesh bag

If you’re looking to level up the classic filet design, Longchamp teamed up with Filt to create the Le Pliage Filet. Topped with Longchamp’s iconic leather flap and Le Pliage handles, the company’s reinterpretation of the classic is ideal for a trip to the fromagerie, sure, but also in lieu of a traditional handbag to meet a friend for lunch.

Pro tip:

Fromageries abound across Paris but I especially love Quatrehomme, Barthélémy, Taka & Vermo, Crèmerie Terroirs d’Avenir, or Fromagerie Beillevaire. La Grande Épicerie also has a sizeable selection. There are many, many excellent cheeses to choose from so don’t be afraid to ask for help when deciding which morceau (piece) or tranche (slice) to buy. Don’t forget to add beurre (butter) of the demi-sel (salted), doux (without added salt), or salé (heavily salted) variety to your shopping list. (If you do forget, any French supermarket will also sell a surprisingly large selection of very good beurre.)

Another elevated French collaboration with Filt, Lemaire’s sac filet comes with a double leather strap and in multiple sizes. (There’s also a reimagined version of Lemaire’s iconic Croissant bag if that’s your thing.)

Lemaire Filt Net shopping bag

Lemaire Croissant Filt bag

Pro tip:

Should you want to tote a croissant in your filet, those from Paris bakeries like Léonie, La Panifacture, Poilâne, Stohrer, and Atelier P1 are all excellent.

The market basket

While spotted a plenty in Parisian markets, the appearance and daily use of woven paniers only increases as you head further south. I tend to take one of mine as a carry-on for the train ride from Paris to Provence, and then use it rigorously while on holidays. (If I leave it behind, I inevitably pick up a new panier during my trip.) Any market basket you love easily makes the leap from toting fresh tomatoes, une barquette of raspberries, a poulet rôti (rotisserie chicken), and an extra-large bunch of flowers at the marché to a long afternoon at the beach through to apéro hour.

A few stylish options I like include the Maxi Sophie from Muuñ and the Justine Basket from Sézane. If you want a more classic version like, say, those you would buy on a whim in le sud to fill in for the ones you left back home in Paris, something like these picks from Medina Mercantile or Terrain work perfectly. A tip if you think your shop will overflow from your panier: Tuck a few filets into your market basket before leaving the house.

Medina Mercantile Morocco French Market basket

Pro tip:

While you can always buy your flowers at the marché, should you care to make a dedicated stop at the fleuriste (flower shop) in Paris, L’Arrosoir, De Beaulieu, and Castor Fleuriste are a few beautiful options.

The coin purse

While many places now accept bank cards, it’s not unusual for vendors at the market to be cash only—or show their preference by enforcing a minimum amount to spend before using a card. A porte-monnaie (coin purse) helps to keep your cache of smaller coins at the ready rather than digging through pockets and bottoms of purses. Clare V. makes its porte-monnaie with a zippered closure in an assortment of colors and patterns. This coin purse from Le Tanneur comes with multiple separate compartments for storing coins, cards, cash, and receipts. Or one could argue that, while a bit of a splurge, with daily use the cost per wear evens out on this timeless Hermès option.

Le Tanneur Sans Couture coin purse

Hermes Bastia change purse

Useful French phrases

In France, manners matter. Whenever you enter a store (or a restaurant, taxi, or it’s your turn in the line at the marché stand), start with a bonjour (hello) and—whether you’ve purchased anything or not—end with merci, au revoir (thank you, goodbye!). A few other useful phrases to commit to memory while food shopping include:

• Je voudrais: “I would like…”
• S’il vous plaît: “please”
• Combien ça coûte? Or c’est combien?: “how much is it?”
• Un peu plus: “a bit more”
• Un peu moins: “a bit less”
• Parlez-vous anglais?: “do you speak English?”