Ideas for breaks, weekends away and excursions in VILLENEUVE-LA-GARENNE and the surrounding area

For more than a hundred and fifty years shopping has been the name of the game in the district between theopéra Garnierand the Saint-Lazare railway station in Paris. Boulevard Haussman, two Grands magasins say all there is to say about trends in fashion, design, beauty, decoration and fine cuisine in a historic setting preserved under their majestic Art Déco dome. During the Christmas and New Year holidays, the shop windows of the Grands magasins come to life and as they sprout Christmas lights and other seasonal decorations, the magic of Christmas takes hold of everything around about. During the sales, the atmosphere is equally as frenetic: Parisians and tourists clamber for bargains and doll themselves up for next to nothing.There are also loads of other high street names waiting for you at only a short distance from the Grands magasins and under its glass roof, the Passage du Havre is home to forty or so boutiques.Looks like some great shopping on the way.

Happy birthday!

And the winner is…

Two fashion heayweights who moulded the way we dress.

The art of draughtsmanship.