Setting up home in Paris: what you’ll need and where to find it

  Start with the table linenMARCHÉ ST. PIERRE: Corner of Saint Pierre and Albert, 75018. Metro: Barbes Rochechouart, Anvers or Abbesses. Open from 10 to 6:30 Tuesday through Saturday and from 1:30 to 6:30 on Mondays. While visiting Sacré Coeur you can’t help but notice all of the fabric stores in the neighborhood. This one is the biggest and best. To maximize your efforts and minimize the time you spend shopping instead of touring (the place is usually packed especially on Saturdays), take the stairs nearest the entrance and head for the 3rd floor or 3rd etage marked voilage. There you will find a treasure trove of decorating fabric in traditionally French motifs to turn your kitchen table into a coin café for 10 to 15 euros per meter. Next, the treatsMONOPRIX: Corner of Blvd. Sébastabol and Réaumur, 75002. Metro: Réaumur Sébastabol, line 3 and 4. Open from 9:00 to 8:30. Of course you can stop in nearly any grocery store in Paris and find these next few items but this Monoprix is close to Pompidou. Plus if you shop during off-hours there are usually plenty of cashiers and you can sail through the checkout lines. So, first stop is the ground-floor housewares section, next to the bakery and by the stairs, where you will find cotton dishtowels in the traditional green, red or blue and white check pattern, sold individually for about 3 euros and in cute little packs of 3 for less than 6 euros. Next, head up the stairs to the aisle on the far right. Go past the wine and you will find the cookie section. Look for the Bonne Mamman brand. Here’s the easy part: grab anything and everything that suits your fancy. Most of the boxes cost 2 euros or less, and contain individually wrapped cookies that are all excellent, such as Tartlettes Framboise (rasberry), Citron (lemon), and Chocolat. BHV: 52-56, rue de Rivoli, 75004. Metro: Hôtel-de-Ville, line 1. Open from 9:30 to 6:00, Thursday late night until 9:00. Closed on Sundays. If you like to cook and want to polish your French skills, you could always get a cookbook instead. At this department store in the Marais you will find a section of cookbooks. Look for the ones by Marabout, which have great pictures, simple recipes and cost less than 8 euros. I picked up two: Crumbles and Les Classiques Faciles. Mmmm. Mood MusicAfter visiting Pompidou, you can easily pick up a few CDs of typically French music for cheap. On the street that runs alongside the museum, rue Rambuteau, there is the Movie Store where you can get music by Edith Pilaf and Maurice Chevalier for less than 4 euros. You will find an even bigger selection on the street that runs in front of the museum, rue Saint Martin. If the museum is at your back, head left towards 79 rue St. Martin, just a block or two away. The store, Victor Music, is on your right. There you will find a good selection of classic French songs on compilation CDs. I picked up Cafe de Paris– 25 Grands Succes Français for a few euros, and have 72 minutes of tunes by icons like Charles Trenet, Josephine Baker, Piaf and Chevalier. Finishing Touches IMAGES D’ARTISTES: 01-42-36-30-48. 85 rue Rambuteau, 75001 (3 blocks from the museum). Metro: Rambuteau, line 11 or Les Halles. In the same neighborhood as Pompidou you’ll find many stores selling posters and postcards with famous scenes of the city. Take your pick. Images D’Artistes is one of the cheapest. Here you can find small art posters (about 8×10) of the Moulin Rouge, Folies Bergere, Casino de Paris and others for 3 euros. Finally, the chocolate bowlsIDEM: 01-40-29-08-68. 4 rue de Rivoli, 75004. Metro: St. Paul, line 1. Open from 10:00 to 7:00 LA VAISSELLERIE BLANCHE: 01-42-72-76-66. 92 rue St. Antoine, Metro: St. Paul, line 1. Open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 7:00. You can pick up some great bowls to serve the hot chocolate in at IDEM. If you are touring around the Marais this will just be a quick detour. Pass all of the tacky housewares in the front of the store and head to the back where you will find yellow, green, blue or white ceramic bowls for 2 euros. You could also add some chrome canisters for thé, café and sucre to your basket for 3 euros each. If you don’t find what you are looking for there then head left down the street two blocks where you will find La Vaissellerie Blanche. They have everything from wine-bottle-shaped refrigerator magnets for 4 euros, to glass champagne chillers for 45 euros, and a few cheese cutters for 3 euros thrown into the mix. They also have a selection of bowls and canisters.