On Saturday, October 11th, I decided to visit some of the covered passages or arcades in the northern part of Paris.  Once there were more than a 100 of them; today there are perhaps 20.  I took the metro to the stop Grand Boulevards and a few yards from the exit was the first of the three passages I wanted to visit:  Passage des Panoramas (which was one of the first of the covered arcades).

This passage is full of shops selling stamps and old postcards--if only I were a collector, what a treasure trove!  But there are also restaurants, jewelry and clothing stores.

A new look for me perhaps?

 An interesting way of displaying jewelry--my cats at home would be jealous.

The glass ceilings are the precursers of the covered suburban shopping malls of today.  The interior corridor is a little shabby but quite lovely too.

Then I crossed the street to the Passage Jouffroy and from the 2nd arrondissement into the 9th.

The Passage Jouffroy is a bit more . . . upscale.  It was built almost 50 years after the Passage des Panoramas--in order to take advantage of how popular the concept was with the general public--and was the first passage built entirely of metal and glass.

Jewelry, toys, books, prints and amazing chocolate delicacies!

 Yes, really amazing chocolate treats!

Finally, across another street to the Passage Verdeau, built around the same time as Passage Jouffroy with the same elegant glass and metal construction but somehow more low-key and . . . darker.  It's full of antique and curio shops, with some stamp and postcard shops as well.  The light made it impossible  to photograph a number of interesting looking shops that were not open when I was there.

And then there was this interesting art installation--difficult to photograph because of the light, but entertaining nonetheless.

It's a collection of icons of "saints" though not the saints we are all familiar with, but perhaps saints that might have, should have, could have been?  An example--a charming one.

Of the more than 100 covered passages developed in Paris over a period of only sixty years or so, about 20 remain.   I'm going to try to visit all of them over the next 5 weeks and you'll be able to see pictures of them on this blog.  Each passage has its own special character but they have one thing in common: they are all private roads.


On my way home, I passed a chocolate shop and was able to add another picture of a mushroom to my growing collection--this one made of marzapan and chocolate.