Wondering what to do in Paris when it rains? Some say the city of light is at its best in the drizzle! With so many amazing museums, galleries, book shops, cafés and more – you’ll almost wish for the skies to open!
Discover the spirit of Haute Couture at La Galerie Dior
“Fashion designers offer one of the last refuges of the marvellous. They are, in a way, the masters of dreams…” – Christian Dior, Dior by Dior, 1958
A stone’s throw from the Champs-Elysées, Galerie Dior is housed in an elegant building at 30 Avenue Montaigne, once the glamorous headquarters of Christian Dior’s fashion empire. Dedicated to the story of Dior’s life and rise to fame, it’s a breath-taking tribute to one of the most famous designers of France, with a stunning two-story diorama of miniature haute-couture designs including 452 dresses by Dior’s seven official couturiers from Dior’s 1947 “New Look” fashion show to the present day. The objects took more than 100,000 hours to create with 3D printing.
Discover a display of dazzling Dior couture through the decades from bejewelled bags, gloves, hats, shoes, fabulous frocks galore, cases of gorgeous things presented in an ethereal and informative way. You’ll see designs at the earliest stage, plain white outfits but oh so classy, and watch a Dior couture creator in action.
Mrs Harris (goes to Paris) would swoon with delight.
It really is a fascinating exhibition.
Open daily (except Tuesday) – book your tickets in advance to avoid queuing.
Browse with a book
On a rainy day, a sojourn in a Paris library or bookshop is the perfect way to while away a few hours.
There are loads of one-of-a-kind bookshops in Paris and many have coffee shops, tea salons and at the Belle Hortense, even a wine bar (31 Rue Vieille du Temple). Halle Saint-Pierre at the foot of the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, is a ‘concept space’ that sells books, puts on exhibitions, has a museum of contemporary art, and a café that’s popular with the locals. The ever-popular-with-visitors Shakespeare & Co. in the shadow of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame is a legendary landmark. Smith & Son (formerly WH Smith) in rue de Rivoli is the biggest English bookshop in Paris and has a lovely little café.
Or pop to a library of which there are many you can visit for free in the city (check opening times in advance). The National Library of France (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, AKA BnF, has a collection of books and artefacts from antiquity to present day stored in four sites in Paris including the fabulous BnF Richelieu not far from the Opera Garnier, which is a must-visit for its extraordinary Oval reading room which contains more than 20,000 books (https://www.bnf.fr/en/oval-room). Bibliothèque Mazarine is the oldest library in Paris, opened to scholars in 1643 and founded by Cardinal Mazarin, prime minister of King Louis XIV. It has an enormous collection of rare and precious books confiscated from the aristocracy during the French Revolution. You can visit the beautiful reading room and exhibitions.
Wander the galleries of The Louvre
Some people say of the Louvre, a medieval former royal palace turned museum, “I’m not going there, it’s always too crowded”, others say “I must see the Mona Lisa, it’s a Paris No. 1.” I say, go see the Mona Lisa Which once hung in the bathroom of French King Francis I) if you must and accept that there will be crowds in front of the rather small if extraordinary painting, but don’t not go because you think that’s all there is. The Louvre is enormous, and it’s full of utterly amazing things, and I mean full – some 350,000 works of art.
Book your tickets in advance and go through the entrance in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall beneath the museum, and though it’s not as eye-catching as the pyramid above – you can see that from outside and inside without joining long lines to get in. And, go on a Friday night to avoid crowds, it’s open then until 9.45 pm, and I find if I get there first thing on a Sunday morning it’s always empty (to start with).
The Louvre website has a great list of collections, interactive map and downloadable map, so you can look in advance and pinpoint what you want to see, or just wander and discover the many incredible rooms full of priceless treasures from antiquities 7000 BC to Roman artefacts, the French crown jewels and galleries of porcelain, paintings, rooms full of furniture, and Napoleon III’s lavishly decorated apartments from the days when he lived in the Louvre during his tenure as Emperor of France.
It’s easy to spend an entire day in the museum, and to make that easy, there are several restaurants and cafés inside!
And find loads more rainy day recommendations here: How to spend a perfect rainy day in Paris – from morning to night!
Janine Marsh is the editor of The Good Life France.
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