Galerie Vivienne

Mosaic floors and a rotunda for a rainy day

Hours: Daily about 08:30–20:00 (shops vary)
Address: 6 Rue Vivienne, 2nd arr.; also entrances on Rue des Petits-Champs and Rue de la Banque

Many call it the most elegant of the Paris arcades. The floor is mosaic and a glass rotunda sits at the centre. Bookshops, wine merchants and a tea room line the long corridor, and you end up ducking into one after another. When rain hits the Palais-Royal gardens, this is where to run. Pair it with Passage des Panoramas for an easy half-day.