Parisians Amélie and Gregory Monvoisin opened Marcel Market, their airy Bishop Arts shop, this past spring, decorating it with postcard-size images of Parisian street signs and New Wave French film stars. For their first Bastille on Bishop in July, Amélie had a cut-out photo backdrop shipped at the last minute from France. It featured a duo of pastry-holding flâneurs on a cobblestone street: one sporting a scarf, the other a beret.
The whole scene turned instantly, effortlessly chic. The transplants are creating a similar sense of delightful dislocation on their shelves, with a charming collection of nibbles from France, along with exclusive French ceramics, beauty products, and clothing. They give a whole new meaning to Bogart and Bergman’s “We’ll always have Paris.”
Until a few months ago, when people asked me, a French native, where to find gift items for Francophile friends, I drew a blank. No longer. This is the only place you can pick up locally made We the Birds macarons and find weekend baguette and pastry deliveries. Shelves brim with gourmet groceries, home accessories, and creations by Parisian jewelry and clothing designers, most of which are sourced from niche producers in their native France. “They’re things that we wear, and eat, and love,” Amélie says. “Little brands that are carefully handmade.”
See the gallery for a sampling across the shop.
