Rue Saint-Honoré — 2 minutes from our salon

Rue Saint-Honoré is one of the historic shopping streets of the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It houses Goyard (no. 233, founded in 1853), the Mandarin Oriental Paris (no. 251, opened in 2011), Hôtel Costes (no. 239-241, 1995), and the Saint-Roch church (built from 1653, façade by Robert de Cotte). A 2-minute walk from the You Rêve institute, 7 rue d'Argenteuil.

One of the shopping streets of the 1st

Rue Saint-Honoré runs from place du Louvre to rue Royale, where it gives way to rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré (which, in turn, leads to the Élysée — that is a different street, often confused with this one). On its portion bordering the 1st arrondissement, it lines up luxury boutiques, prestige hotels, restaurants, antique dealers, and a handful of institutions that have not moved in decades.

Here you find Goyard, a Parisian trunk-maker founded in 1853, the Mandarin Oriental (opened in 2011), the Hôtel Costes (opened in 1995), the church of Saint-Roch, and a fair number of art and design galleries in the portion closer to the Palais Royal. It is a street that suits both the casual stroller and the visitor with a precise mission — there is always something to see, and rarely the same thing twice in a row.

How to reach rue Saint-Honoré from our salon?

From 7 rue d'Argenteuil, it is two minutes on foot. The institute sits about fifty metres from the corner of rue Saint-Honoré and rue Saint-Roch — head south and you are on it. By metro:

• Tuileries (line 1) — the Saint-Honoré side exit drops you straight onto the street.
• Pyramides (lines 7 and 14) — Saint-Honoré is two or three minutes away via rue des Pyramides or rue Saint-Roch.
• Palais Royal — Musée du Louvre (lines 1 and 7) — for the eastern stretch of the street, towards the Comédie-Française.

Luxury and history

Rue Saint-Honoré is one of the oldest streets in Paris. Its name comes from the medieval Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which extended beyond the walls of the fortified city. Over the centuries, it became one of the great shopping streets of the capital, and saw layer after layer of shopfronts settle in — some long gone, others still there.

Goyard (no. 233) is one of the most emblematic: the house has sold its stencilled-canvas trunks here since 1853 — discreet from the outside, instantly recognisable to anyone who knows what to look for. The Mandarin Oriental Paris (no. 251), which opened in 2011, occupies a building with an inner garden that is rare in the 1st. The Hôtel Costes (no. 239-241), opened in 1995, has become an institution less for its rooms than for its atmosphere — the soundtrack, the courtyard, the velvets.

A few steps away, the Saint-Roch church is worth pushing the door for. Construction began in 1653 and the façade, designed by Robert de Cotte, was only completed at the end of the 18th century. It is today one of the largest parish churches in Paris — a neighbourhood institution, two steps from the commercial bustle of rue Saint-Honoré.

Our favourite

For a walk that captures the street at its densest, we suggest: arrive at Pyramides, walk down rue Saint-Honoré to Goyard at no. 233, take a short detour by the Saint-Roch church, then back up to place Vendôme via rue de Castiglione — possibly via the terrace of the Mandarin Oriental at no. 251 if it is teatime. Thirty to forty-five minutes depending on stops, and you have seen the essentials.

If you head home from a Saint-Honoré shopping day with a craving for a manicure that carries the same elegance, know that we are two minutes away. A long-lasting BIAB manicure holds 3 weeks without chipping — exactly the average gap between two visits to this street.