Perhaps because Paris can be very rainy, a number of buildings include 'passages' (arcades), essentially indoor pedestrian streets. Each of these has its own character. Most are on the Right Bank.
These are just a few, but you'll encounter others if you keep an eye out for doors that lead to more than courtyards.
Not far from the Louvre. Shorter than some of the others, but elegant and charming enough to merit a visit.
METRO: Louvre.
Just off the Place des Victoires, which is a high fashion center. The passage itself is covered with a skylight and includes Legrand's famous wine shop, as well as a tea salon, a bookstore, a toy store and several other pricey but striking shops.
METRO: Bourse.
This goes on for several blocks, a true bazaar of little shops and restaurants. Far more working class than the other two, but that's part of its charm. (It's got an American connection: the 'panoramas' were set up by Robert Fulton in the Nineteenth Century and were a popular attraction in that pre-cinema age.)
METROS: Bourse, Montmartre.
LAST UPDATED:January 2009