Power and Luxury: the Faubourg-Saint-Honoré

From Saint-Augustin, take rue de la Boétie (at the corner of the Monoprix supermarket). You'll find rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré at Saint-Philippe-du-Roule tube station. Turn into the street at right hand. You'll see a glamorous floodlighted restaurant called La Cantine du Faubourg (expect trendy World cuisine). A few steps way, Room Show is a fantastic factory outlet tucked away in a courtyard at n°44, rue du Colisée:  on a good day, big names sale their previous collections at 80%, check the website to gain access.

Don't be surprised by the numerous policemen patrolling the area: from the Elysée Palace (the official residence of the French president) to the Home Office, many state buildings are situated in the district. It may be helpful for you to know it's also the place where you will find the British Embassy and the US Embassy (both are very close to Concorde square on Faubourg-Saint-Honoré).

The area is also well-known as fashion Golden Triangle: think Gucci, D&G, Paul Smith, Prada, Lanvin, Cartier, Yves Saint-Laurent, Chloé, Chanel, Hermès, Sergio Rossi... to name but a few. The best shopping experience may be the Eclaireur, on rue Boissy-d'Anglas. The concept-store coupled with a restaurant offers 600 m² of ultra trendy designers and a corner dedicated to the Italian designer Fornasetti.

The Faubourg is also famous for its upscale art galleries. Check the figurative art gallery Art Comparaison and its permanent team of twenty artists, or Jérome de Noirmont (for the French visual artist Fabrice Hyber).

Some more steps will lead you to Place Vendôme: this famous square was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart after the slightly megalomaniac desires of Louis XIV. It's home to the Ritz (good for celebrity spotting) and to the finest goldsmith's (Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Cartier...). Its centre is magnified by the Vendôme Column (inspired from the Roman Trajan's Column), which replaced an equestratrian statue of the Sun-King after the Austerlitz battle. From the square, you're close to Palais-Royal and the Louvre, where to enjoy other routes.