La Samaritaine is the new place to see between the Seine and the Marais !

A new district bubbling with Art and Luxury is currently taking form, East of the Louvre and West of the Pompidou Centre, and another architectural gem, La Samaritaine, has just reopened near the Pinault Collection on show at the fully restored Bourse de Commerce. The LVMH group's ambitious renovation plan for the luxury department store lasted over 15 years. The new shopping centre focuses on fashion (600 brands in store), gastronomy and art-de-vivre. An example of the scale: the largest beauty department in Paris - 32,300 sq ft, designed by Hubert de Malherbe.

 

It would not be fair to let you visit the new Samaritaine without mentioning the history of this symbolic building, now loyally restored to its former glory. Brilliant merchant Ernest Cognacq founded the store in 1870 and commissioned Frantz Jourdain to remodel the block in-line with the existing architecture.

Jourdain designed a bright atrium with a monumental staircase covered by a massive glass dome, a masterpiece of 1900's glass and steel architecture, lined by a fresco of peacocks in the purest Art Nouveau style.

The same style continues outside on the façade with magnificent plaques of polychrome enamelled lava representing bunches of yellow and pigeon blue flowers, brand new once more after the decades of grey were removed!

Cognacq chose Jourdain again twenty years later to design a second store in a more up-to-date Art Deco style with Henri Sauvage.

That's the elegant and rather majestic building which overlooks the Seine.
 

The third building on rue de Rivoli is far more modern than the others today. The original and simpler façades have been covered with a single undulating glass façade designed by Japanese architects SANAA (Louvre-Lens museum).

Although there is nothing uniform about the new Samaritaine, the urban consistency was beautifully pulled off and the exceptional architecture makes for a worthwhile visit – the store offers guided tours.
 

Where do you think the name came from? A low-relief sculpture on a Pont Neuf water pump dating back to the days of Henri IV representing Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well. Before opening his first shop on rue de la Monnaie, Ernest Cognacq used to sell his wares from a stand on Pont-Neuf near this very pump and decided to use the name in memory of his working-class origins!

I strongly recommend heading for the food court (entire 5^th floor) after visiting and shopping. Cosy up with one of Matthias Giroud's novel cocktails at Voyage while deciding where to eat (10 outlets).

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