Twenty minutes later, we climbed the stairs out into the night, hustling after Li down the block to the Galeries Lafayette, the ten-story department store on the Boulevard Haussmann.

NEWYORKER: The Grand Tour

If your taste in fashion tends towards the Gallic, Galeries Lafayette (Friedrichstrasse 76 -- 78) offers elegant French design, perfumes, shoes and accessories.

CNN: Berlin: Where to shop

At the height of her career in 1950, Edith Piaf sang at Galeries Lafayette to boost post-war spirits.

BBC: Paris, the inside story

The goal is to drain some of the crowds away from Paris's jam-packed department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps.

WSJ: LVMH to Mix Luxury and Tourism in Paris