Shoe shops in France

Paris is a good bet for big shoe shops, with Sagone being the first port of call - they have a small shop on rue Parmentier (metro Parmentier) that stocks all the large sizes - not too pricey. Don't go to the shop in Les Halles as that only stocks the usual range in size 4-8. Over the road (and just by the metro entrance) is Palais de la Chaussure - which has a very nice selection and all reasonably priced. There may be other shops in the area but I haven't tracked them down yet. Both do mail order.

Also in Paris, near metro Barbès (not the most salubrious area but the girls in the shop are lovely) is Sacapuce. They have a good range of heels and boots in quite distinctive (and fashionable) styles and also do mail order. There is also Grande et Belle but I wasn't particularly inspired by any of their styles online. Looks like they have a far better collection instore.

In Rouen there is Phil Grif, but their website is a bit crap and the styles are fairly mumsy.

In Lille there is La Botte Chantilly, but their site annoys me because you click on "pointures extremes" (large sizes) and half the shoes there only go up to a size 42. So they'd do well to only link to those shoes in a 42 upwards, thereby saving themselves from my wrath. There is also Chaussures Adrien - plenty of wedding shoes although the website is slow to load and the search facility is rubbish. Quite impressed by the selection - the shoes are chic and look well-made. Prices not eye-watering either.

There is also Rymy in Parthenay, though I am ashamed to say I have absolutely no idea where that is.

Only online is Les Grandes, with a fantastic selection of actually trendy and stylish and – dare I say it? – sexy shoes. It's a miracle! Their prices are very good, plus they ship internationally (not sure about whether to the US/Canada though). Also only online is Le Shopping de Marion but I'm not sure if they will ship to the UK - sounds like she gets her shoes from the US and then resells them here.

To be continued...

Shoe heaven, shoe hell

While wandering Chiltern Street in London yesterday, I popped in to Totally Shoes, a recent addition to several large size shoe shops that populate the street. Apart from the dreadful typo in their website tagline, they actually have a nice range of shoes, many of which could actually be described as fashionable. Not cheap, but then big shoes rarely are. Anyway, my eyes lighted on a pair of brogue boots by John Fluevog, a Canadian designer. Sadly they were the last pair in the shop (size 8 and just a smidgen too small) but they were so gorgeous that I've been trawling the web all morning trying to find them elsewhere. No joy. They must be a previous season's or something. Gutted. However, I was made up to discover that not only does John Fluevog ship to the UK, he also does his shoes and boots up to a size 10 (US 12) - very impressed with the range of very fashionable styles (fans of Vivienne Westwood will approve).

I also had a look in Magnus Shoes, where I found a lovely pair of brown flat boots. Thwarted again, as they only had them in a size 10 (12 US) and none in their Hampstead shop either. I need to call their mail order folks and find out if there are any left in the warehouse. I also tried Crispins Shoes and Elephant Feet, but no joy there either - Crispins generally have a great range but they are pricey. Elephant Feet had a fairly limited range and many of their styles come up quite wide - no good for my narrow, long feet.

So in the end I bit the bullet and ordered the boots I'd seen in a German online shop - Schuh Kaufmann - according to a contributor on Janine Dalton's blog, this company has bought many of the large-size shoe companies in Germany and so can offer good deals on shoes. It's not cheap, but they do ship overseas (not sure about outside Europe). The site is all in German but you can muddle through easily enough.