As one approaches the Place Vendôme, one starts to notice that the nice-looking streets get even nicer-looking, the expensive stores even more expensive. Suddenly, one is surrounded by design houses like Dior, by jewelers like Cartier, and by countless shops selling perfume, shoes and other fine and luxury goods. This is the Paris of big spenders… and of those who dream of being such.

The Place Vendôme itself is immediately imposing, with fine, uniform buildings sprawled gracefully around its spacious center. In these buildings, one finds everything from more design houses and jewelers, to the Ministry of Justice and the Credit Foncier de France, to the Ritz Hotel. If visitors manage to take their eyes off this finery, they will notice the towering column in the middle of the Place. Known as the Colonne de la Grande Armée, this structure has a very turbulent history. Napoleon had the column erected to commemorate his soldiers who fought in the Battle of Austerlitz. Taking the lead from classic Roman columns, it has a frieze that winds all the way up its length, depicting the Emperor’s victories, with a statue of Napoleon in classic Roman garb at the top. The column was toppled during the 1871 Commune, then re-erected under the restored monarchy, with a royal figure atop in place of Napoleon. When Napoleon III came to power, the statue of his predecessor was reinstated. The one that tops the column today is a replica of the original Roman-style Emperor Napoleon.

A short distance to the west (and passing jewelers’ windows almost all the way), is the Church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption, a structure easily notable for its round form and large dome. Built in 1676 under the first director of the Academy of Paris in Rome, the church recalls the Pantheon in that Italian capital, with a coffered ceiling and single, round room for worship. The painting in the ceiling’s center is a refreshing burst of pastel color. The church, which has served as the center of the Polish Catholic community for more than a century, has an undeniably spiritual feel.

All this to say that it might be worthwhile to at least take a few photos of this imposing structure, as well as the Colonne de la Grande Armée, before continuing to wander among the dreamland of shops and other fine places in one of Paris’ swankiest quartiers.