Perhaps you’re popping out for a light petit dejenuer? Or maybe it’s the lure of the baking smell emanating from the local pâtisserie? Might it be the urgent need for a case of Chateau Latour for an impromptu soirée? Whatever the French fancy that takes you along the boulevards of Crouch End in North London, one boutique you should certainly stop off at on your perambulations is the appropriately named Little Paris.

I recently discovered this discreet little vintage boutique, described as offering a little piece of Rive Gauche in London, and was drawn in by the artfully constructed window display of vintage furniture, handbags, film posters and a charming brown leather armchair. I have a particular penchant for vintage armchairs but Little Paris caters for the most eclectic of vintage tastes from a 1940’s Strafor cabinet to authentic Tolix chairs, vintage crockery to Jielde lamps.

The very best thing about shops like this is that once you enter, you feel as though you have stepped back into another era. Leaving behind the world of gleaming, new, overly-packaged products made to fit the mould of modernist consumer culture. Instead, one finds items here that are an anathema to this mindset, furniture that is replete with character and that certain je ne sais quai that makes you convince yourself that there is space in a cramped one-bedroom for a row of vintage cinema chairs. Interesting clocks are another passion of mine and so to find an original clock that once adorned a “beffroi”, the town halls found in Northern France, was an unexpected joy even though the £490 price was a little out of my budget. I can confess, standing there in front of it, I was tempted to follow the disastrous borrow and spend philosophy of the pre-credit crunch era, to indulge in the instant gratification that contributed to the global economic catastrophe. Still, forget all that, the beauty of boutiques like Little Paris are that they are rooted in a time before we were all forced to become au fait with terms like derivatives trading, credit default swaps and collateralised debt obligations.

Thankfully the team at Little Paris are not Francophile Luddites. Impressively, nearly all their items are available to view online on their website, complete with prices, and if you cannot make it down to Crouch End, they can also arrange delivery of your chosen products.

Hélène Allen, who started the shop in 2009, described the philosophy of the venture as wanting “to bring elements of everything I adore from France to my new home, England, to create a space which is inviting, unique and homely, and which would embody the spirit of the France I know and love”. Having had a chance to browse around the shop, examine the pieces and soak in the vintage Gallic atmosphere, one word summarises it admirably: j’adore.