Esteban is one of those strange, elusive lines. You hear about new releases but rarely manage to lay your hands on them. Vendors carry a couple of their scents or bathroom products, but never the latest or the one you’re interested in.

It’s therefore a bit of a shock to come across this beautiful double-fronted store in the heart of the Marais. In a quiet but elegant street, the Esteban shop is filled to the ceiling with products and lines you never even knew existed. It’s exquisitely presented in a bright, clean style, and the products themselves are so delightfully packaged, it’s all you can do to leave the shop without your credit card needing a seat and a glass of water.

This is not the most expensive line in the scented world, which makes resistance all the more futile.

Among the offerings are candles, scented pebbles, reed diffusers, incense, bowls and candle holders, home fragrances, bath products and perfumes. At the time of my visit, lines included the Collection Couleurs, Collection les Orientaux and Collection Matières.

Getting there: Esteban, 20 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75003 Paris. Tel: +33 (0) 1 40 27 04 16.

Nearest Metro station: St. Paul (le Marais) on line 1.

Nearby: The Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris is round the corner on rue Pavée, offering roughly a million books and pamphlets on the history of Paris. You’re also not far from a small Annick Goutal boutique on rue des Rosiers, and close to the Stéphanie de Saint-Aignan shop.

— images & report filed by Nina.