In 1976, when Christian Louboutin was 14, he visited the Museum of African and Oceanic Arts on Paris’s Avenue Daumesnil. By then, he had already dropped out of school and left his parents’s home. At the museum entrance, a sign forbade entry to women wearing stilettos to prevent flooring damage. “I wanted to defy that,” Louboutin said in a 2007 interview. “I wanted to create something that broke rules and made women feel confident and empowered.”

In the 1980s, he went on to design shoes for Charles Jourdan, Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent. He then switched to landscape gardening. In 1992, when he finally opened his own shoe salon, Princess Caroline of Monaco became one of his first customers.

A year later, while he was inspecting a prototype, his assistant’s red nail varnish was nearby, and Louboutin applied some to the sole. Before long, his signature Pantone 18-1663TP sole—a “flash of red”—reintroduced the stiletto to the public eye. “What is sexual in a high heel is the arch of the foot,” he told the Sunday Times in 2011, “because it is exactly the position of a woman’s foot when she orgasms.” Here, the Paris fixture shares his go-to museums, restaurants, and galleries in his hometown.

Hôtel Drouot

One of my favorite places in Paris. I go here as much as I can—it’s like a treasure hunt every time. (drouot.com)

DESIGN & NATURE

Near the Place des Victoires. They have a very creative approach to entomology. (designetnature.fr)

PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE

It’s a bit off-the-radar, so even Parisians might not know this museum. My parents lived in the neighborhood when I was growing up. At the time, it was the Museum of African and Oceanic Arts. It’s a sublime Art Deco building where I started my imaginary travels as a child.

PIERRE YOVANOVITCH MOBILIER

Pierre has a new showroom in Le Marais. It’s the quintessence of absolute taste. (pierreyovanovitch.com)

GALERIE VÉRO-DODAT

A historical covered passage where my headquarters have been located since the beginning. Here you will see Galerie du Passage, where Pierre Passebon presents work by artists I truly appreciate, like Giuseppe Ducrot, but also Éric Philippe, one of the big antique aesthetes with a very unique eye.

À L’ÉPI D’OR

Near my office. Their croque monsieur is divine. (jeanfrançoispiege.com)

bistro volnay

Very close to my place. They have an extraordinary wine selection. (bistro-volnay.fr)

LE GRAND REX

A cinema with a unique 1930s-style theater room.(legrandrex.com)