Shopping in Paris

Need some information on shopping in Paris. Staying in Le Defense area and understand there is a big shopping center in the area.

Also need to buy lots of souvineers for friends!!! Where is the best bang for my euro buck.

Last but not least, I am not as small as I understand the French Women are. Are there any stores that will have clothes to fit a size 14 to 16.

Thanks!!!! GeeBee93

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Finding clothes in those sizes won%26#39;t be easy and the selection may not be great. Could I suggest that you focus on buying wonderful accessories like fabulous scarves, some jewelry, purses, etc?

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Sounds great to me. Love jewelry and purseses!!!!

What about souvineers? Shopping in Le Defense? Do you know the name of the shopping area?

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Geebee,

Right at the La Defense metro station and the large %26quot;place%26quot; there is a rather large mall.......several stories and it has many stores, some restaurants, movies etc. You will find plenty to buy there and yes you can get your size.......maybe not in every store or every style and color but diffently 14 to 16, I would say.

You might like going into one of their regular super markets and looking at all the neat things you can get there to bring home for souvineers. Some very good French stuff and easy on the euro.

Have fun,

Bea

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I think there%26#39;s a shopping mall there, but it%26#39;s not really the kind of shopping that you%26#39;ll want to do in Paris. The wonderful thing about Paris is that they still have individual stores and boutiques that AREN%26#39;T located in a mall. Try the major department stores for complete shopping overload--Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Bon Marche, BHV and Samaritaine. Ave Montaigne and Rue St-Honore feature most of the major couture houses. Place Vendome has the world%26#39;s most fabulous jewelry. The Marais is filled with all sorts of trendy boutiques. I could go on and on!!!

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I like the idea of the smaller shops. Can do the mall thing here.

Thanks for the ideas

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Not sure what kind of souvenirs you%26#39;re looking for, but if it%26#39;s stuff like postcards, Eiffel tower keychains and such, the bouquinistes (sp?) along the Seine have tons of that stuff. I don%26#39;t know if the prices are the best, but they%26#39;re pretty inexpensive and it%26#39;s fun to shop there.

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You%26#39;ll be right at Rivoli Street and there is a lot of shopping and touristy stuff there but like I mentioned in my post, nothing is cheap in Paris...

Go to the Rive Gauche (other side of the Seine) and see what you can find there. If you want a unique souvenir, go to Ile St-Louis and there is a boutique called La Petite Scierie (which I only found through the internet yellow pages so far since I got back - IF SOMEONE KNOWS THE WEBSITE LET ME KNOW PLEASE) where they sell canned goods (in jars) which are duty-friendly and are soooooooo good: choucroute, foie gras, cassoulet... Mmmmmmmmmmmm But again, not cheap. The choucroute for 2 was very reasonably priced by Paris standards at $14 Euro for a portion for 2.

Actually, I think the cheapest souvenirs I saw were right by the foot of the Eiffel tower but you know your friends well enough to see how much fun they will get out of a Paris T-shirt (12 Euro I remember seeing)...

Have fun!

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Monoprix is one of my last stops for gift buying before heading home for the holidays. We also usually take a stroll looking at the wares of the bouquinists along the Seine where we can find some cheap unique items among all of the typical tourist stuff.

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I%26#39;ll make a note of all suggestions. They sound great. I have a staff of about 8 that I will bring something back to along with family members and my husbands 20 coworkers. We try to bring a little piece of where we go back to them!!! Thanks again.

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Right in La Defense there is a huge mall called les 4 temps. You will find typical french shops (l%26#39;Occitane, Paul, etc.) as well as .. typical US shops such as foot locker or Levis, so there is something for everybody there :)

For tourists souvenirs, on the very middle of esplanade de la Defense (means in front of the Arche, and the CNIT) there is a tourist souvenirs shop/booth very convenient, where you will find everything that you wantat a very reasonable price (I often buy souvenirs for friends there).