Where to shop?

Bonjour,

I am still THREE months away from going to Paris, but am trying to research so I can get the most out of my 5 day trip there. I would like to spend a day just to shop...however, since I am not very rich, I would like your opinion on where would I find the best deals for clothing/shoes. I am thinking of spending part of it at Printemps, as I%26#39;ve heard it is a good place to find everything, and they have a 10% discount for foreigners and I can get my VAT refund right there.

What do you think?

thank you/merci

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I just returned from a 5 day visit there.. and I can tell you-- don%26#39;t bother with Tati. I had read about it and was excited to go to this %26quot;bargain shopping%26quot; store. As I had read that they had fashionable clothes at good deals. Lemme tell ya-- there was nothing fashionable about those clothes. I was in and out of there real quick.

I didn%26#39;t know of Printemps.. too bad.

I did enjoy shopping in Monoprix. Its on Champs Elysees and they had everything there- makeup, clothes, accessories, bathroom products, and even a grocery store downstairs...

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Hi Cedre - good to see you%26#39;re practicing your french!

I%26#39;ve recently returned from a short visit to Paris with my 22 yo daughter - she had heaps of fun in the shops - mainly Printemps and Samaritaine (end of season - which suited us here cos winter is not yet upon us) and also a shop called C %26amp; A - which had a wide range of clothes that were very reasonably priced and some markets. Shoes shops were everywhere and you can pick up bargains from E10 to E500 or more - depending on your budget.

Re the VAT - you need to spend E175 or more to qualify - so keep that in mind. You then need to ask for the assistance of a usually not-so-friendly shop assistant, to find the right place to go to fill in the paperwork in that store. We found that you don%26#39;t get the refund there - you have to apply at the airport before you depart, which is a bit of a drag.

Don%26#39;t let that stop you - have fun and shop til you drop! There%26#39;s so much choice it%26#39;s bewildering!! Enjoy!

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Bonjour Madam Cedre,

You will find the largest consentration of large department stores on blvd Haussman, behind the Opera Garnier. There are many stores along there but the largest are Printemps and Galleries Lafayette (each has several buildings and just wonderful). Along rue Rivoli, right across from the hotel d%26#39;Ville, is another large department store, BHV, and next to Pont Neuf on the Seine is Samaritaine, also more than one building. All are several stories high. There are also several malls, some with large stores in them too, including Printemps branches. Les Halles is near the center of things, Montparnasse in front of the gare and place Italie has a large one too right on the Place near the Metro exit. Everywhere are stores.....almost everywhere... with the buying French crowding them everyday. You literally can %26quot;shop till you are broke%26quot; in Paris.

You must spend at least the allowed amount in one store on one day to get the tax refund. Galleries Lafayette or Printemps, might do the paper work for you. We purchased an item over 200E in a small store, filled out the paper work, took it to the tax refund desk at the airport (with the item) to get it approved, mailed the signed form to the store and received the refund by mail..........in Euros. It is a pretty hefty percent and could be worth the trouble.....but you must spend the allowed amount and get the forms from the store.

Have fun and dont bring too much money or credit cards with you!

Bea

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I should be careful, as I am a bit of Shoppohalic...will have to set a daily limit!

I wonder if Tati is like our Old Navy ;)

I found out that Printemps has an english website...with good info on their VAT:

www.printemps.com/international

and so does Samaritaine: http://www.lasamaritaine.com/

Well...I can%26#39;t wait to find some E10 shoes!

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Tati and Old Navy have absolutely NOTHING in commun, Tati would fall into the where not to shop category, more like a K-Mart gone bad.

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Lucky and I seem to agree about most everything. But he%26#39;s just WRONG about Tati!! (I know you%26#39;ll take that in the spirit it%26#39;s intended LL). Tati is a Paris institution. You don%26#39;t go there to buy name brands at cheap prices. You go there to by cheap stuff at cheap prices. I think of it as disposable clothing. You buy a shirt for (seriously) $3 or $4 and if it falls apart after a couple of washings, it makes a very stylish rag! It%26#39;s the place to go for things like cheap wine glasses that you won%26#39;t be upset to break. They even sometimes have some interesting, cheap decorative accessories. If you have a sense of style and a sense of humor, it%26#39;s perfectly acceptable to put a $5 Tati tchotchke on a $5,000 Louis Quinze commode.

I wouldn%26#39;t advise the casual traveller to Paris to give up seeing the Eiffel Tower to make a sidetrip to Tati, but if you%26#39;re in the neighborhood, especially Barbes, it%26#39;s an adventure to stop in for a little low-brow shopping.

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Oh...and since you%26#39;ll be in a foreign country where nobody will recognize you, you won%26#39;t have to wear a low-brimmed hat and dark glasses that we all use for our secret visits to K-Mart or Target here in the US!!

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I agree its a place to go for household items... but I%26#39;m standing by my earlier comment about not going there to find stylish clothes. And I don%26#39;t mean designer clothes (I personally don%26#39;t buy labels).. just stylish, quality clothes at a decent price.. (I wasn%26#39;t looking for a plain tshirt).

At least not what I saw of it.

But if you happen to cross in front of it.. yeah sure.. stop in %26amp; check it out. But I wouldn%26#39;t make plans to go there. (I did notice there was a location in front of Sacre Couer.)

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If anyone is interested in knowing more about Tati --

here%26#39;s a link for more information on the stores---

igougo.com/planning/journalEntryActivity.asp…

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Suze Gershon (sp?) has a book I think it%26#39;s called %26quot;Where to Shop Paris%26quot;. She%26#39;s done a series of these books for other cities as well. You can find it on Amazon or B%26amp;N.