Based on my experience, here are a few tips on how to experience a guilt-free shopping spree in Paris.

Now, let’s tally forth!

Paris shopping tips for budget travelers

1. Timing is key

Bargain hunter to the core? Try to schedule your trip during one of the citywide sales. The “Soldes d’hiver” launch in January and continue through February, while the “Soldes d’ete” are on tap to woo for six weeks in June and July.

Also, during the sales the prices start to drop and keep on dropping, so it’s a judgment call as to whether to pounce early and get the best selection, or wait it out a little and get the best deals. To be perfectly honest, I do both.

O, my deer! Do consider a basic shopping kit prior to your trip. A scene from a Bon Marché window. Photo: T. Brack

2. Be Prepared

Prior to setting out, consider your basic shopping kit: water bottle, moleskin (for blisters), a snack, Métro tickets, maps with targeted shops circled, and coins for WCs. And don’t forget a sturdy bag for your treasures. Most French grocery stores sell them at checkout for just a few cents. Lightweight and good-looking, they make perfect souvenirs, too.

My sister Wendy suggests also packing a camera for self-portraits, and snaps of celebrities like Lenny Kravitz. “Are you going our way?” we recently cried as he sped past us on his bike, near the Opéra. I don’t think he heard us because, well, he didn’t stop.

Regarding rooftop selfies: #Holdontotheledge

Visualization always helps me narrow my Great Hunt. A scene from a Printemps’ window. Photo: T. Brack

3. Plan of Action

Have a “quest” in mind, since visualization will help narrow your hunt while increasing your chances of finding the object of your desire.

What’s missing from your closet? Ballet slippers? Trench coat? Both are timeless French classics. Or perhaps you covet a Longchamp tote? Heck, we’ve been there. How about just a nice pair of shoes? Nobody’s going to judge you. It’s Paris, after all. So grab a pen and create a wish list.

Are you going our way? If so, take the bus, Gus! A scene from a Galeries Lafayette window. Photo: T. Brack

4. Getting around

Time is precious. However, it’s possible to visit two fashion-related exhibitions, three monuments, four department stores, and five prime (and affordable) shopping districts—all in one day. Lean in, because it’s true. Mine eyes have seen the glory!

What’s my secret? Get on the bus, Gus. For the price of a Métro ticket, you’ll not only cruise between the shopping districts with the greatest of ease, but also boast about your first scores of the day while the panorama of Paris rolls by en route to the next shopping district. You can use the same ticket for rides on several buses taken within 90 minutes of the first time you get it stamped.

To cite just one example, there are several personal favorite shopping meccas along the “95” bus route: Montmartre-Abbesses, Boulevard Haussmann, the Opéra district rue de Rivoli, and rue de Rennes. Talk about wheeling and dealing!

My sister Wendy documenting the Eiffel Tower and favorite sacred shopping grounds at Place de la Madeleine. Photo: T. Brack

5. Favorite Shopping ’Hoods

I’m no diva, but I do like to shop-hop without a lot of hassle. Focusing not only on the place but also on the journey—i.e., on the experience of the visit itself—I’m always on the prowl for historic shopping zones as well as scattered districts where clusters of stores may carry similar items.

Here are a few more favorite shopping havens. I call it my T-Zone:

• Passage du Havre at Gare St-Lazare
• Magasin Décathlon at Place de la Madeleine
• Le Bon Marché at Métro Sevres-Babylone
• the whole stretch of rue de Rennes, along with Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Champs-Élysées, rue de Rivoli
• BHV at Hôtel de Ville.

Related: Our 10 favorite shopping districts in Paris

You’ll find a pocket of vintage clothing shops in the Marais. Photo: T. Brack

6. Paging Secondhand-Roses

Possess a mad penchant for collecting the garb of yesteryear? I’m with you, step by step. Paris still gives me a strong Proustian dose of solidarity with both past and present. Throughout Paris, you’ll find pockets of “friperies” (second-hand clothing shops) and “depôts-ventes” (consignment shops), but especially in Abbesses and the Marais.

Also, Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) now boasts a new vintage clothing department. Here you’ll find retro garb, along with gently used bags, scarves, hats, and shoes. During one of my recent sleuthing trips, I spied more than a few big name Catherine Deneuve-worthy trench coats here—but without their usual exorbitant price tags.

Related: Know you secondhand shopping vocabulary in Paris

Getting all Tête-à-Tête at the Porte de Vanves Flea Market. Photo: T. Brack

7. Flea Markets

Don’t leave Paris without at least one trip to the Porte de Vanves Flea Market. I’ve also scored big at the “brocantes” (antique/junk sales) and the vide-greniers (neighborhood-wide attic sales). Down through the years, I’ve found pink Valentino heels, black boots by Charles Jourdan, and a pointy brassiere by Maison Cadolle handmade in the 1940s. And none cost more than 30 euros.

Click here for the 2016 listing of brocantes, vide-greniers and marches aux puces.

Related: Shopping tips for flea market success in Paris

Keep your peepers peeled for pickpockets whist browsing through the bargain bins. Photo: T. Brack

8. Bargain Bins

I often find my bargain bin bliss at the Sympa shops on rue Steinkerque and along Boulevard de Rochechouart . Located at the foot of Sacré Coeur in Montmartre, the stock is always in rotation. Here you’ll find Kookai, Jennyfer, and Naf-Naf, along with Best Mountain, Etam, and Undiz, but at a fraction of their original cost.

Don your elbow pads, eat a hearty breakfast, and keep your peepers peeled for pickpockets. Game on!

Galeries Lafayette’s Belle Époque rocking dome has never failed to bring me to tears. Photo: T. Brack

9. Grand Magasins

Paris boasts four famous old department stores. Bon Marché, Printemps, and Galeries Lafayette are conveniently located along the Métro 12 line, while Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) holds court next to the Hôtel de Ville. Winding it back to the Belle Epoque, they’d lure the Cheapos of that day inside with displays of discounted silk remnants (a.k.a. “coupons”—literally “piece cut off,” from couper “o cut”).

Here’s how to get a few coupons of your own.

Don’t discount the tourist discount cards because every little bit counts. Photo: T. Brack

Tourist Discount Cards at BHV and Galeries Lafayette

Both BHV and Galeries Lafayette offer tourist discount cards, which knock off 10% on selected items. To score G.L.’s “Exceptional 10% Discount” card, present your passport at the information desk on the store’s ground floor near the rue Mogador entrance.

You’ll find BHV’s “-10% offer*” discount voucher on their website. Print it before leaving home and then present it at the welcome desk, along with your passport. It’s just that easy!

Department store house brands are often slashed by 20% to 50% during the big sales. A scene from Printemps. Photo: T. Brack

House Brands

Don’t miss the department store house brands. Affordable, well-made, and sporting souvenir-worthy labels, the collections feature bags, scarves, and sweaters. During the two annual sale periods (mentioned above), price tags are slashed by 20-50%.

Plus, Galeries Lafayette and BHV’s house brands are often eligible for the tourist discount. So do request your card. As my grandmother put it, “It all adds up.”

We always feel snappy and happy like room without a roof up on the rooftop at Galeries Lafayette. Photo: T. Brack

Rooftop Views

For years now, I’ve carried on a torrid love affair with the rooftop café at Printemps. Here, the wine is affordable and the panoramic view of the Tour Eiffel, the Opéra Garnier, and Sacré Coeur is free. The roof of Galeries Lafayette also sweetly tempts with its faux green grass and funky red plastic chairs and sofas.

But now, there’s a new roof in town. Not to be outdone in the potted plant department, Le BHV Marais now has its very own rooftop terrace. “Perchoir Marais” is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, after the store closes. It’s another win-sin.

As Oscar Wilde once quipped, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”

I completely agree. Happy Hunting!

The post Paris Shopping Tips: How to save big on your shopping spree appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Le Bon Marché was not only the very first department store in Paris (in fact, one of the world’s first) but it also changed up the rules of retail, set waves of shopping frenzies in motion, and acted as muse to artists and writers of the avant-garde set.

So Cheapos, a tribute we will pay!

A view from the Métro

Getting there

Le Bon Marché
38, rue de Sèvres
Métro: Sèvres-Babylone (lines 12 or 10)

Tip: I recommend staying on track by taking the number 12 Métro, because this line snakes through other popular shopping meccas like Abbesses, Saint-Germain (Métro Rue du Bac), Boulevard Haussmann (Métro Saint-Lazare) and Rue de Rennes.

But watch your step when exiting at Sèvres-Babylone because the mere sight of the “Le Bon Marché” sign atop the old building has never failed to make this Cheapo’s knees begin to buckle.

Back in the day

“The cathedral of modern commerce!” is how Émile Zola neatly described Le Bon Marché (“the good deal”) in his novel Le Bonheur des Dames. The store was the first to launch fixed pricing, welcome stations staffed with English-speaking personal shoppers, and self-service. Soon faire du lèche-vitrine (“window licking”) became all the rage.

Andrée Putman's chic escalators

Though now taken for granted, at the time, its newfangled open-door retail concept meant that even prostitutes could shop here with ease. Both seductive and alluring, Bon Marché’s open aisles of enticing wares were often blamed for bankrupting families and inciting spontaneous shoplifting.

Fine features

Initially designed by Gustave Eiffel and Paul Sédille (who beautified Printemps, too), Bon Marché has maintained her radiant glow by getting a little work done now and then. It’s no secret that Andrée Putman (also credited with the extreme makeover of Guerlain’s flagship on the Champs-Élysées and the swanky interiors of Air France’s late, great Concord jet) recently updated the store’s look with sets of crisscrossing escalators. Surrounded by slender columns, the moving stairs’ geometric patterns smartly echo the skylight’s square glass panes.

Oh, the brands you’ll see

Though no longer considered quite the palace of “good deals” it was back in the time of Picasso and Hemingway (who bought his knock-off suits here), Le Bon Marché is still the place to window-gawk and trend-spot. You’ll find classics like Balenciaga, Lanvin, and Sonia Rykiel, along with funky designs by Comme des Garcons, Paul & Joe and Sandro.

On the ground level, be wooed by “Le Théatre de la Beauté,” which specializes in just-launched, innovative, and difficult-to-find beauty products. So prior to your visit, do a little research and pack a wish list! Make your friends at home green with envy.

Then, fortify yourself

After your high browsing, you do have a few Cheapo options!

1. Eat

In a separate part of Bon Marché, La Grande Epicerie de Paris (the world’s largest international food labyrinth) seems to have everything to satisfy every taste bud, both domestic and foreign. Wine and fromage tastings are often held on Fridays and Saturdays, while the Babylon Garden is just in front of the store, so stock up and prepare to nosh like there’s no tomorrow!

At La Grande Epicerie de Paris

2. Shop

After your picnic, get your bargain garb on at Zara, situated kitty-corner from Bon Marché. Find the trends you’ve just spotted at a fraction of the cost. Your pocketbook and conscience will both thank you.

3. Pray

But if your conscience is still troubled, just behind Bon Marché you’ll find the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. Here’s a chance to balance out your mortal sins (like lust, gluttony, envy, to name a few) with a visit to Saint Catherine Labouré’s shrine.

The lady Herself is on full view in a glass case at the front of the sanctuary. Among other things, she’s credited with designing one of the most popular of saints’ medals, which are available on-site. The shop also carries a collection of cards.

Snipping from “Bon Marché Weather,” a poem by Gertrude “Lady Dada” Stein:

“There are a very great many things everybody is buying. There are a very great many things you are buying. There are a very great many things they are buying. There are a very great many things I am buying.”

She lived just a few blocks away, so I’m sure she was speaking from experience.

Smooth sailing, Cheapos!

The post Paris: Summer shopping at Le Bon Marché appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Just in time for summertime shindigs in the sun or picnics by moonglow, it’ll hold tight nine bottles of your favorite beverages. (By the way, this prize was purchased at Galeries Lafayette at a whopping 30 percent discount. Sometimes, Cheapos, a hot deal can be found at the “grand magasins”! Just sayin’.)

Why Périgot?

Because we’re picky! Be swayed. Its sweet “ménage à trois” of color, function, and design will sweep you off your feet. Périgot is the official supplier of feather dusters and other cleaning implements to the Palais de l’ Elysées (the president’s residence) on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré!

What better way to celebrate than Francophile (and Django fan) Woody Allen’s recent announcement that France’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will indeed have a role in his upcoming film “Midnight in Paris.” As my grandmother Helen J. Wentz would quip, “We’ve all got baggage. It’s how we carry it that matters.”

To win this “Bottle Bag,” just correctly answer the cinema-related question below. The winner will be chosen at random from the correct answers submitted.

Pop Quiz!

Woody Allen included two Django Reinhardt numbers in his film “Stardust Memories.” What were they?

Leave your answers in the comments box below by the stroke of midnight EST Friday, April 30th. Don’t forget to include your email address! Become a Eurocheapo Facebook fan for an extra entry. Bonne chance!

A mural of Reinhardt. Photo by Theodora Brack.

Insider Tip: Square Django Reinhardt (still off the grid!)

Earlier this year, the mayor of Paris honored Reinhardt by renaming the square at rue René Binet and Porte de Clignancourt (Metro Porte de Clignancourt) for him. Reinhardt lived there with his family shortly after World War One, when they moved to Paris from Belgium. Each weekend, the site is home to a gathering of stalls and booths that form an “offsite” market along the approach to the famous Clignancourt Flea Market.

To reach the main flea market (Marché aux puces de Saint-Ouen – Porte de Clignancourt) walk beyond Square Django Reinhardt and head underneath the big underpass just down the street.

At 122 rue de Rossiers a block or two into the real market, you’ll find La Chope des Puces, with live music, a spirited bar, and an impressive Django Reinhardt shrine surrounding the big performance space in the rear. Guitar aficionados will find many a wonderful instrument to drool over!

Je te verrai dans mes rêves, Cheapos!

The post Paris Quiz: Celebrating Django Reinhardt with a Perigot bag giveaway appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.