Les Soldes

First of all, welcome to those of you whose email I recently added to the blog's posting list! If you don't wish to receive updates, no problem - just let me know and I'll remove your address.

Alors, THE SALES!

They happen twice a year in Paris - once in January and then again in July. For about 5 weeks, all clothing stores offer last-year's stocks at reductions ranging from 20-70% below retail. This is the sort of Paris tradition that has it's own etiquette, strategy, and list of faux pas - I knew to do my research before venturing out onto the Grand Boulevards.

Apparently most Parisian women wait until the mid-period of les soldes to do their shopping - at this point there is a second, larger reduction in prices and some of the best bargains can be made while the selection of items is still good. Waiting until late January has it's drawbacks however... especially if one is a size 36/38 (as I, and the majority of Parisian women, happen to be). The secret in this case is to preshop - to check out the selection in your favorite stores the day before the sales - so that you know where to rush to at 8 a.m. the next morning in order to grab that one remaining coat in your size before someone else gets it.

Which brings us to why, last Wednesday at 7:50 AM, I could be found waiting outside the doors to the Galeries Lafayette in the predawn darkness and sub-freezing temperature. I snatched up my coveted 50%-off winter coat, and then browsed around the store for enough additional items to bring my purchases up to 175 euros. At this sum, non-European citizens can get reimbursed for the 12% value-added-tax which makes French clothes so pricey. Officially, this reimbursement is only valid for those leaving the country within 3 months, and so it's unclear whether or not I will actually get my 20 euros back.

The best part about the sales is that they make accessible stores which you think to be totally beyond your price range. Le Printemps and Le Bon Marché are at the upper-end of Paris department stores, and yet during the sales they have bins offering 2007 items for a trois fois rien (practically nothing) - e.g. a designer skirt in silk for 10 euros rather than 200. Such deals are reportedly even available at the maisons de couture of Givenchy, Vuitton, Chanal, Dior, Prada, Gucci... I took a stroll down the Avenue de Montaigne but couldn't get up the courage to enter inside any of these Paris fashion establishment. (Maybe later this month, after that second round of price reductions...)