Shopping in duty free CDG
My last reveal from Paris is from Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport. Most terminals have Dior, Hermes, and many other boutiques, but only one terminal has the Chanel boutique. The terminal is 2E and Hall K within the terminal, which fully belongs to Air France.
Hall K has the very best shopping and if you are traveling internationally you get to take advantage of tax free in the airport (without having to go through the entire process of getting tax free in the stores in EU).
The Chanel boutique in Hall K is well stocked, for an airport outlet. They have sneakers, WOC (wallet on a chain), watches, minis, small leather goods, seasonal bags, some men’s accessories, and other things. The boutique does not have any classics or WOC caviar. They will not exchange an item, even if it is the same model but a different color (they say they do not have that relationship with the stores in Paris). In Paris, all of the Chanels are willing to exchange, even for a different item, but not in the airport boutique. So if you plan to buy anything in the city of Paris and change your mind in the airport, you are out of luck.
My purchase in CDG
After sleeping on my choice I decided I wanted to get a different color of the Boy WOC, but my last day was on a Sunday (all the premier shops are closed in Paris on Sundays) and I thought it wouldn’t problem to exchanging in the airport. It was a problem for the airport boutique, I was completely refused, so I ended up buying my beautiful blue WOC with hopes of selling the green WOC when I got back to NYC.
My blue Boy WOC (picture with flash)
If you have the same problem as me, the airport boutique told me that in NYC they do have the store connections with Paris, so you will be able to exchange (but BEWARE you will lose ALL of your savings from VAT and the price difference). Also this product exchange can only be done in a boutique, not one of the department stores like Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, ect.
Blue boy WOC (picture without flash)
In the airport, the tax free price of the Boy WOC was 1530€. So it was the same amount of savings as in my previous post. If you have forgotten that you wanted something or had no time to visit Chanel while in Paris, the boutique in Terminal 2E is great. My last warning; there is no way to get to Hall K to shop unless you are leaving from or arriving to Hall K in Terminal 2E.
Chanel’s tend to be chameleons and look completely different in natural light, flash, and indoor lighting, so if you are buying from an SA over the phone and have a picture it is not guaranteed that they will be exactly like that, always clarify how the picture was taken.
Au Revoir until my next post.