Rue Cambon!
Shopping in Paris is as iconic as eating gelato in Italy.
France, and especially Paris, has been the center for setting fashion trends for hundreds of years. Queens, royals, and nobles from Europe had looked to Paris 400, 500 years ago. During these millennia, Paris never lost its throne of fashion to any city in the world. The question everyone always asks: what is Paris wearing?
Being in the shopping districts and the beautiful boutiques is intoxicating. In the luxury boutiques, service is mostly impeccable. Coffee, tea, or any other refreshment are served on silver platters with silver spoons. Every effort is made to make the experience a positive one.
Printemps department store
When entering the store it would be best to greet in French with a “Bonjour, parlez-Vous Anglais?” (“Hello, do you speak English?” or instead of English insert native tongue). Such a small greeting endears the staff, same way as anyone in a different country would appreciate a greeting in their native tongue. Parisians do not like it when people assume that they speak English. English is not as popular in Paris as it is in the rest of the world. In most stores (in all luxury) the sales associates all speak English.
I stared my shopping experience by going to the Mecca of all Chanel lovers world wide; 31 Rue Cambon. I entered not through the handbag area, but through the entrance closest to the famed staircase of Coco Chanel. At the time I did not know it, but after my sales associate was lovely enough to show me the staircase at closing time and snap a few photos. There is no trick to see the staircase all that is needed is to inquire from your sales associate to show you the famous Chanel staircase. In fact, I did not buy anything on the first day but the sales associate still showed me the staircase when the store was closing. That moment standing on the staircase where Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel started and had her fashion shows was exhilarating.
Famous staircase of 31 Rue Cambon
When it was my turn to meet my sales associate I asked for a Boy Chanel Bag. He was very attentive and showed me the Boys they had in stock. The only one that I liked a little was a blue boy with gold hardware, but I was not sold, I wanted to see what other stores had in stock. So on my first day I left the flagship without a conquest but full of excitement for Paris, and Chanel.
Check my next post to see what I got 😉
Stay tuned continuation coming soon…
Trip to France: Paris Part 2.5
Trip to France: Charles de Gaulle Part 4