The Paris Flea Market remains the best place to buy antiques in Paris, because it is virtually a “free-trade zone” at the gates of Paris, in a working-class district, where the rents are low, and the merchants manage to avoid paying lots of taxes.  This is because they run a primarily cash-driven business. Don’t want to walk around with a wad of cash? Have no fear.  You can go to various change outlets and obtain cash against your credit card. Or, if it’s a big purchase item, your professional shopper will put a hold on an item, suggest you leave a small cash deposit, and pay the balance later on.  Visitors can even wire transfer the balance.

Be open-minded when you shop in Paris.  You never know when a bargain will turn up, much less where.  For instance, you don’t have to buy your wines at the most expensive shops in Paris.  You can easily find delicious Bordeaux wines in the Monoprix chain, or at the Carrefour or Auchan hypermarkets at the gates of Paris.  There are also wonderful market streets in the city, such as the Rue Mouffetard and the Rue Montorgueil, where you can find specialist wine shops with wonderful vintages. I know of one, where the merchant has a lovely poem tagging each vintage that he has tasted! 

Food markets are not just for selling food — they also have merchants that sell wonderful fashion accessories, including handbags and carry-on luggage, as well as scarves and even cashmere pashminas.  Last year, I purchased a lovely lined raw silk turquoise tunic and a shocking pink cashmere and silk pashmina at my local market on the Boulevard de Grenelle for less than half of what I might have paid in a department store.  Many of these merchants import directly from India and Nepal, bring back the merchandise in a suitcase, and sell it in an open-air market, thus saving on a middleman or two.  Okay, so it isn’t the Galeries Lafayette — but isn’t this more fun?

Most people don’t realize this, but thirty percent of the retail sales in Paris is done during a six-week biannual period called “les soldes.”  They usually start the first week in January and in the second week in June.  If you are enterprising and love French clothes, try to schedule a week in Paris to get the best deals on designer clothes and accessories.  Or, if you can’t schedule in a trip during those times, head for the designer resale shops where you can find gently used clothes and accessories by Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Yves St. Laurent, and Sonia Rykiel, to name a few.

So what’s the down side of shopping in Paris?  Two things: the sizes do run smaller than those in North America or the United Kingdom. The sales help can often be indifferent and even rude. To brace yourself for shopping in Paris, try to be as chic as some Parisians — while you don’t have to dress to kill, it’s a good idea to dress smart, and favor slacks and blazers over jeans and sweatshirts or tee shirts.  Women should make up lightly, and men should be well groomed.

Keep in mind basic shopping etiquette. “Bonjour, s’il vous plait, and merci, au revoir” go a very, very long way. When in doubt, ask “parlez-vous anglais?” When you walk into a shop, avoid touching the displays. Ditto for fine food stores, such as Fauchon, unless it’s very clear that it’s self-service. There’s nothing more gauche than walking into an antique store with a backpack. 

Why, pay attention to all these niceties? It so happens that in France, a shop isn’t a moneymaking machine, but an extension of the storeowner’s personal space. Shopkeepers are watchful and tend to favor their regular customers over walk-in trade. Many have invested their life-savings into their small operation, and barely break even. But they are passionate about what they do, whether it’s offering homemade chocolate shaped into a colorful painter’s palette or an Eiffel Tower, or selling a custom-made hat that makes you feel like Greta Garbo or Audrey Hepburn. Often their mouthwatering displays are works of art in themselves. I have stopped counting the number of times when I have said the Flea Market is the only museum in the world where you can go shopping. And all of these things make shopping like the French an unforgettable experience, warranting many return visits to Paris.