It's the annual summer Soldes -- from the end of June till end July here in Paris. This and the winter Soldes (in January) are the only officially approved time to advertise and hold major store-wide sales. To an American this seems like crazy over-regulation, and I must tell you that there are sale racks and various "promotions" throughout the year. But it's nothing like this...
In a stroke of good timing, two families of guests have been visiting us during Soldes time, making their Parisian shopping sprees a whole lot less expensive. Even I have gotten into it, despite the fact that no amount of markdown will bring it to Goodwill prices. Still, Gigi needed some new summer clothes, and Pippa needed new shoes (Baby needs a new pair of shoes!), and we have been able to stock them up with some fun French fashions for really very little.
My favorite Soldes moment: My friend, who is not really a French speaker, is rifling through racks of pretty shirts. She looks up disappointed and moans, "but these are all sold!" Well, the word for "Sale" is "Soldes" (pronounced "sold") and the word for "sold" is "vendu", so that's another one for the list of faux amis.
We have shopped till we dropped. But now, thankfully, we've stopped.
On the first day of the Soldes, more than half the store might be marked down, 20-40 or even 50%. Then on the first Sunday of the Soldes, the stores are miraculously allowed to remain open for business. A couple weeks in, the stores go for their second markdown, tacking on at least 10 or 20% more. Eventually, they have a third and final markdown toward the end of the month. Most racks are picked over, but whatever treasure is left can be had for a song.
In a stroke of good timing, two families of guests have been visiting us during Soldes time, making their Parisian shopping sprees a whole lot less expensive. Even I have gotten into it, despite the fact that no amount of markdown will bring it to Goodwill prices. Still, Gigi needed some new summer clothes, and Pippa needed new shoes (Baby needs a new pair of shoes!), and we have been able to stock them up with some fun French fashions for really very little.
My favorite Soldes moment: My friend, who is not really a French speaker, is rifling through racks of pretty shirts. She looks up disappointed and moans, "but these are all sold!" Well, the word for "Sale" is "Soldes" (pronounced "sold") and the word for "sold" is "vendu", so that's another one for the list of faux amis.
We have shopped till we dropped. But now, thankfully, we've stopped.
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