Does anyone know where I can find Lancome products (moisturizers, etc) for a decent price in Paris? Or perhaps Chartres? The shops around the tourist areas are more expensive than in the states.

in my past experience all cosmetics are cheaper in the USA than europe. Also, you have access to more gifts/inexpensive accessory programs than over here.

rarely have i seen any top brand cosmetic for a better deal in europe. plus with your dollar, i doubt it.

maybe someone else knows something i don´t..

Maybe at duty free at the airport?

Brands like Lancome have won repeated court cases giving them the right to withold supplies to discounters. It's not the "tourist area" shops that are expensive: it's that it's practically impossible to find these brands anywhere cheaper than the prices in the department store around the Grands Boulevards

Suze is right. Duty free shops at the airports, when departing for a non-EU destination, will charge you the standard price, minus the VAT. Or it might be worth checking whether the VAT-inc price in department stores will work out cheaper than you'd pay at home once you've had the VAT refunded.

To judge from what Mrs F (who looks at least 20 years younger on her official photos than it says in her passport) pays, you'd meet the VAT refund threshold by just buying one small bottle

Sephora (Champs Elysees) sometimes have some good offers on boxed sets.

Suggest you got to the Lancome counter, buy something at regular price, and then hit them up for as many free samples (echantillons) as possible of products you will use (you mentioned moisturizers). The French (and Belgian) Lancome counters are much more liberal with their samples than in the U.S.; they've got oodles of them. Some samples are suprisingly generous and will last you for quite a bit of time.
Don't feel guilty or embarrassed to ask for them, the cost is built into the price you pay for their products.