Can anyone in France please help me out?
 

Hello Fodorites! I know this is a strange request.

After 15 trips to Europe with Paris always being one of the stops I have fallen in love with a women's shoe store called Minelli. Every year I splurge and buy a pair of boots for myself and a Christmas present for my mom. It is so hard to find good quality leather products here in the US.

Since we have not been able to travel from Covid I longingly dream of the day I can walk the streets and window shop. Out of the blue I went on to the Minelli website and found a perfect pair of ankle boots I absolutely adore but do not have a french email address and they won't let me buy them without one. Plus they don't ship to the US and they are the last pair available.

I would be forever grateful and willing to pay you handsomely for your time if someone could help me get these boots!

We are starting to plan our 16th trip hopefully in late October for Paris, Lyon and 3 weeks somewhere else. For the wonderful person that is willing to help, if you would like, I would love to buy you a nice dinner and thank you personally for your kindness.

Gratefully,
France Fling

Perhaps find a service that does free emails with a .fr (France) domain. Does Gmail have a French site? Then find a service that forwards packages (FedEx?, DHL?, or a commercial freight forwarder or customs broker?). I bet you can do it.

Thanks Peabody! Great idea, I will look into that tonight.

It's probably going to more of a hassle than it's worth but you know when you find something you love and don't get it, you regret it later. C'est la Vie!

So very excited to even think about starting to plan a trip!!! My eyes hurt in a wonderful way from playing around on Google maps!

Can you purchase them and pick up in October?

Hi all, I think you should use a forwarder. I have not used one in France but I have used one in Germany and know of ones for the US and the Netherlands. It is quite pricy but reliable. You send the goods to a French street address (a warehouse) where they compile your purchases and send on to you for a price. The only time this can come unstuck is if the store you are purchasing from does not accept credit cards (some German businesses like direct debit), or does not accept credit cards from a foreign address. Payment can be tricky! Happy to share further if you have questions.

Lavandula