Paris for 3 days need help
 

Hi I am staying in Paris for three days in April on return from a study tour in Italy.
I have booked at a hotel in rue des Ecoles which I think is in the 6th.
Can anyone help me with ideas for shopping trips 9 (clothing).on a budget. I was thinking of a hop on hop of bus as my means of getting around. I am not that good with directions and just tend to wander where my shopping addiction takes me.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as have read so much am getting very confused.
I will be arriving Sunday lunch time and leaving Thursday morning.
Thanks Jill

Are you using hte HOHO bus tour just as a means of transport...or are you using it also for sightseeing...if just for transport it is very expensive. Buy a carnet and take the metro or buses - much much cheaper! Or walk! Your hotel can help you with which routes to take, its quite straight forward once you understand how it works.

As for cheap shopping. Ask your hotel where the nearest Monoprix and C&A are. I know there are some on Rue Rivoli and Montparnasse - both easily accessible from rue des ecoles.

I'm sure others will be able to help more with that!

Enjoy!

I was thinking of using the hop on to do some sightseeing as well that way I get to see a lot more of the city than if I just pick a few places to explore. What do you think. I have been given lots of names of shops to visit but all in very different areas this way I was hoping that maybe I might sstumble across something in my price range while still getting a chance to look at how the rich spend their days.
Just need advice on to as wheter the hop on would be what I am after, and what areas for cheap clothing. our dollar is half a euro.!!

I'd skip the hop on hop off bus , I don;t know where you are staying on rue des ecoles but 3 bus lines run along it. I forget which right now but all go to Blvd St Germain where there are many more lines. There are 2 metro stations nearby.


You should find some inexpenssive clothing in the Marais. There are also designer resale shops there.Rue Cherche Midi has several

Rue des Ecoles is in the fifth arrondissement.

What are the shops you are considering? There are some areas where shops are clustered together, and some of the ones you are visiting may be in several locations, unless they are individual boutiques. If they are chain stores, there is a good possibility you don't have to cover as much ground as you think.

AND you may not find "budget" shopping to be the thing in Paris with the exchange rate. The Monoprix on rue Rivoli is unusually nice,, we thought.
Try to familiarize yourself with Paris and its Metro system a bit before you go.

What hotel are you staying at? As Nikki told you, rue des Ecoles is in the fifth. I have stayed at several hotels on that street. It's an excellent location. But if money is an issue for you there is a good budget hotel one street over you might consider.

You mention "budget" shopping - but does that mean you want to pick up designer clothing at less than designer prices (but still spend hundreds) or you want clothes in the under 50 euro range? Monoprix has decent clothes in that range. There is one on bd St Michelle right where it intersects with rue des ecoles. Also on bd St Mich between there and place st mich are a few other stores with decent things in the same range. Rue du Rivoli between the Hotel de Ville and the Marais has lots of clothing stores.

Paris is pretty easy to do without a hop off bus, get a good map, and a metro map. You can spend the money you save on more clothes.

Hi J,

May i suggest that you rethink your entire concept of travel?

You are visiting one of, if not the, great cities of the world for only 3 days, and you want to go shopping?

((I))

To help orientate you around your hotel

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yhbb9fq

(use the options above the map to get an aerial view, or photos to allow you to "walk" up and down the street)

and
to help you find your way around:

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/carteidf.php?lang=uk

The HOHO bus and shopping do not mix well. You'd be better off getting a ticket for the Batobus and going from one end of Paris to the other on it, combining shopping and sightseeing.

Shopping is no bargain in Paris right now, and honestly, unless you want to be able to say "I bought this in Paris" or are searching for haute couture, there's no clothing in Paris that can't be found anywhere else in the world.

Monoprix is a good bet for cheap clothes. Also Zara, H&M, and Etam....but they're hardly unique to Paris.

The Mretro system is everywhere. As someone said, you can buy a carnet (which is just a nice way of saying 10 tickets). Csot is ~12 euro. One ticket per ride. It is the cheapest way to get around, apart from on foot.

The HOHO bus is meant for seeing the sites, not for shooping. The two are not necessarily the same locations. Rue de Rivoli (eastern end) has some shops, and the Marais is often mentioned as another good area. Rue des Francs Bourgeois is one street that comes to mind.

Here's a nice page from Frommers as to shopping in Paris, including ideas of shopping areas and shopping ettiquetts.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...062023092.html

and here is another with specific shop listings (if you then click on the shop name you will get more information)

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...2_indshop.html

Like in many places you could target a specific interesting shop as a destination and often similar interesting shops are nearby.

Isabel I am staying at the Saint Jacques for 4 nights. have you stayed here? the under 50euro is where i am thinking. I
live in new zealand so any clothes are going to be different from what i can purchase here.

Jill - Yes I have stayed at the Saint Jacques, a couple of times, most recently in November. If you can get it for 50 euro definitely go for it. I got a "winter special" of 70 euro for a single but their usual price is now 97 so it's getting out of the budget league. I really like the hotel though. Here is a link to my trip report, I review it there. But also, as you'll see from my report, I also stayed at a new (for me) hotel, just a couple of blocks away, the Hotel Marginan which was more low budget. I talk about both in my report. If money is not an issue the St Jacques is definitely nicer. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ote-dazure.cfm

I do agree with the others who say there are much more interesting things to do in Paris than shop, and that in the budget level there is nothing you can't get elsewhere. But sometimes it is fun to spend a little while doing something "common" like clothes shopping in a new and exciting place. Just make sure you do spend some time seeing the beautiful city.