I cant' recall if there is H&M in Paris, but I went with a woman about your age to Switzerland a few years ago and she loved this store for "trendy" at a good price....

Yes, I stopped by the H&M also located on the Rue De Rivoli.

Have a wonderful trip BKP! Enjoy your shopping, and do share what you like!

The biggest H&M is in the Forum -- it covers 3 levels.

OH BKP, have a beautiful time with your family in Paris. Do have fun and good luck with the shopping. You certainly have been give a lot of information that should be a tremendous help to you!

I hope you will find time after you are back home to share some of your wonderful purchases with us. Well I don't mean share as in giving them to us, LOL..just some fun descriptions regarding what you bought and what your experience in Paris was like compared to here at home. Best wishes, a safe and comfortable trip and fun days that will be remembered forever!

Personally I wouldn't recommend the Forum des Halles (I hate shopping there!). The clothes shops there are nothing special (same chain stores you'll find all over Paris) and the place is a maze. As Kerouac says it can get absolutely mobbed, mainly with teenagers from the suburbs who go there to hang out. The atmosphere can actually be quite unpleasant at times (large groups of guys hanging around) and I have felt uncomfortable there in the past. Still, there's no denying that it has loads of shops (none of them particularly upmarket, however).

I think the Bon Marché is the chic-est of the big department stores, and it carries some names that Printemps and Galeries Lafayette do not. And it's never as crowded as those two stores, even at weekends. The other advantage of Le Bon Marché is the wonderful food hall - La Grande Epicerie - located in the building next to the main department store.

I find Blvd St. Germain itself rather disappointing, but the area south of it (walking away from the river) from Bon Marché (to the West) and then heading east to be much better. In particular, Rue du Cherche Midi, Rue de Rennes, Rue du Vieux Colombier (which turns into Rue Saint Sulpice) and similar streets in that area are good. So, a good shopping day would be to start at Bon Marché, then wander through these side streets and then meander over to the Jardin du Luxembourg, visit the Musée Cluny for a little culture and then relax in one of the famous cafés on Blvd St Germain.

I can think of a few reasons that the Forum should be visited as a destination in itself, even if the fashions sold there do not suit you. For one thing, it has the highest sales turnover of any shopping mall or shopping street in the world. Shops are on the waiting list for years before finding rental space there. It is hard to believe that any place can have so many customers until you have seen it for yourself.
Also, it has the largest book and record store in France, definitely worth seeing. FNAC has become a cultural institution throughout France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Brazil and the #1 store is in the Forum.
Finally, it is the best indicator of what young Parisians are actually wearing -- both by looking at what is sold in the shops and to see how the customers are dressed.
I fear that a visit to the department stores, to Avenue Montaigne or the Faubourg Saint Honoré, not to mention Boulevard Saint Germain, will mostly give you an idea of what wealthy matrons, Middle Eastern money, and North American tourists are willing to spend money on.
And as one last note, it should be pointed out that the Forum is going to be completely TORN DOWN in the next 3 years and rebuilt from the guts up -- see it now or you many never see it.

I cannot remember where I read this, but there is an area on the edge of the Latin Quarter where one could buy cool and cheap shoes. I believe it may be a shop or an area of shops geared towards students on a budget. Does anyone know of what I am talking about here?

Just throwing this out there for you to possibly consider. There are two gals that run tours in Paris. They started out doing just photo walking tours and have added shopping and other custom tours to their menu. I have not used them, but may, if I ever get back to Paris. One of them is from Texas and married a frenchman, moved to Paris and also built a house in Provence. The other gal is from Belguim, lived in the US for a number of years and now lives most of the time in Paris. I got "familiar" with them when I was on the AOL board several years ago. Their names are Chris and Linda. I was just thinking perhaps you might want to leave your baby with your husband for a day and off you go. Perhaps by using someone like these gals, you could just "cut to the chase". Anyway, you can either google Paris Photo Tours or the web page is: http://lindamathieu.com/paris/. I'm sorry, I don't know how to do a live link. I tried both of these and they both work. As I say, just a possible idea for you.

So, I guess the links just "live themselves". Good to know. I wasn't sure. Anyway, have a wonderful time. And yes, a shopping report please...I LOVE to shop. No time to at home so I love to shop when traveling.

No fashionistas hanging out at Les Halles but plenty of pickpockets and pot.

>..the Forum is going to be completely TORN DOWN in the next 3 years and rebuilt from the guts up ...<

Somehow, that doesn't mean as much to me as when they tore down the earlier Les Halles. That one lasted over 100 years.

((I))

So true, IRA :)

Buy Where to Wear Paris. It's a great book that has almost every store in Paris in it. It helps a lot when you know you are going to be in a certain area in Paris and can then look up the stores in that area and make sure you get to the ones that look appealing to you-

I was just there in March and it was my bible! Very helpful!

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I wonder how many of us enjoyed walking through the running rats and stinking rotten food items in the old Halles about which so many of us are nostalgic.

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For great and not too expensive kids-clothes try Okaïdï and Obaïbi (www.okaidi.com). They have multiple locations all over Paris.

For great man's clothes try Celio (www.celio.com).

Rue de Rennes has most of the usual (French and international) chain stores. These kind of shops can also be found in the Forum des Halles mall and the Quatre Temps mall in La Defense (the high-rise, futuristic business part of Paris).
So if it rains; get inside. If the weather is great; go to Rue de Rennes.