Anytime Renee...enjoy the galleries! <BR> <BR>Patrick, we're not talking about art like that....why not give posters the benefit of the doubt. Obviously you have not visited these galleries. <BR> <BR>L'Occ products are much more expensive in the US than in France. I use one of their face creams and here it's $21...there it was 95FF last time, approx. $13 USD. The soaps are less expensive too - about $2 rather than $5. Even though we have a store here in Boston, I still stock up there! <BR> <BR>Ursula - you are right about the bathing suits at Le Bon Marche - unbelievable selection with all the accessories to match!

I try to purchase small original watercolors or oils of Paris scenes. I have them framed when I get home and love the collection I have started on my livingroom wall. I stop and enjoy them every day and can't wait to collect more on future trips.

My husbands first trip to Paris was many years ago, he went to visit a friend from the US who was on a sabbatical.Neither one of them had much money but in Paris, you can walk all day and enjoy the wonders of it for free! He spent $60. on an African figure that was sold to him by a man at the stalls along the Seine.He listened to the mans sales pitch regarding the age (hundreds of yrs old) and the history (fertility gods, etc) ..not really caring, he just liked the way it looked! When he returned to NY , he took it to a gallery and asked them if they knew anything about it-it was from Africa, it was hundreds of years old,it is for fertility, and there are others like it in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. So, the moral of this story is-if you like it-buy it-liking it is the point, it's value and how others like it is beside the point.Enjoy your shopping everyone~

Sea salt and mustard. Also an antique jewerly box I picked up in the shops by Notre Dame.

Surlok - Cecile et Jeanne - I found a website listing several other locations too. Last time I went I took some earring that had come apart and they fixed them for me while I waited. Service with a smile :) <BR> <BR>http://www.viaduc-des-arts.com/fr/ar..._et_jeanne.htm

Lovely silk scarves from a kiosk outside of Galleries Lafayette - buy one every time I go. Also, 2 paintings from the artists at Place de Tetre near Sacre Couer. This trip is the Longchamp bag trip (or bags!!!).

Elsa, They are a bit more expensive but I don't notice too much- and it's better than going without! I love the stuff!!

I couldn't compare dollar for dollar, but my sense was that L'Occ was cheaper on the Isle, than downtown Chicago. Just a note: The Hollywood Gum we brought home was brittle and didn't hold its flavor :(

18 years ago, a sweet smelling beautiful girl called Chantalle, in the Pigalle area. That was the best thing I ever bought in Paris.

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My budget was lower than many postings here but my favorite things were a basic black beret and black scarf (to keep me warm on our winter walks), a wine opener and some cool black and white Paris postcards.

"The Kiss" and "Cathedral" from the Rodin museum... beautiful reproductions. K

mine: candles from Diptyque and perfume from Comptoir Sud Pacifique

Are the Diptyque candles much cheaper then in the states?

They are, but I can't remember how much cheaper. I saved an extra 10-13% by spending more than 1,200FF and qualifying for the detaxe.

As a student in Paris, I didn't have much to spend, but I still have favorites: 1. wine 2. tea from Trois Freres (I still have some many years later)

For you folks that purchased paintings (specifically oils on canvas), were these mounted or not when you purchased them? The reason I ask is that when I was in Italy this fall I found some beautiful oils in Rome & Venice, but none of these were mounted, just ready to be rolled and brought home. Not being experienced with oils I wasn't sure what to look for when purchasing them this way. How much of a free canvas border do you need around the painting, where do you to bring it to have it stretched & mounted, etc, etc etc. Can any help me out with this. I do not want to miss another opportunity when I do go to Europe in the future. Thanks so much. <BR> <BR>P.S. What is the best way to transport home (a little reluctant to roll, some of the oils were quite textured).

DJ - had the galleries ship paintings back home. <BR> <BR>The oil painting was mounted on stretchers and framed. Unfortunately DHL mangled it, and we had to make a claim on the insurance (always insure!) to have it 'restored' upon arrival...looks great now, and thank goodness we live in a city (Boston) where there are many options for art restoration. This was from a gallery in Provence. <BR> <BR>The watercolor was framed with glass, and arrived perfectly from Galerie Breheret in Paris.

Great question, DJ! I'm planning on using my local Michael's craft store...it seems they have a 40% off framing coupon every week in their circulars. I wonder if it's ok to roll the canvas and place in a small mailing tube and then pack it in a suitcase with the rest of my clothes?

We usually buy things that are unframed, they are inside a tube and tucked into the suitcase-the last time was a framed painting from the Galerie Brehert, they wrapped it up for us in tons of bubblewrap and I carried it on the plane,,a nuisance, but I knew who was handling it~C