When do the sales start? What size dress should I ask for? Where can I buy duty-free goods? If you don’t find the answer to your shopping questions in this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!
Shops everywhere take all the major credit cards: Visa, EuroCard, MasterCard, American Express. At each transaction, the sales person must give you a receipt which you should keep safely. Only cheques drawn on French banks will be accepted and generally proof of identity is requested. You can also pay in euros of course, although it is best to avoid the larger denomination banknotes.
If you fancy buying a last-minute gift after 7pm, you’re more likely to find it in the busy Parisian districts around the Champs-Elysées, Montparnasse and Les Halles.
There are three different television standards in use throughout the world: PAL, NTSC and SECAM. These systems, basically incompatible, refer to the way in which the colours forming the image are combined and coded. PAL is used in most European countries, in Asia and Australia, NTSC in North and South America and in Japan, and SECAM in France, Eastern Europe and in Africa.
SECAM and PAL have enough similarities to make them both compatible with the majority of video equipment available in Europe. However, SECAM and NTSC are not compatible.
Do check that any video equipment or cassettes that you purchase in Paris will be compatible with the system used in your country. If not, you may well end up with a video you can’t watch, or at best, black and white instead of colour pictures.
Be sure that any DVD you purchase here is compatible with your equipment at home. For commercial reasons, in order to avoid a film being available on DVD at the same time as its general cinema release, the DVD market is split into several regions:
Region 1: USA and Canada
Region 2: Europe, Middle East, Japan and South Africa
Region 3: South East Asia
Region 4: South America and Australia
Region 5: Eastern Europe and Africa
Region 6: China
So in France, you are in zone 2. If you take a DVD home from Paris, it may not be able to be decoded by your player, unless it is region-free. In addition, the video format (PAL, SECAM or NTSC) must be compatible too, for a DVD to work properly. So ensure you check the relevant details before you buy.
In busy tourist areas and in the main department stores, sales staff will speak one foreign language or more. English is the most common, but you’ll come across German, Spanish and Italian too.
In all the welcome centres of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, you also have at your service reception staff speaking several languages.
Like all big cities, Paris has its pickpockets. These few words of advice will help you to avoid any inconvenience: always keep your identity documents and your wallet in sealed pockets, or, for ladies, in a handbag carried across your shoulder; try to keep the keys to your accommodation separate from your ID; avoid displaying the contents of your purse, and be particularly vigilant at rush hour when travelling on public transport (9/10am and 6/7.30pm).
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