kaush

Hi
We landed in Paris yesterday mid-morning. Everything great so far EXCEPT American Airlines seems to have mixed up/lost our checked in bag (
Detailed at http://www.fodors.com/community/air-...ggage-help.cfm)

I would love to have some recommendations on stores/store chains for reasonably priced basic wear for or me, my wife and our three and a half year old. (Almost all our clothes were checked in and we need to buy at least some change of clothes and undergarments to survive)

Also need to buy bedtime reading books for a toddler. (My three and a half year old is badly missing his books from the check-in. He started sobbing last night when there was no books to read. Didn't realize he is that attached to his reading objects ..)

We are in 13e on Rue Chandon. If you guys have any recommendation for stores/chains/bookshops (English books?) nearby, that would be awesome. Have no experience with shopping in France at all (except grocery shopping from yesterday!)

Lastly, would much appreciate any advise on what is the best course of action regarding the lost luggage. Would it help to personally land up in CDG tomorrow morning?

Robert2533

Head for the Bon Marché on the left bank (www.lebonmarche.com). You'll be able to find everything you need there.

Robert2533

You'll get you luggage when it arrives, not one minute sooner by showing up at CDG. So just enjoy Paris as best you can.

Suzanne2

You are near the shopping center Place D' Italy. You can find clothes there. C&A has reasonable prices. There is a Monoprix on Goeblins which has usalble items including toiletries. I know there is a large English language bookstore on Rue Di Rivoli across from the Tuileries. Another in the Marais called the Red Wheel Barrow. You can google to find more. I saw a used bookstore in that area but I cannot recall where exactly. I recall it near a costume store.

The lost luggage is not at CDG. It is warehoused and delivered by private couriers who are not employed by the Airlines. They get paid by the bag. They show up when they show up. We were calling non-stop for 5 days. Try to enjoy your time in Paris in spite of this very big inconvenience.

Ackislander

I can't find a rue Chandon in the 13e on Google Maps, so I can't help with that.

Off the top of my head, I would go in the morning to (1) the local Monoprix, most of which sell lower priced clothing and certainly underwear in addition to groceries. Some of them have fairly extensive clothing departments (rue de Renne, for example)and all the cosmetics, medicines, deodorants etc that you could need or (2) go to BHV opposite the Hotel de Ville. It is a sort of Sears/Penney's level department store as opposed to the great name stores like Printemps or Lafayette, but it is going to have everything in a range of sizes. But this advice may be all wrong; if so, someone will see it. BHV does, however, have a very large book department, and I have seen English books there but was not of course looking for children's books.

Going back to the airport is a drag but makes sense if you do not hear from AA in the morning. When Air France lost our friends' luggage on the way from Edinburgh to Boston, it could not be found for four (4 or IV) days of phone calls. It turned out to be sitting in the AF office at Logan Airport the entire time, a fact they learned when they actually went to the airport.

annhig

Also need to buy bedtime reading books for a toddler. (My three and a half year old is badly missing his books from the check-in. He started sobbing last night when there was no books to read. Didn't realize he is that attached to his reading objects ..)>>

a good lesson for those who think [not this OP] that they can cart small children around with them in the same way they used travel to when they were just by themselves. you simply can't predict how they will feel in their new surroundings.

kaush - what bad luck. i can't help you with the other stuff, but as for english books, you could try here: Shakespeare and Company, Rue de la Bûcherie, Paris, France - it's on the left bank just across from Notre Dame.

bon chance!

vespacurves

>>a good lesson for those who think [not this OP] that they can cart small children around with them in the same way they used travel to when they were just by themselves

It's not just 3 year olds who cry when they lose their favorite books traveling. Depends on how strongly you feel about books.

Christina

I don't consider BHV to be a Sears/Penneys type of place at all, they have expensive designer stuff in there, it seems just like Printemps & GL to me (Bon Marche is very expensive). BUt I would also just go to the shopping center at Place d'Italie, as someone else suggested. If that doesn't work, I'd go to the shopping center at Montparnasse Tower, it has C&A and some more budget stores.

I thought you wanted luggage itself, and there are some good shops on rue de Rennes (part just a bit north of bd Montparnasse) and on the Right Bank on bd Sebastopol, just walking north from rue de Rivoli, these have some cheap stuff.

There was some English language bookshop on the Right Bank, not sure if it is still open, WH Smith on rue de Rivoli, that's the only one I know that is still around (other than Shakespeare & CO but that place just sells used books as far as I know). http://www.whsmith.fr/

MOnoprix has cheap books in it, but I don't know if they have any in English. If you are in there, worth a look, I suppose.

kerouac

Yes, just go to the nearby Italie 2 shopping mall for basic clothing. (Place d'Italie)

There is a FNAC there as well that should have some basic English books. For a more elaborate selection, go to one of the huge FNACs like on rue de Rennes in Montparnasse or the Forum des Halles in the 1st arrondissement (also a huge shopping mall).

annhig

It's not just 3 year olds who cry when they lose their favorite books traveling. Depends on how strongly you feel about books.>>

good point, vespacurves, i get quite desperate if I haven't got something to read.

Suzanne2

I agree with Christina. BHV is expensive comparedd to Sears or Penny's. Bon Marche is really expensive.
They have some of the same stores in Paris like Zara, Gap and H&M.
I like the quality of the things we have purchased at Monoprix. We once went 5 days with our luggage and I got pjs undies and some tops there. Check a size chart before you go though.

Robert2533

"Bon Marche is really expensive"! I guess our budgets differ somewhat and Zara is fine, but I've always been able to find what I need at the Bon Marché.

Suzanne2

Robert, Have you actually shopped/bought at Bon Marche? The OP did ask for less expensive options. Bon Marche is a gorgeous store. I visit it nearly every trip I take to Paris. I bought my grandaughter her first walking shoes there. Yes, you can find anything you might need in the store, but you will not find the most inexpensive options there.Sounds like the OP just needs some things to tide them over til the luggage catches up to them. No need to break the bank for that. IMO.

Michael

For cheap replacements, try http://www.tati.fr/

Suzanne2

That's another option for sure.

330east

DPAM is a child's clothing store. They are all over Paris.

kaush

Thank you very much for your replies.

I called AA baggage check at 730 am local time and they said that they got of my real bag too last night and would get this over to me in the next 3-4 hours. We did get it back at around 1030 am local time. HUGE relief!

So we dont really have to shop for clothes any longer .. I do want to buy my son a few new books since we have already promised him that. So the bookstore coordinates will come in very handy (I have heard about Shakespeare and Co of course; but didn't know that they sell children's books too)

@Ackislander: By the way, the street name actually is Rue Gandon. I am afraid I spelled it incorrectly (seems to have mixed up the street name in my head).

Thanks a ton once again for your help.

Cathinjoetown

kaush,

Hooray!

Shakespeare and Co just across from Notre Dame so easy to fit in!

ParisAmsterdam

http://shakespeareandcompany.com/ind...tegories=115:1

or: http://tinyurl.com/92rs3kw

uhoh_busted

Of course, with a 3 year old, you may want to pick up a French childrens' book. You can probably create the story from the pictures as you "read" and in the future, it might serve as an intro to learning French What a perfectly practical souvenir!