Every Parisian would say there's no better place to shop than in Paris, especially in the summer. Here are tips on where to go from a “regular” to the shopping streets of Paris. Want to go all out? The high-budget area, Avenue Montaigne, is quiet and ghostly, giving an ambivalent feeling between the 19th century and contemporary times. Avenue Montaigne is full of high-end fashion stores such as: Dior, Prada, Chanel, Fendi, Valentino, Nina Ricci, etc. Champ Elysees Quarter starts at 7 L'Alma and ends at 3 rond-point des Champ Elysees. It's by far fashion's hottest shopping spot in Paris. Luxury is customised there. High street fashion, local designers and subtle spending The Champ Elyseesfalls under the second category for affordable shopping area, the most famous avenue in the world that takes you on an entirely different (shopping) air. The Champ Elysees has stores with reasonable prices such as H&M, which opened recently in the avenue after a snobbery struggle. The chain was apparently too colloquial to be located here, but maybe the store's wonderful collaborations with big designers finally twisted their arms. Cap, Zara, Morgan, Naf Naf, Adidas, Celio, Milady, Promod are also in this area, not to mention the recently-opened Massimo Dutti, which takes up a strategic location right next to George V café and the LIDO and is on the other side of Louis Vuitton. Special tip: Where can you find the good bargains in the Champ Elysees? The following stores will always have a specific area for sale all year around in their store. At the back end of the first floor of Morgan they have a gold, round rack with an enormous amount of dresses on sale; those dresses will always have a sexy lingerie or Moulin Rouge look. Cap, Promod and H&M always have sales, as well. Looking for a bargain? No one can tolerate cheap and lousy, and in Paris you can find things that are definitely cheap - and wonderful! Chatelet is the downtown of Paris and the shopping is around the masses, crowds, portrait artists, tourists and fashionable young women. The village-like area is the heartbeat of Parisian life; full of small boutiques and local designers where you can find clothes with personality and thought for a lower price. Another place where you can find good quality is La Defense Mall, it offers a variety of hundreds of stores. What is unique about La Defense is the combination of international chains with their international looks, like H&M, Zara, Mango, American Apparel, Uniqlo and Gap, just like in the Champ Elysees; but they also have the small boutique stores with a different sense of style, from preppy to gypsy. Chatelet is one example. Also the stores are open on Sunday - which is unusual in Paris. Overall, France is an exceptional, delightful country and Paris contains an exceptional, delightful shopping realm. *All photos by Sama Eissa _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sama Eissa, after receiving her BA in Politics, pursued her passion for fashion. She is currently in the midst of obtaining her Fashion Design Diploma in a joint programme with the Instituto di Moda Burgo from the Fashion Design Centre. She takes fashion seriously, considering that every woman wakes up thinking what she's going to wear that day. A woman wants to reflect who she is. For more Life & Style news and updates, follow us on Twitter:@AhramLifestyleor ourFacebook page) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/49902.aspx
