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Post by lagatta on Mar 18, 2019 12:54:27 GMT
mich, where else are you planning to go? Perhaps you could start a thread about that and anyporters might have good suggestions. Think that would go in shipping out?
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Post by mossie on Mar 18, 2019 15:23:33 GMT
Just mindless vandalism, and an opportunity for some casual looting.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 18, 2019 16:36:57 GMT
It appears that a policeman was filmed collecting a new wardrobe as well. Oops.
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Post by fumobici on Mar 18, 2019 17:48:32 GMT
Say hello to the inevitable results of cold-hearted liberal capitalism and the growing gap between its beneficiaries and its victims. The rich keep getting richer though, so all is well.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 18, 2019 17:52:55 GMT
Police officer will soon discover that a steady public service job was worth a lot more than a spring wardrobe...
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 18, 2019 18:29:33 GMT
If the demonstrators had piled up 500,000 euros worth of Hugo Boss suits in the middle of the Champs Elysées and burned them, it would have been a political statement. Not necessarily valid, but definitely political. They still have time to put all of the stuff in charity bins for the poor, but somehow I don't think that they will.
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Post by bjd on Mar 18, 2019 19:04:16 GMT
I was rather out of touch with the news this weekend but did read that there were more climate marchers than yellow vests in Paris. Perhaps they are trying to attract attention by becoming more violent?
For one thing, the graffiti is of no interest or wit. For another, do they really think that the clerks working in all these shops are millionaire capitalists? And the newspaper sellers in the kiosks? The yellow vests keep bitching that they don't have money, they want more from the government...well, paying people to work on Saturday nights and Sundays to clean all this up costs a bundle to the cities involved. The drop in tourism also has an effect on the economy.
I don't believe that criticism of the government justifies stealing sports clothes or jeans or anthing else for that matter. And putting themselves on the same level as the political demonstrators in Algeria or Sudan is nonsense.
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Post by mich64 on Mar 18, 2019 23:56:18 GMT
mich, where else are you planning to go? Perhaps you could start a thread about that and anyporters might have good suggestions. Think that would go in shipping out? Lagatta this is a quickly put together holiday. I will send you a PM. We are planning on staying a few nights each in Blois, Chartres and Pontorson, a town near Mont-Saint-Michel. So we will be visiting some churches, the Abbey and monastery. Also hoping to visit with some family and friends. We will spend the last 5 nights in Paris.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 19, 2019 2:18:50 GMT
I've been to Chartres (daytrip from Paris) but unfortunately not the other places...
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Post by lagatta on Mar 21, 2019 16:44:17 GMT
That is utterly ridiculous. If tourists are worried, they should simply avoid that particular area. There is so much else to see in Paris.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 21, 2019 17:08:52 GMT
Since I am on their mailing list, I receive those alerts every week, which I delete generally without even opening the message. A couple of months ago, they got their wires crossed and I received the same message about Budapest.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 2, 2019 12:59:31 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 2, 2019 13:15:59 GMT
And now for something completely different. Galeries Lafayette has been getting ready to open for the last three years in the location of the ex-Virgin Megastore ex-Citibank building. So, after this long wait, it finally opened last week and fears absolutely nothing from any future demonstration. It has retained the original reinforced steel door from Citibank (just as Virgin had done) and it has absolutely no windows at street level (sorry, Monoprix). It was time for me to inspect what they have done. Articles had already said that it was a "private shopper" experience. I know what a private shopper is, but I quickly understood that it is obligatory in this store. There is no merchandise that you can pick up and take to a cashier. Only one item is displayed of each thing, so you have to ask a salesperson to get your size or colour. Not that I really care, since I won't be shopping here, but I'm sure that plenty of people absolutely adore the attention. Naturally, I noticed that there were at least 3 or 4 times more "attendants" than in a normal store. I had seen enough. I think the black bloc will have to seek out other targets, because this place is secure.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 2, 2019 16:20:58 GMT
I couldn't stand to have a private shopper, but I'm really not their target customer.
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Post by mich64 on Apr 2, 2019 19:27:28 GMT
Interesting. Too intense for me though! I do love looking at purses even if I can not afford any of them! I think a personal shopper could be helpful, if a person was willing, they might makes choices that one might not have tried but I would not feel comfortable with it. I do think there is a whole lot of people out there who will love this.
My first shopping experience on holiday was in a small town in north eastern France, I picked up a box of handkerchiefs and the owner came over and grabbed them out of my hands and scolded my mother-in-law for not telling me not to touch (I was in my 30's) but to ask. Now when I enter shops I watch what others do first.
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Post by bjd on Apr 3, 2019 15:35:41 GMT
Is the Galeries Lafayette on Blvd Haussmann no longer there? I found it nicer than this place which looks rather like a concrete bunker.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 3, 2019 16:42:29 GMT
Boulevard Haussmann is still the location of the flagship store and is 10 times bigger than this little boutique on the Champs Elysées. However, Galeries Lafayette will be closing their store in Montparnasse (the shopping mall will be demolished) and re locating to the Beaugrenelle shopping mall in the space left vacant by Marks & Spencer. In the meantime, they have closed quite a few stores in the provinces.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 3, 2019 17:08:52 GMT
Thanks for this update. As the world keeps turning and new crises pop up here and there, I'd almost forgotten about the recent events on the Champs Elysées. It is interesting how the various businesses are confronting the situation, from Ladurée's elegant solution to Fouquet's art installation bunker. I see one store is going out of business, which I guess may or may not be related to the riots.
Mich, your story of the immeasurably rude shop keeper is just awful. You must have been mortified, even though it was the owner who richly deserved to be slapped.
Yeah, I guess that Galeries Lafayette store is impressive, but awfully cold and really repellent.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 3, 2019 17:47:27 GMT
It is made for the tastes of the Middle Eastern and Chinese clientele who will shop there. One thing that I didn't think to look for but about which I am now curious is where they have tucked away the changing rooms (probably changing suites with snacks and drinks). Once they have trapped the customer inside, I can imagine them bringing more and more stuff. "Oh this outfit is perfect for you, but of course you will need this handbag and these shoes to go with it."
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Post by lagatta on Apr 3, 2019 18:05:26 GMT
That is EXACTLY what I was seeing with their mandatory personal shoppers. And dealing with cultures where "face" is important.
The unwritten "rules" for shopping and many other things vary from country to country, but the nasty person who humiliated Mich should certainly understand that people from abroad might not know all the "rules" and treat them politely.
I'm sad about stores pretty much forcing us to shop online. Women's wear is a category where fit is extremely unpredictable, in part due to "vanity sizing" but also because of manufacture in many different countries. So much stuff is returned; usually the customer has to pay, and in any event it means even more polluting transport.
I wouldn't mind an automatic cat litter delivery service though...
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 3, 2019 19:08:13 GMT
Women's wear is a category where fit is extremely unpredictable, LaGatta, I don't know if you're old enough to remember when the only way to buy a bra was at a counter in a store. There would usually be some bras in a glass case, but you had to tell the saleslady your size and she would select something, then go into the dressing room with you to "help". It was hugely annoying and also inefficient.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 3, 2019 19:19:07 GMT
Unfortunately there are still boutiques like that. I can tell when something fits; I know they are supposed to be a bit snug at first. And I'm fine with online shopping for repeat purchases; just that it shouldn't be the only option.
I am some years younger than you, but not enough to never have known those days. Some of those salesladies were downright sadistic, with no more manners than Mich's nasty French salesperson.
I suspect that Rigby & Peller serve Her Majesty at the Palace...
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