Shopping in France is one of life’s great pleasures. However, while those seductive weekly markets offer regional produce, from lavender in Provence to cheeses in Auvergne, you should look a little further for some real buys. Fortunately, there are great discount and shopping opportunities in France for those who know where to look. Here are some suggestions for buying bargains in France.
Shopping malls and shopping centers are scattered throughout France. Some are easily accessible by public transport, but others are outside the city, in the suburbs, or in industrial areas where you will need a car. They all have excellent facilities: large car parks, ATMs, children’s play areas, information centers and cafeterias. Plan to spend several hours doing serious shopping.
Discount stores near Paris
If you are in Paris, there is a large discount shopping mall and outlet in La Vallée Village, just outside Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée. Thirty-five minutes from Paris and five minutes from the Disney parks, La Vallée Village is a popular shopping destination for visitors to the French capital. This is the best place for fancy names, both French and international. Unlike many of the other centers outside of Paris, you can get there by public transport from the center of Paris.
Get to the Vallée
Book in advance on the Shopping Express from the center of Paris, departing from Place des Pyramides at 9:30 am (return from La Vallée Village at 2:30 pm) and at 12:30 pm (return from La Vallée Village At 5 pm )
Round trip ticket: adult 25 euros, child from 3 to 11 years old 13 euros, free for children under 3 years old
Book Shopping Express tickets online; at the Cityrama office, Place des Pyramides, Paris; or at the La Vallee Village Welcome Center.
By public transport: RER, TGV and Eurostar serve Disneyland Paris / Marne-La-Vallée. The closest TGV station is Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy / Parc Disney.
- For the TGV, see the sncf website.
- For the RER (line A4), take RER A and get off at Val d’Europe / Serris Montévrain station. It’s a 10-minute walk, or board the shuttle to La Vallée Village on Sundays, which runs every ten minutes. For information on RER, see the RER website.
- For Eurostar, see the Eurostar guide.
Discount shopping centers outside of Paris
Roubaix, a northern suburb of Lille, has the largest conglomerate of factory outlets in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. A L’Usine and McArthur Glen Factory Center, which have luxury labels, are worth a visit.
Troyes has the largest collection of factory outlets and discount shopping centers in France, all within walking distance of the center of Troyes. Troyes is 170 kilometers (105 miles) east of Paris and can be accessed by train.
There are two large shopping centers in Troyes. At McArthur Glen, you have the option to choose from around 110 luxury brand stores, both French and international.
You’ll find two nearby Marques Avenue centers on the outskirts of town, Marques City and Marques Avenue, plus separate and smaller Marques Decoration with 20 specialty home goods stores like Le Creuset and Villeroy & Boch.
The Marques Avenue website has details of its six other malls in France.
Sales
Sales in France are regulated by the government, albeit with difficult economic conditions. Be on the lookout for signs in advertising window displays for promotion (deal) or soldesnelnels (exceptional sales).
Winter sales usually start on the second Wednesday in January; Summer sales normally start in mid-June and last until the end of July. However, there are exceptions to this in six departments near the French border: Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Vosges, Landes, and Pyrenees-Atlantiques.
Factory outlets
While traveling in France, keep an eye out for signs of factory outlets dedicated to a brand that will offer good deals to buy different items. And don’t forget to check your local tourist office, which will have lists of factory outlets. Here are some suggestions for factory buying:
- If you are a lover of fine china and porcelain, look for Royal Limoges in Limoges, Haute Vienne. Limoges Magasine d’Usine, 54 rue Victor Duruy in Limoges, tel.: 00 33 (0) 5 55 33 27 30.
- Chefs from all over the world flock to Le Creuset Factory Outlet, 880 rue Olivier Deguise, Fresnoy-le-Grand, tel.: 00 33 (0) 3 23 06 22 45, near St Quentin in northern France, directly to the east of Amiens.
- Romans-sur-Isere, near Valence in the Rhone Valley, is not only known for its discounted Marques Avenues shopping center, but is also generally known for its factory outlets, particularly shoe stores, and is a magnet. for bargain purchases. More information is available at the tourist office, Pavillon de Romans, 62 avenue Gambetta, tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 75 02 28 72.
- In Lyon, the world’s center for silk making, look for the Atelier de Soierie (silk trade workshop), 33 rue Romarin, tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 72 07 97 83. It is a few meters from the place des Terreaux. , near the Hotel de Ville. Here you can get unique items from the supplier of leading designers in Paris.
Garage sales
Many small towns and villages have video barn sales (literally “emptying the attics”) in the summer. Some are good; some aren’t that great for the bargain hunter, but they’re always fun. Vendors are a mix, including locals who empty their attics or barns, and professional brocante dealers. It’s easy to see which is which: Dealers have big trucks, updated furniture, and better items; families often have children selling their toys and parents getting rid of them… almost everything.
There are wonderful bargains at these fairs, like the old bistro glasses; a large number of mismatched plates and tableware; an oily wood safe with a brass handle on top to hang from the ceiling; and a coffee set with extraordinary jungle designs that were all the rage ten years ago.
Vide-greniers are easy to find. Handmade signs around the towns advertise the sales, which often come with local festivals and the strange rustic dance and fireworks. Or find information about sales in the area at your local tourist office.
Also, visit the excellent French website that lists many of the sales by department, as well as local Christmas markets and special brocante fairs.
Ventes Deposits
The French love their warehouses , shops or warehouses where you can buy second-hand items. They exist throughout France; just look for signs outside buildings. Many of them are commercial and one-time ventures, but there are a couple of organizations that fall into that category with outlets across the country.
Emmaus
There is an Emmaus shop in Le Puy-en-Velay in Auvergne, as well as Emmaus shops throughout France. They are part of the Emmaus Movement, founded by L’Abbé Pierre (1912-2007), a French Catholic priest who was a member of the Resistance in WWII and later became a politician. The Emmaus Movement helps the poor, the homeless and refugees.
Emmaus stores collect donations and then sort them, sometimes repair / renew the items and sell them. The shops are run by volunteers and are often quite chaotic. They can produce strange treasure, but they can also be depressingly littered with junk. You just have to take a chance. We have found collections of cutlery for a couple of euros, a small collectible Pernod jug, strange porcelain and a chair that may be full of woodworms but is very beautiful.
You will need to check with your local tourist office for Emmaus shop locations. The Emmaus website advises you in French to contact your local store, which is not very helpful.
Troc.com
Troc is another fully commercial organization with deposits throughout France. Again, you get lucky. You have to sort a lot of things, and they also take new items from the bankrupt stores. Our last tour included a wooden crib with a basket, a set of butcher hooks that double as coat hooks, and an old wine stand. We rejected a wooden statue of Serge Gainsbourg quite battered in his early years that looked rather disheveled and have regretted it ever since.
Flea markets o Flea market (Mercadillos)
There are hundreds, probably thousands, of brocant markets across France, but the days when you could be guaranteed a bargain are long gone. The French have developed a good taste for those old cans, quaint farm implements, and Art Nouveau and Art Deco porcelain. But like all of these things, they are fun and can pick up the weird deal. If you see something you fall in love with and it’s a little more than you had budgeted for, do it anyway.
In Paris, the most famous flea market is the Marché aux Puces in Saint-Ouen. Open on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, it is famous all over the world and there are professionals and ordinary people, who peruse mountains of products. Again, some are great, some are clearly weird, and some are not. But it is a Parisian experience that no one should miss.
Famous annual sales not to be missed
In addition to the local fairs (again, you will get information from your local tourist office), there are several places and events that are very well known:
- The biggest braderie (trunk / garage sale) in Europe takes place every first weekend of September in Lille. It is an incredible occasion and it is worth visiting, but you should plan it a bit like a military campaign, as it is huge and can be very confusing.
- Amiens also has two major braderie fairs: the last weekend of April and in October.
- In Provence, L’Isle sur la Sorgue is a city of antique dealers, a bit like Hay-on-Wye in Wales it is a paradise for book lovers. In addition to the regular distributors who are there throughout the year, there are two events that are worth noting. At Easter and in August, they hold a fair that attracts more than 200 vendors, both antique dealers and brokers.
