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Parler Paris Nouvellettre®
Your taste of life in Paris and France
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010 • Paris, France
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BARGAIN HUNTING
The sun is out, the air is warm and shockingly I haven't yet hit the annual summer sales! No wonder the stores were empty yesterday when I set out to buy a birthday gift...everyone was waiting for their favorite item to be marked down to a more affordable price.
The "Soldes" start today in all parts of France (and last about 5 weeks) except for 14 departments, which have chosen to begin later in the season, particularly those in the "Outre-Mer" (overseas departments) where the summer season lasts much longer -- such as Guadeloupe, Saint-Barthélémy, Saint-Martin, Martinique, Guyana and La Réunion. Sales there start as late as October 9th. The list can be found at this site: www.date-soldes.fr
Personally, I shy away from the maddening crowds and prefer to pay retail in exchange for sanity, particularly in the summer when the stores are inadequately air conditioned and the fashions can only be worn a few weeks a year...but if you're a shopaholic and need to know more, here's a great overview of the sales in France:
www.parislogue.com
BARGAIN READING
Need more reading material at a bargain? SOS says "Everything Must Go" during its Summer Book Sale. Fill up a bag of books for only 5€! They're clearing out their storage and everything must go. All proceeds go to a good cause: SOS Help. It all happens July 3rd from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Joseph's Church, 50, avenue Hoche, 75008 Paris.
Visit www.soshelpline.org for more information about SOS and
www.soshelpline.org for information about the Summer Book Sale. (Information thanks to Eric Tolbert.)
BARGAIN BURGERS
Want to know where to go to celebrate July 4th in Paris? It used to be you could count on homemade burgers "chez Leeds" every July 4th until I discovered others could make them better with a lot less mess in the kitchen.
Long standing American restaurant Joe Allen is a perfect place to have your favorite July 4th menu...chicken wings, Caesar salad, barbequed ribs, bacon cheeseburger, brownie or pecan pie (plus lots of other choices)...all three courses for 32€ including tea or coffee.
Better reserve fast. I already have my table and I WILL NOT be eating my burger with a fork and knife! Only the French will be doing that! See
joeallenparis.com for more information.
BARGAIN POSTAGE
Buy your stamps today at a bargain -- the ones with no monetary amount printed on them, because tomorrow, the postal rates go up (information thanks to Eric Tolbert):
Letters within France increase from 56 centimes to 58.
Letters/postcards to US increase from 85 centimes to 87.
Letters to other European countries increase to 75 centimes.
Pre-stamped envelopes (prêt-a-poster) will be good for whatever rates are in effect when they are used...so stock up on these today, too.
BARGAIN GAS
"Residential gas goes up 4.7% in July following a 10% increase in April. If gas is used only for cooking, the July increase will be just 2.1%. In 2008 GDF cut-off 10,000 customers for non-payment but expects to cut-off 300,000 this year because of the increases." (Information thanks to Eric Tolbert.)
BARGAIN ELECTRICITY
"EDF has received regulatory permission to increase electricity prices this year by 11.4% followed by a 3.5% increase in 2011. There is hope for the future in that EDF is going to increase investment in nuclear energy from 500 million euros per year to 2 billion euros per year." (Information thanks to Eric Tolbert.)
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
(photo by Michael Honegger)
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P.S. Thanks to long-time reader Eric Tolbert for keeping me up to date on lots of things happening in our favorite town, Paris.
P.P.S. This Time Next Year, You Could be Living Your Dream...I will be a guest speaker at the Live & Invest Overseas Conference on "Living the Dream to Live in France" this September 16-18 in Las Vegas. Visit frenchproperty/conference/ or click here to learn more and register: web-purchases.com
