Customer Reviews

Frommer's Born to Shop Paris: The Ultimate Guide to Travelers Who Love to Shop

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I read Suzy's earlier book and with morbid curiousity looked at this book to see if she has made any improvements. I guess Suzy is still lounging on the bed in her hotel because the research is still as bad. So.....here's a post of my previous review which is still entirely applicable.

I spend several months each year in Paris. A wonderful city that is beautiful, safe and above all...French. Something which Suzy seems unable to comprehend.

She seems to know little of the city. Street names are mispelled. Suggestions for lunch are directed to overpriced mediocre tourist traps. Stores are noted at addresses that are years out of date. She suggests getting your hair done at the head office of L'Oreal. Suzy???? This is an office building without a salon in sight. Do you take your car for service to the head office of General Motors? She sends to you to a well known Parisian leather shop that has not been at the address offered for years. She tells you to arrive a couple of hours before opening at the St. Ouen Market. She even offers a cute way of pronouncing the name. Thanks so much Suzy. However, arrive a couple of hours early at the market and all you'll get is nasty remarks from vendors who are setting up and trying to enjoy their first cafe of the day.

She offers all the standard silly warnings about subways, pickpockets, "rowdy boys" and dangerous French traffic. The subways are clean, always populated, remarkably convenient and I suppose there are a few pickpockets lurking somewhere; but this is the method of transportation in Paris and I have never encountered one bad incident. I don't know what Suzy means by "rowdy boy". I have never seen one.....nor heard of problems with them. I wonder if Suzy gets out much? Regarding traffic, it's like any big city and appropriate precautions are needed. Things like looking both ways when crossing the street are probably in order. Suzy, I suppose you live in some protected suburb of middle America and are unused to seeing more than a few cars at a time.

Suzy has problems with ATMs and seems to think that the purchase of your Carte Orange is a difficult task that can only be accomplished at one ot two subway stations. As usual, Suzy's problems are remarkably unique.

And most offensive is Suzy's obvious lack of knowledge regarding French manners and society. If you don't like differences Suzy, stay at home and go the mall where you can feel very comfortable at your Wal-Mart.

Suzy says she spends hours relaxing on her bed and in her tub at the Hotel de Crillon. Suzy might I suggest that you spend less time in the tub and a little more time researching your book.

Suzy and Frommer's should be embarassed that they actually published this book. Shame to all involved.

It was difficult to wade through her tasteless anecdotes (mostly about her age) to find much substance. She seems more interested in trying to build a personal fan club than trying to give out great information on the truly wonderful shopping in Paris! Her "great deals" on hotel rooms are between US$200 - $300 a night, so beware that she's writing for those with beaucoup d'argent to burn.

I like books that I can carry with me for reference when I shop in Paris. It's nearly impossible to do that with this book because there is so much "chit-chat" included in the reviews of stores. It's very difficult to look up a specific area or kind of specialty store that you seek. You pretty much have to read the entire book to sift through her laborious writing to find what little helpful information actually exists. She includes one map of Paris which may be good for an overview of where shops are located, but a more detailed map is truly warranted.

This book is adequate if it's the only one to which you have access,... I'm sure Suzy has adequate experience of shopping in Paris, but her book needs some serious reorganization and brevity to make it more widely appealing to those who aren't as experienced as she is.

Bottom line: Not worth the effort to read it when there are far more informative books available. Sorry, Suzy.

I am in Paris now (I come here all the time) and someone left a copy of this book in my apartment. It is a bewildering book. The names of the streets are wrong, often. For instance, she talks about Rue du Vielle Temple-- how long would it take to look it up and realize it is Rue Vielle du Temple? Etc.

Some of the descriptions are amusing but sometimes quite inconsistent -- e.g., she says that it is difficult to find a helpful salesperson at Chanel (agreed) and then two sentences or so later that most of the salestaff there are very nice.

I think the book needs an editor, stat. With very careful editing (and PERFECT addresses-- necessary in a city with no right angles and many streets with similar names) this book would be much better. Oh, and it is always nice to provide more upfront about the author and her tastes, so that the reader knows if the book makes sense for them.

I have been traveling to Paris for 20 years and even lived there for a bit. Out of habit, I checked out Suzy's latest book. I wanted to know where Christian Louboutin's store was. she doesn't mention him. not a word. He is perhaps one of the hottest shoe designers going with his famous red soles. Suzy doesn't know or doesn't care.
Onto Pierre Hardy, a shoe designer in Palais Royale who is now making coveted purses with a wait list a mile long, again Suzy doesn't seem clued into who he is either.
The list goes on. Her hotel's are ridiculous. There are many wonderful hotels that are under $200.00 a night. Hotel Brighton on rue d' Rivoli right next to the much touted Hotel Mercier is one. Hotel Relais du Louvre next the still close Samaratine Deprtment store, which as been closed for a few years, but Suzy didn't mention even though her copyright date is post closing.
with information so available right now on the internet, save your money and buy a cafe or a glass of wine. Suzy, you are past your prime.

I recently returned from a trip to Paris where I had the opportunity to shop. This book had good information, but is seriously lacking details. Many of the addresses for the stores are wrong. Many times I would search for a store, only to find the address, but the store was not located there.

For one store (Monoprix), she did not give an address but described it as between a cluster of stores and the Hotel de Ville. It was actually a 20 min walk past the Hotel de Ville! We wasted over 40 minutes because she didn't provide accurate information.

She also writes that you are limited to bringing $400 worth of goods out of the country, when the limit is actually $800.

This would be a good book if the editors checked her information to be sure it was factual.

It seems as though Ms. Gershman either read the reviews here, or else the sorry state of the U.S. dollar against the euro was the catalyst for changes in the 10th edition, published in November 2004.

I used the book as one of my shopping resources during a short visit to Paris in May 2005. Of course, Ms. Gershman's picks still are on the pricey (and middle-aged) side, but she seems to have added more information on less expensive shopping options. And in case you don't share Ms. Gershman's taste in clothes, there are also picks from her son Aaron (who seems to be in his late teens or early twenties) and her assistant Jenny (apparently in her twenties or thirties).

She does list pricey hotels, but I don't think she should be considered a source on lodging since she lives part-time in Paris (and she even tells you how to rent her apartment, if you are so inclined).

I somewhat recommend this book because it gives a solid overview of shopping in the city and gives you a good base about the various neighborhoods. Plus, she's brutally honest ... since my shopping time was limited, her comment that Colette is overrated allowed me to skip that store and go somewhere where I can actually afford to buy things. She made me aware of a great place to buy handbags. And most importantly, she demystifies the process of getting détaxe ... which these days is crucial for Americans!

Normally, I'd have given this book four stars, but I've taken off another star because even though the book was published in November 2004, many things seem to be out of date (a champagne she recommended was nowhere to be found). I had a feeling there would be some problems with the listings, so when I was planning my trip (...)

Things I would have liked:
* Phone numbers for the stores, as well as opening hours.
* More detailed maps

If I were to do my shopping planning again, I'd probably spend an afternoon at Barnes & Noble with this book, reading the first couple of chapters (which include her top picks, as well as Aaron and Jenny's choices), then leafing through the rest of the book and taking down names of stores that interest me. Then, I would supplement my list with two sources that are more appropriate for a woman in her twenties or thirties: Time Out's store listings on their Web site, and the section on Paris shopping in the June 2005 issue of Lucky (which came out just in time for my trip, though I have to advise you that those listings are no cheaper than Ms. Gershman's picks!).

"Disappointing" is the best word to apply to this book. I found so little useable advice (and so much that was out-of-date), that I would try to resell my copy of this book via Amazon, if only I would not feel guilty for ripping off a fellow bargain-hunter!
Of the other (non bargain-shopping) advice in this book, I could find lots of places on my own (online on a search engine) to spend "top dollar" in Paris. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is truly "born to shop"! Phooey!

I've been traveling to Paris for 35 years (lived there for one) and so, know the city fairly well.... A friend lent me this book, and I tried to use it during the 3 weeks I spent in Sept-Oct of last year (2006), and was very disappointed. I mapped out the locations of several of the shops Suzy raves about, and arrived, only to find that the store was no longer (was it ever?) at the address she gave. If you know Paris, you know that there are tons of little, hard-to-find-rues, so it was VERY frustrating to spend so much time looking....and finding nothing. I would suggest she do her homework before she publishes another guide.

MS. GERSHMAN'S BOOK IS AMUSING AT BEST, BUT MOST TOPICS ARE COPIED WORD FOR WORD FROM THE LAST EDITION. ALSO HER ADVICE IS SOLELY BASED ON HER OPINIONS AND NOT GEARED TO EVERYONE. FOR EXAMPLE, SHE ONLY LISTS HOTELS WHICH ARE-AT LEAST FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON-SO EXPENSIVE. STAYING AT THE HOTEL DE CRILLON OR THE WESTIN DEMEURE HOTELS FOR AT LEAST $200/NIGHT IS NOT WHAT THE AVERAGE PERSON CAN AFFORD. TRUE THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT SHOPPING, BUT AS LONG AS SHE'S INCLUDING A SECTION ABOUT HOTELS SHE SHOULD AT LEAST GIVE A BROAD RANGE OF ACCOMODATIONS AT WHICH TO STAY.

I purchased this book a little while before going to Paris and read it cover to cover, made maps, reference marks on my maps (basically went over board) believing I had invested money in a guide that was somewhat acurate. Sadly, I was mistaken - many of the stores mentioned were either no longer in business or were at another address. Most of the advice was off the cuff and not honest enough to be taken seriously by anyone. It is a fun read, don't get me wrong, but more as fiction than fact. Paris is a living, breathing animal of a city, always changing - i realize now that advice, not military precision shopping, is what I am looking for, and this is not it.