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Celebrating
travel, culture, language and l'art de vivre |
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Archived ArticlesPackage Makes Perfect September 2, 2009 Shopping in France has its obvious pleasures. Creative window displays
are a perpetual source of eye candy. Beautiful goods tempt in small
boutiques and in les grands magasins (department stores).
And when a shopkeeper learns you truly appreciate his wares, he
will bend over backwards to be helpful and informative whether or
not you purchase a thing. 
 How does the gift wrap process work? In my experience, gift wrapping in France is always free for both expensive and inexpensive items. And even if there is a line of ten customers in a shop, the salesperson will not consider your sale complete until all your gifts are wrapped. But here's the catch: you do have to ask for it-the salesperson cannot read your mind. There are two common ways to ask for a gift wrap. You can say: "C'est pour offrir" (say poohr oh-freer) meaning 'It's a gift.' Or you can say: "Pourriez-vous me faire un paquet cadeau, s'il vous plaît?" (pooh-ree-ay voo meh fair uhn pa-quay ca-doh, seel voo play?) which translates as 'Could you gift wrap this for me please?' If remembering this much French poses a challenge, you could communicate your desire for a stunning package by just saying "paquet cadeau" (pa-quay ca-doh). They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but in France, I
would say you can do pretty well with exteriors of the gift package
kind. So keep the gift vocab handy and try it next time you're there.
Bon shopping! Ladurée has a great web
site where you can check out virtually their shops, pastries,
chocolates, books, home and beauty accessories, and more. You can
also send a Ladurée-inspired postcard to your Francophile
friends. Click
here for an array of choices.  Return to list of archived articles  |
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