Not Sold on Les Soldes

Let it be known I don't really like shopping. Occassionally I'm inspired to hit the racks but usually I shop when I need something. Like boots. Boots are everywhere in France. No matter your age almost every female, even the least fashion-conscious, owns a pair of boots. The realization that I didn't have a pair of flat-soled, stylish yet comfortable boots irked me; all of a sudden my wardrobe was conspiring against me to make me feel even more un-French. So a few months ago I began the hunt for a pair of boots. But there were so many styles and colors, let alone stores, that I froze, indecisive and uncertain, when confronted with a decent or above-average pair. It was either the wrong height (ie the type of boot that looks like it walked off the set of "The Three Musketeers"), the heel was either too pointy or tall, the color wasn't just right, or it was too expensive. Or even too cheap, which meant it would fall apart in a week's time with all the walking I do. Then I remembered les soldes -- the sales -- and decided to wait a little longer to find the perfect boot. By law, for nearly two weeks, all stores must offer their latest collections (summer for the July sales and winter for the January sales) at incredible discounts. I recently learned that the reason stores don't have sales throughout the year (as is the case in the U.S. and most other parts of the world) is to prevent the bigger names, like Galeries Lafayette, from putting the smaller businesses out of business. Such is the theory of a socialist system. I see the point, but I find it somewhat protectionist. Of course, laws are needed and do exist to protect small businesses but enacting a law that discourages and prevents owners and consumers from doing what they do best (selling and buying) when they want to, would never happen in the U.S. Perhaps that's because we're such a money-driven society...In any case, the days preceding the sales are buzzing with anticipation. The racks overflow, colored tags appear next to the original price tag (although you don't find out its equivalent discount price until the first day of the sale), posters go up on storefront windows (PRIX CHOC, LIQUIDATION TOTALE, SOLDES! SOLDES!), and, most noticeably, tons of women are to be seen carousing the racks -- but not buying anything. They're scouting things out, misplacing and hiding items, trying to convince the salesperson to put things aside or to give them the discount in advance, both of which are not allowed. I even saw entire sections of stores being cordoned off to seperate the non-sale items from the sale ones and bins full of purses being saran-wrapped to prevent impatient fingers from doing all or any of the above. There's quite a bit of preparation involved. And so guess what this self-confessed non-shopper did on the first day of the sales? Woke up at 7 am, took the metro to the center, and hit the stores by 8. I was determined to get those boots I had seen the day before. (Yes, I confess, I followed the advice of one of Marc's female colleagues and did a pre-shopping.) I knew things went fast and that my size, 38, would also go by fast. Every woman on the metro was potential competition; I laughed at myself, getting hyped up for a stupid sale, but it was also exciting. I wanted to be one of the first. I wanted to get that pull with the scoop neck because, dammit, there were only 3 left and of those 3 only 2 mediums! In the end, I got the boots and the pull. Yet it was so anti-climatic and I felt like such a...consumer. I went to a few other stores but nothing caught me eye. Nothing on sale was that great, none of the discounts that amazing (although I'm sure in some stores incredible deals can be had), and I never witnessed any women fighting or playing tug-of-war with some stupid clothing, as I've heard sometimes happens. All in all, les soldes was rather disappointing. Maybe it depends on the year, or on the enthusiasm of the shopper, but I can't really complain because I finally have my first pair of French boots.