C’est Ma Vie

Louis Vuitton, Champs Elysees

Last week, while Teth and I were walking around the Champs Elysees avenue, a couple of Chinese women asked us if we speak English. We said yes. I thought maybe they were lost or something and they needed our help for directions. How very naive of me.

I often see Chinese people everywhere I go – New York, SF, even in Manila. And of course, in Paris – the number of Chinese tourists are great. Mostly, I see them in department stores, boutiques with luxury goods, or in the shopping district of Paris more than in museums or other touristic spots here.

Anyhoo, these 2 Chinese women asked us if maybe we can help them buy Louis Vuitton bags. They will give us money and we buy the bags for them. I looked at them strangely and one of them said that Louis Vuitton doesn’t really welcome Chinese shoppers. Doubt crossed my mind – for why would it turn away shoppers when LV can benefit from purchases – hello it’s the crisis and everyone is welcome to shop and bring in some euros. And well, I don’t think LV discriminates its shoppers.

I remember one of my asian friends had an encounter with the same kind of people – Chinese, wanting to purchase LVs. And by the way, she actually helped the people purchase handbags. I remember her telling me that she was given a thousand euros IN CASH to buy bags from this luxury boutique. I cannot imagine carrying that much cash in my pocket – I would think debit cards are safer.

I found out the reason why the Chinese tourists ask other asians for help. It’s because the Louis Vuitton store only allows the purchase of two handbags per foreign passport, so they ask other asians to lend them their passports to purchase more handbags from LV. I guess they prefer asians to help them because they come from the same continent and all that. Also, the sale of luxury goods in China are way more expensive than in Europe or even in Hong Kong.

According to AC Nielsen, the average expenditure of Chinese tourists abroad is around 3000 USD. There is even a prediction that in 2015 , China will surpass the US to become the world’s second largest consumer of luxury goods (next only to Japan).

Anyway, we gave out a reason that we were in a hurry and we were catching a train to Belgium (which is true – for Teth’s part). I just can’t believe this – spending so much for a handbag and even asking other people to purchase more expensive handbags is just too much for me. I’m so cheap that I think twice before even buying a new winter coat for like, 80 euros or used books from amazon (after all, they have delivery charges).

As for Teth, she wanted to get the D&G shades, which made her glow! I swear, as soon as those D&G shades covered her eyes, all I could think of was glamour, and white sand beaches. The price was a little bit too much for a pair of sunglasses, though. Gotta stop converting euros into PHP!