We took two friends to Printemps specifically to see the fantastic view of Paris from the roof terrace at the top of the building. in the past, you walked through the cafe out onto an open terrace and could see great views all the way around. Since our last visit, they've installed further bar areas and outlets so it doesn't have the same tucked away feel it used to have and the terrace itself has been decked out so much that a lot of the views are obscured and the overall feel is in my opinion a bit tacky. I guess it was inevitable that Printemps would want to capitalise on what was a little known gem and I suspect it will become chargeable at some point. A shame but inevitable. Still, we got to visit many times before this latest re-furbishment but I don't think we will be going back.

Le Bon Marche Rive Gauche would be more of a curiosity than anything else to the casual tourist, as it was to us. It is an amazing store and the goods on sale are obviously high quality, but many would find some of the prices a bit out of reach. You would most probably find almost everything in other department stores, and may be at a little more reasonable prices. Worth a walk through to get over it!

Crowded, very crowded many tourist (mostly Asian) purchasing luxury items. Most of the brands carried in the store are high end luxury brands with high prices. BEWARE of fake sales and %discounts. I was shocked to find that the sale prices 20%-60% off sale items did not apply to non EU tourists. Sadly we had shopped and purchased some items before we became aware of this rip off of non eu tourists, once we found out we left the store. SO if you are from any country outside the European Union you cannot get the posted sale price, you would pay full price even if it was marked as a % off. The clerk said this would end after the holiday season (when all the tourist go home). Also, keep in mind the "tax refund" is not the full amount that you pay in tax. The vat tax is about 20% and you get about 12% back. You must jump though many hoops to get it back. First, you need to "claim" the tax refund and get the form from the store. Second, you must take the items you purchased and the form to the customs officer in the airport to get validated (remember you must have the items with tags out at the airport), and show the form, AND the items with the sales tags attached (if you packed the items in the luggage you do not get the form validated) and after all this, Third, you must mail the form back to the store, if the store does not receive it NO REFUND. By the way many items do not qualify for the tax refund, brands such as Rolex and LV and others.