The dollar stores are your unlikely best friend when packing for Paris. Visit a dollar store before leaving the US to avoid overspending on travel supplies. The dollar store is cheaper than the travel aisle in your local pharmacy or discount store.
Their price point allows you to ditch items if you need room in your luggage on the return trip. The stock at dollar stores changes and they might not have all of these items all of the time, so buy them when you see them!
#1 – Travel Umbrella
Travel umbrellas tend to get lost or forgotten in restaurants, museums, etc. Unless you are a frequent traveler with a meticulous memory I would go with a Dollar Store umbrella.
#2 – Daily Pill container
If you’re d’un certain âge, you probably take a medication or two or three.
#3 – Over-the-Counter Medications
You will be walking more than you usual, trudging through endless corridors in the Louvre and distracted by the beauty of Paris streets. The Dollar Store is a good place to stock up on common remedies and unguents for the aches and pains inherent in travel.
#4 – First Aid Kit
Small, lightweight and you can’t beat the price. I usually leave this behind as a ‘gift’ to the flat I’ve rented and replace it with a tourist purchase in my luggage.
#5 – Personal Care
You can pick up hygiene and beauty supplies and your TSA liquids container and bag here.
#6 – Sewing Kit
#7 – Drain Cover
Will you be sink-washing undies? I travel with a drain cover because hotel and apartment sink plugs are often missing or don’t work well.
#8 – Reusable folding bag
When you shop at grocery stores or marchés you’ll notice that the French bring their own sacs and bag items themselves. Bring your own picnic bag.
#9 – Bottle opener
Wine is a good buy in Paris; be prepared to sample a bottle on your picnic!
#10 – Disposables and Picnic Items
Bring a few plastic knives, forks, spoons, napkins, and baggies for picnic leftovers. Consider a cheap water resistant tablecloth. Side note: ‘doggie bags’ are not available in French restaurants. They serve normal portions that can be finished in one sitting. Supersizing is an American phenomenon.
Break up the hectic tourist pace with a leisurely meal in a park or on a quai by the Seine or the banks of Canal Saint Martin. Experience Paris like a Parisian and visit a grocery store, marché, or the food section of a Monoprix store. Pick up a bottle of wine, a baguette or prepared deli item and appreciate the panorama of daily life in Paris.
#11 – Sticky notes and arrows
For marking maps and guidebooks and noting observations you want to remember.
#12 – Clothespins
These come in handy when you least suspect and I always pack a couple from the dollar store.
#13 – Carabiners
I use these to clip my keys inside my bag for handy access and to hang laundry bags. I use mesh bags to hold dirty laundry and then small items like socks and undies when I load the washer. I put a carabiner on the mesh bag with an attached rubber band for hanging onto door knobs or bathroom hooks.
#14 – Portable Flashlight
The French have timers on hallway lights and they can turn themselves off while you are still fumbling for your keys. I also use the ever-handy carabiner to hang one inside my bag for easy access.
#15 – Earplugs
Are you traveling with someone who snores? Don’t lose sleep; throw a couple earplugs in your bag!
#16 – Batteries
And last but not least, don’t forget to put fresh batteries in your various devices!
Cynthia Tuttelman (aka "Tut") is a writer, family doctor and quilter who lives in Northern California and part-time each year in Paris, France. Follow along and explore the wonders of Paris.