Hello! Since this thread was so incredibly helpful during my trip to Paris last week, I wanted to share my recent experience in super detail - sorry if I go off topic! I hope anyone making a trip soon finds this helpful - BTW I am from the USA (Southeast).
My sister was there already for work and since the flights were very reasonable I decided to tag along last minute
. I landed in Paris on Wednesday, May 23rd in the afternoon. My return flight was scheduled to leave Monday, May 21st in the morning. I wish I had followed the advice of most of you on this thread to request an appointment even if you may be late. I arrived to the hotel at around 2pm. We stayed at the Four Seasons on George V Avenue - a 3 minute walk from a Hermes boutique (This wasn’t intentional).
That left us with appointment opportunities for Thursday, Friday and Saturday since they are closed on Sunday. Sadly, we were given the reject message:
We were planning to do more of the touristy stuff on Thursday and Friday so this didn’t bother me at all. Figured i’d share some highlights of my itinerary a bit!
Thursday - Declined from an appointment 
We went to the Palace of Versailles - The gardens were much more extensive then I expected - wish i wore sneakers instead of sandals!. We had a private tour guide which I HIGHLY recommend you splurge a bit on as the line was insane, it gave us fast entry and we saw all of the “major” points.
That took up most of the day. We then did a dinner & show package at “LIDO”. Dinner was much better quality then I expected. Show was fantastic!!
Friday -
Declined from an appointment
We did a lunch cruise with BATEAUX PARISIENS - again much better food then I was expecting and a great way to see the city
Tea time at Prince de Galles hotel next door to the four seasons - We met a friend there and that loved the hotel so you may want to considering staying here.
Saturday -
Declined from an appointment
I figured since some of you mentioned having luck by simply going to the boutique, I figured i’d give it a try! I had a small list of things I wanted to purchase anyway.
Arrived to the mothership a few minutes after opening. It was pretty busy - I overheard the SA saying that the next day was Mothers day in France. I had no idea but I definitely saw what looked like many people with their moms as well as families.
I first went in and met with someone at the service desk on the main floor, I expressed that I had tried to make an appointment 3 days in a row and was not granted an appointment for any day. She was apologetic and asked what I was looking for. When I told her a Birkin 25 or a Kelly in a smaller size and I was looking for a dark color in preferably gold hardware. She told me that it was nearly impossible without an appointment and that I should try again for Monday, but I was leaving Monday AM.
I saw a pair of block heeled sandals (sorry can’t remember the model) that I loved. The SA was kind enough to check other locations in Paris. I then started asking her more questions about the reservation system. She said that they try to accommodate roughly 150 appointments per day and that it is completely random. She said that your chances have nothing to do with your purchase history or how often you try, but more so the amount of people who are also trying to get an appointment (so the more ppl trying, the slimmer your chances). She also mentioned that since Mothers Day was Sunday, They likely had a lot of appointment requests which gives you a slimmer chance. She then suggested I check with the other boutiques.
I was then on my way to the Hermes boutique on Rue De Serves since this is where the shoe SA said they had one pair of the shoe I was looking for - I was actually surprised with how quiet the store was compared to the mothership. There is a very “airy” design to it - Sort of seemed Asian inspired to me - quite different then the mothership. I went to the shoe department, found my shoes (yay) and told the SA about the dilemma I was in. She was VERY sweet and told me that there were about a dozen people in line at the leather department but she will see what she can do. She then took my passport info and came back nearly a half hour later with two boxes. I know a lot of you ladies here can tell what’s inside based on the box size but I really had no idea. The first bag she had was a Evelyn in a orangey-red and the second was a Gypsy in a very light blue or possibly green color. Sorry if i’m butchering these names! lol. I kindly said no thank you and bought my shoes, a scarf, a few of those H enamel bracelets and a necklace with an H as a gift then left. I was pretty sure at that point my chances were pretty much over.
We went shopping on a street called Rue De Frances Boutgeois. This street reminds me of Soho in NYC. Lots of smaller shops for big names like Maje and Ted Baker. More 1 on 1 attention and less crowded then other shopping areas that we had passed by during our trip. I discovered 4 brands that I’ve never heard of (apparently not in the US) and had such a great shopping experience!
We had dinner at Costes. This place was BUMPIN! Lol GO THERE ESP IF YOU ARE WITH FRIENDS OR YOUR BFs/HBs. The food was sooo good - the risotto and cheescake were the best i’ve ever had. They actually had a decent cocktail menu which I noticed most places we went to didn’t have in general.
Over dinner my sister said we should just try for an appointment on Monday (Monday appointments are made on Saturdays). My flight was early in the morning and hers was in the evening. I called to see what the flight change would cost and to my surprise it was very reasonable. We both went on the website and crossed our fingers (it was around 5pm).
