I am prepared for you to scoff at me...
If you read my blog from yesterday you will recall that I mentioned that every day that I am in Paris I aim to do something I've never done before...
Today I went shopping....
BUT!!! Hear me out!
With a mission in mind to track down something fabulously Parisien as a birthday gift for my equally fabulous friend, Heidi, I made my way, this afternoon, to Le Bon Marche...the chicest department store in a city chock full of chic department stores. A hop skip and jump down the road from my apartment, this is THE store in Paris, my guide book tells me, where celebs duck in for essentials while everyone else pretends not to recognise them. I had never been there before and, therefore, I'm sure you will agree, it counts...
Another reason for hitting the shops today is that Paris - the self confessed shopping capital of the world - began its January sales today. A couple of weeks later than the rest of the world perhaps - but who am I to complain?
And so with a mission and a cause, I shouldered into the department store alongside the rest of paris, pushing aside the odd bored male and tipping a few children out of their prams in my effort to reach the nearest bargain. Unfortunately I soon realised that even the most fabulous of bargain basement sale items were still a couple of hundred euros more than I could ever dream of affording (sorry Heidi) so once I considered Le Bon Marche well and truly ticked off my list of 'must dos' I followed my (well honed) nose past a few Louis Vuitton bags and a couple of Cartier rings to the slightly more affordable Parisien version of Britain's 'high street'.
I should have known my own nose a little better as it lead me next door instead, to La Grande Epicerie Paris, the haute couture of grocery stores sporting aisle after aisle of gourmet goodies...cheese (of course- this is paris), chocolate, desserts and meats from all over the world. Lost in my own little foodie world I refrained from purchasing even more cheese and bread for tonight's dinner (my jeans are starting to feel uncomfortably tight!) and dragged myself back to the mission at hand.
Eventually, I found just the gift I was looking for (no hints...) and realised I had also got myself a little bit lost (no surprises there) in the excitement of rushing from one sale-sign filled shop to another. I sunk into a chair outside a nearby bar for a cocktail and a furtive glance at my map.
There are two things I love about Parisien bars:-
1) they seem to have fully and wholeheartedly embraced the concept of 'la happy hour' - a 5 euro cocktail sure beats a 10 euro one between the hours of 7 and 9pm.
2) once you have ordered and paid you are welcome to sit and relax for as long as you would like without being hassled by any snooty waiters...doing like the french and sitting at outside tables facing the street, unashamedly people watching. The french, it seems, like to be seen and they like to be watched. They do it to others and they expect the same in return. They dress, I'm sure, especially for the people in the bars staring at them as they walk past. So, I'm happy to be la belle parisienne once more, staring, watching, listening in to unintelligible conversations....and sipping my 5 euro mojito
Happy shopping!
Till next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment