I'm back!

Bonjour cheries! I'm back from Paris. It was a jam-packed week. We did so much sightseeing and walking, I am exhausted. I could really use another vacation. I bought your standard souvenirs and trinkets, including a beret ;-) I'm a little disappointed that I didn't do much real shopping. We only went to Avenue des Champs Elysees (the famous fashion street) on the last day. Younger girls are in trendy clothes like the rest of the world. Zara, H&M and Mango are everywhere there. Parisian women are definitely not conservative in their way of dressing. There were a lot of cleavages showing. Many women didn't wear bras. Even the older ladies. And strangely visible panty lines and bras under see-through blouses don't seem to be problems there. I guess you could say they are very confident in their body image. I was more impressed with the way men dressed there. I saw many men in dressier clothes on the streets, complete with accessories like "man purses" as my guy called them. We think they are more inclined to dress up on a daily basis, and just aren't afraid to be snazzy dressers, unlike North American guys, who either don't want to bother or don't want to be made fun of, being called "metrosexual" or "flamboyant". Here are some shots I snapped on the streets.

(a crisply dressed and well-matched couple)












(Love the red boots with the red floral mini dress on that girl)










(black & white is still Parisian ladies' fave color combo)










(an impeccably dressed lady)







(a beautiful bag at a Dior store)






(a huge Louis Vitton store on Anenue des Champs-Elysees)


(at Chanel)

Off to Paris

So darlings, I'm off to Paris for a week. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post and show some pics here during the week. Au Revior for now!

Paris trip almost no-go

Well, I was utterly depressed last week because I thought our Paris trip was botched as we have been battling with the car dealership that we’d recently bought our car from (the car died after only 4000 KM). The possibility of shelling thousands of dollars out of our own pocket is very real at this point. However, yesterday we made a decision that we must go on this Paris trip, so we went ahead and bought air tickets (which weren’t cheap either). We are not giving in.

People do not utter the words “used car salesmen” in total disgust without good reason. Ladies (and guys), if you are from the Greater Toronto Area, DO NOT buy cars from Kingscross Motor Sports in Scarborough!!! They refused to take any responsibility. So please heed my warning if you're about to go there. They are the greasiest, scummiest, most dishonest car salesmen (and women) we've ever met.

Anyway, I won't let this get me down. I'm just waiting for my friend to show up so we can go shopping later. I know I know, shopping again. I'm just going to window shop and help her pick out a few dresses. She's being influenced by me and now she craves for pretty spring dresses. Well, looking at these won't break my bank account. And it lifts my mood.

Geometric Pattern Minimal Dress $110

Baby Doll Polka Dot Dress $48

Renaissance Floral Pattern Dress $85

Lovely Embroidery Dress $78

Flower Printed Lace Dress $72

Pattern Layered Trapeze Dress $130

Retro Pattern Chiffon Dress $75

Gay Paree!

Our Paris trip is still 6 months away, but I'm already getting really excited about it. I'm looking forward to lots of museums, arts and history, decadent French pastry, real French stinky fromage (according to our French friend, North American cheese is not real cheese), and of course shopping, however in my case a lot of window-shopping. Our French friend gave us two pieces of advice for visiting Paris:
1. Speak French.
2. Never ask a French person for directions.

He wasn't kidding.

The city has so many tourists, Parisian people just don't have the time of the day to stop to give directions to every one that asks them. They will ignore you if you attempt to, especially if you speak English to them. You are better off with a map.

So I'm going to pick up French lessons again. I have a "Learn French" CD that's easy to listen to. You can practice speaking with it too. It even tells you if your accent is like a tourist (i.e. terrible, lol) or a native.

So any of you been to Paris? Do you recommend any particular places I should see, besides your usual Musee National du Louvre, L'Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel, Notre-Dame, etc? Any shopping centres, streets, plazas that I must go to?