OliveOyl's light goes out in Paris, Madame Californeeea Excellente is born!
Dec 31st, 2003, 07:59 AM
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OliveOyl's light goes out in Paris, Madame Californeeea Excellente is born!
Ah...my heart was left in Paris, my luggage, sadly, in Miami, and my body...it isn't quite sure where it is this morning, but there are palm trees out the window so this must be Tampa.
What a trip. Sad to have missed you Croque Madame and had to laugh thinking what that other American tourist must have thought when you asked her if she was OliveOyl! lol Our paths did cross, as we also came upon Deyrolle Sunday when it was closed. I wouldn't have even noticed it had it not been for the huge mounted bright turquoise colored butterfly in the window, as the shop name was written way above the door, but I spotted a raccoon too as we passed the 2nd window, and bells began to ring, calling me back to double check and sure enough, it was Deyrolle. Unbelievably...or maybe because there is so much to take in everywhere, although I saw the butterfly I totally missed the other window with 2 deer in gardening clothes! Lawsy. Anyway...I did look for the red-head wearing a mattress with a squirt in tow, but soon realized 50% of the population were wearing black mattresses, many with young 'uns in tow as well. It was futile.
As indicated above, however, I was no longer OliveOyl, having been rechristened "Madame Californeeea Excellente" by a street portrait artist who called out to me using that name in the Tuileries on our first walk that first day.
It was just me and my honey, so I assumed Madame Californeea Excellente c'est mois and happily adopted the name for the trip. Flattery will get you everywhere, monsieur, but with many places to go and things to see, I took take the name and kept moving, sans portrait. I had not yet learned to sing "au revoir" correctly, (<i>ti so</i> dragging out the vwaaah sufficiently), but that was to come.
Anyway, fabulous fabulous trip to this city which absolutely defies adequate description.
Some of the scenes from that first day, Christmas Eve, were almost surrealistic. The sun had set and it was absolutely dark quite early, by 4:30 anyway. Picture walking down narrow, lamp-lit, cobble stoned, shop-lined Rue St. Louis en l'Ile, a street which could easily pass as a setting for a scene from Dickens Christmas Carol. We began the walk just as shop owners were closing and locking the doors to their little shops, and last minute Parisian shoppers were picking up the fixings for their Christmas meals from butchers whose multi-paned store front windows were lined with chickens/hens complete with heads, tail feathers and feet, ducks, smoked leg of something-or-other that had been tall at one point and now retained its hoof for character, and being shaved paper thin in a slicer, then dinner purchases complete, the shoppers hurrying out of the stores and home with their bundles. Honestly, it was a page right out of A Christmas Carol!
To add to all this atomosphere, it was by now misting lightly, not enough for an umbrella, but enough to make the streets glisten, all adding to the romance of the moment. Kiss? Yes we did!!
Walking through darkness across Notre Dame's square toward the floodlit cathedral for Christmas Eve mass that night, the cathedral bells pealing that deep gong-gong-gong non-stop, the air very cold and crisp...everyone else hurrying across the plaza with us, scarves wrapped around necks, was such a moving experience even for this non-religious person, I absolutely could not have replied at that moment had my husband said anything that required a response!! And sitting in the cathedral for mass listening to the organ music, the altar and cross brightly spotlit in an otherwise darkish church, was almost surreal--until--we were jolted back to reality by the lay usher who took up position near us and set our eyeballs spinning with his garlic breath and...errrr....greatly-in-need-of-a-bath self. Aaah...Paris!
Thus ends our first day
I won't go into all the "we wents" and "we saws", (but we did
) as it'd obviously take forever considering the details I get caught up in, instead will add more observations and impressions of the city as replies to this note.
Let it suffice to say here that we fell in love with the city, and even the bleak reality of 2 snarly hours getting through crude and very rude Miami customs, then sitting for two more hours in that grimmest of grim airports awaiting our next flight, and arriving in Tampa to find despite that long layover, that no luggage had arrived with us, could not dampen my enthusiasm for this trip. It only strengthened my resolve never, <i>ever</i>, to fly through that airport again, as this was not our first experience with this airport and problems. It was an otherwise perfect trip....and je suis dans l'amour!
What a trip. Sad to have missed you Croque Madame and had to laugh thinking what that other American tourist must have thought when you asked her if she was OliveOyl! lol Our paths did cross, as we also came upon Deyrolle Sunday when it was closed. I wouldn't have even noticed it had it not been for the huge mounted bright turquoise colored butterfly in the window, as the shop name was written way above the door, but I spotted a raccoon too as we passed the 2nd window, and bells began to ring, calling me back to double check and sure enough, it was Deyrolle. Unbelievably...or maybe because there is so much to take in everywhere, although I saw the butterfly I totally missed the other window with 2 deer in gardening clothes! Lawsy. Anyway...I did look for the red-head wearing a mattress with a squirt in tow, but soon realized 50% of the population were wearing black mattresses, many with young 'uns in tow as well. It was futile.
As indicated above, however, I was no longer OliveOyl, having been rechristened "Madame Californeeea Excellente" by a street portrait artist who called out to me using that name in the Tuileries on our first walk that first day.
It was just me and my honey, so I assumed Madame Californeea Excellente c'est mois and happily adopted the name for the trip. Flattery will get you everywhere, monsieur, but with many places to go and things to see, I took take the name and kept moving, sans portrait. I had not yet learned to sing "au revoir" correctly, (<i>ti so</i> dragging out the vwaaah sufficiently), but that was to come.Anyway, fabulous fabulous trip to this city which absolutely defies adequate description.
Some of the scenes from that first day, Christmas Eve, were almost surrealistic. The sun had set and it was absolutely dark quite early, by 4:30 anyway. Picture walking down narrow, lamp-lit, cobble stoned, shop-lined Rue St. Louis en l'Ile, a street which could easily pass as a setting for a scene from Dickens Christmas Carol. We began the walk just as shop owners were closing and locking the doors to their little shops, and last minute Parisian shoppers were picking up the fixings for their Christmas meals from butchers whose multi-paned store front windows were lined with chickens/hens complete with heads, tail feathers and feet, ducks, smoked leg of something-or-other that had been tall at one point and now retained its hoof for character, and being shaved paper thin in a slicer, then dinner purchases complete, the shoppers hurrying out of the stores and home with their bundles. Honestly, it was a page right out of A Christmas Carol!
To add to all this atomosphere, it was by now misting lightly, not enough for an umbrella, but enough to make the streets glisten, all adding to the romance of the moment. Kiss? Yes we did!!
Walking through darkness across Notre Dame's square toward the floodlit cathedral for Christmas Eve mass that night, the cathedral bells pealing that deep gong-gong-gong non-stop, the air very cold and crisp...everyone else hurrying across the plaza with us, scarves wrapped around necks, was such a moving experience even for this non-religious person, I absolutely could not have replied at that moment had my husband said anything that required a response!! And sitting in the cathedral for mass listening to the organ music, the altar and cross brightly spotlit in an otherwise darkish church, was almost surreal--until--we were jolted back to reality by the lay usher who took up position near us and set our eyeballs spinning with his garlic breath and...errrr....greatly-in-need-of-a-bath self. Aaah...Paris!
Thus ends our first day
I won't go into all the "we wents" and "we saws", (but we did
) as it'd obviously take forever considering the details I get caught up in, instead will add more observations and impressions of the city as replies to this note.Let it suffice to say here that we fell in love with the city, and even the bleak reality of 2 snarly hours getting through crude and very rude Miami customs, then sitting for two more hours in that grimmest of grim airports awaiting our next flight, and arriving in Tampa to find despite that long layover, that no luggage had arrived with us, could not dampen my enthusiasm for this trip. It only strengthened my resolve never, <i>ever</i>, to fly through that airport again, as this was not our first experience with this airport and problems. It was an otherwise perfect trip....and je suis dans l'amour!
Dec 31st, 2003, 08:19 AM
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Sigh....welcome home Olive Oyl. Sounds like you had a fantastic holiday and I can't wait to hear more of your tid-bits.
I have to agree....MIA is awful. Unfortunately I have to go thru there more than I care to.
I have to agree....MIA is awful. Unfortunately I have to go thru there more than I care to.
Dec 31st, 2003, 08:55 AM
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Welcome back. Sad comment about Miami customs. I've always hated the Miami airport and it is the one I most often go through for international flights, but our last return was a breeze through the new counters at MIA and we even had this friendly smiley agent who welcomed us home and chatted for a few seconds. It couldn't have been easier and we thought at last they've gotten customs fixed at Miami. Now, according to you, it appears we just hit an "off" day when they were actually polite and organized. Knew it was too good to be true.
Dec 31st, 2003, 10:03 AM
#8
That Christmas Eve mass must have been a beautiful experience. Yes, please tell us more of the details of your trip! I want to know what you saw, where you went, where you stayed, what you ate, all of it!
Dec 31st, 2003, 12:15 PM
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Did you shop?
Did you have enough chocolate?
Where did you eat and what did you have?
Was the coat sufficient?
How about those museums??
Did you see any good lookin pups? ( that was not my question btw, someone else wants to know)
Did you have enough chocolate?
Where did you eat and what did you have?
Was the coat sufficient?
How about those museums??
Did you see any good lookin pups? ( that was not my question btw, someone else wants to know)
Dec 31st, 2003, 12:32 PM
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Thanks for the welcome home you all. It's fun to come back here and relive the trip with others who love Paris as much as we now do, and who can appreciate how difficult it is to describe adequately. As we are slow out of the gate, most of you already know what I'm describing so no need to go into detail trying to explain the beauty everywhere we looked--the statues, the carvings, the gilt, the tiniest details in the most out of the way unlikely spot! I expected it to be beautiful, but had no idea <i>how</i> beautiful it was. I'll be hanging onto others reports down the road as well...trying to keep these memories fresh until the next time.
Statia and Patrick, MIA is old and dirty, or the portion we were in was, but we all can take old and dirty as long as it is served with a smile, not a snarl. It was uncontrolled chaos, not through busy holiday travel, or orange alert, but through the "I don't give a damn and now I've got you under my thumb" attitude of the woman in charge of expediting movement in the room, but unfortunately who reveled more in her position of power than in her capacity to fix things that had broken down. That it had broken was no concern of hers, and at first for those of us in line it was just a quiet joke, but after an hour in a 25' line during which time we'd moved only 5' at most, we were on the edge of revolution. I?ll probably talk about it in more detail later, but picture a line finally rebelling and figuratively getting down on all fours, foaming mouths snarling and snapping at her ankles, gargoyles come to life, which immediately brought about some improvement in her attitude, as she saw, finally, she had exceeded our limits of tolerance, we?d chewed through our muzzles, and she was about to lose all control to the unwashed, which after 9 hrs on the plane, was precisely what we felt like. lol ! Madame Californeea Excellente has fangs, she found--very nice razor sharp ones!! We needed Ms Scarlett to work her sweet magic on MsNastiness, but I fear even our Scarlett, could not have turned her bile to nectar.
OK, lets talk about, once again, the much debated:
<u>COAT/WARMTH/CLOTHNG ISSUE</u>
I am well and truly a Floridian after 7 years, and feel the cold at anything below 65, but am now <i>firmly</i> in the I-was-fine-in-my-lined-raincoat school, both day and night, rain or no, wind or no. It is a dressy Drizzle and not in the least out of place or labeling as "tourist". The raincoat is not how I became Madame Californeea Excellente..lol...I suspect it had more to do with the little running tan I always seem to have as well as some strategic blond streaks, thank you Robert!
Anyway, rain it did, some portion of every day without missing a day I believe, so the raincoat was a godsend as we walked almost everywhere.
I awoke one night to what sounded for all the world like a tropical depression blowing in--very high wind making wooowoooo noises though teeny spaces in the casement window frame and torrential rain hammering the window. I was mentally chalking that next day up as a lost one but awoke to find bright sunshine that morning! Utterly amazing. As many times as we've heard the expression, if you don't like the weather wait a minute...if any city embodies that, Paris must in the winter. These aren't FL storms that blow in and out in an hour. They come and stay for a day, 3/4 of a day, but can turn on a dime. That same evening we ducked into Samaritaine for a potty stop, having found our trusty Pont Neuf metro potty closed for the night, rode to the 5th floor--were you there Croque Madame, creeping along with us?--rode back down to walk home, only to find it pouring again. That was some slow elevator! This was a soaking downpour, one necessitating an umbrella even, which I happened to be carrying in Truck. I had debated between the Drizzle and my long black cashmere coat, had decided to leave that home and it was the right decision. For added warmth I wore silk long underwear top and bottom...so thin that even with sleek pants, they were invisible. The ONLY time I was cold was standing in line at the Eiffel Tower...about an hour at the bottom and another 3/4 hour or so at the next level Christmas night--dark and the wind was whipping.
<i>Truck</i> was an eBay purchase (another first) made just for this trip, a Prada backback, which, if it's a fake is so good I can't tell it from the real thing side by side. My husband named it Truck as it carried all our needs neatly and with some style...umbrella, tour books, maps, carnet tickets (which we later decided were being demagneted by its closures), gloves, hats, scarves when we were inside, emergency candy bar, receipts etc. Truck...he loaded and unleaded it, I carried it..was a wonderful accessory. I still recall my sore sore shoulder several summers ago in London carrying my purse--not a large one at that, but with Truck's weight evenly distributed between both shoulders and resting on my back, it was no problem at all.
Waterproof boots added some warmth, but we probably would have been ok with only the rubber-soled shoes we had, and which I did wear the first day in the rain. That was enough to stay dry, but the boots added a tier of warmth on the coldest days.
<u>HOTEL</u>
Not surprisingly, I've never seen this one mentioned here, and not surprisingly for those who know me from the US board, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Paris-Madeleine. Hush...I hear the groans all the way over here, and that's what I thought too, but this is not your Momma's Hyatt!
By all measures, this would be a Park Hyatt in the states, but there is another Hyatt in Paris which is a Park, so this is a Regency, with rates about 100 euro plus a night less than the Park, but still have an annual average room rate of 404 euro/night. Average rate...mind boggling!
It is a boutique hotel, 86 rooms, located on 24 Blvd Malesherbes just up from the Madeleine in the 8th. We had a 7th floor suite...living room, bedroom, huge marble bath with heated towel racks, big extra thick fluffy bath sheets, rain showerhead, soaking tub etc.
We were fish out of water in this suite, initially unable to figure out even how to turn the lights on (needed to leave the key card in something by the front door) until we called for an explanation! The living room had a plasma screen Bang and Olufsen TV on a stand which swivels the tv toward you as you turn it on from the sofa. When turned off, it swivels back to it's position flat against the wall. Bed (king) had a nice cozy duvet, European style I assume, which meant just the duvet and no top sheet. This truly was our only complaint during our stay as that thing could get pretty hot even with the thermostat turned down as far as it could go. All the windows opened out into a court yard--and were it not for the constant threat of rain, we'd have opened them!
Staff from front desk to bell stand (such as it was) to restaurant were great looking, all dressed in black black black suits with mock turtlenecks under. Very cool, all very cordial in a more reserved (although still friendly) way than is the norm here. It was truly wonderful...far more wonderful than we ever needed as we were awake in our room only an hour at either end of the day, then up and out.
Statia and Patrick, MIA is old and dirty, or the portion we were in was, but we all can take old and dirty as long as it is served with a smile, not a snarl. It was uncontrolled chaos, not through busy holiday travel, or orange alert, but through the "I don't give a damn and now I've got you under my thumb" attitude of the woman in charge of expediting movement in the room, but unfortunately who reveled more in her position of power than in her capacity to fix things that had broken down. That it had broken was no concern of hers, and at first for those of us in line it was just a quiet joke, but after an hour in a 25' line during which time we'd moved only 5' at most, we were on the edge of revolution. I?ll probably talk about it in more detail later, but picture a line finally rebelling and figuratively getting down on all fours, foaming mouths snarling and snapping at her ankles, gargoyles come to life, which immediately brought about some improvement in her attitude, as she saw, finally, she had exceeded our limits of tolerance, we?d chewed through our muzzles, and she was about to lose all control to the unwashed, which after 9 hrs on the plane, was precisely what we felt like. lol ! Madame Californeea Excellente has fangs, she found--very nice razor sharp ones!! We needed Ms Scarlett to work her sweet magic on MsNastiness, but I fear even our Scarlett, could not have turned her bile to nectar.
OK, lets talk about, once again, the much debated:
<u>COAT/WARMTH/CLOTHNG ISSUE</u>
I am well and truly a Floridian after 7 years, and feel the cold at anything below 65, but am now <i>firmly</i> in the I-was-fine-in-my-lined-raincoat school, both day and night, rain or no, wind or no. It is a dressy Drizzle and not in the least out of place or labeling as "tourist". The raincoat is not how I became Madame Californeea Excellente..lol...I suspect it had more to do with the little running tan I always seem to have as well as some strategic blond streaks, thank you Robert!
Anyway, rain it did, some portion of every day without missing a day I believe, so the raincoat was a godsend as we walked almost everywhere. I awoke one night to what sounded for all the world like a tropical depression blowing in--very high wind making wooowoooo noises though teeny spaces in the casement window frame and torrential rain hammering the window. I was mentally chalking that next day up as a lost one but awoke to find bright sunshine that morning! Utterly amazing. As many times as we've heard the expression, if you don't like the weather wait a minute...if any city embodies that, Paris must in the winter. These aren't FL storms that blow in and out in an hour. They come and stay for a day, 3/4 of a day, but can turn on a dime. That same evening we ducked into Samaritaine for a potty stop, having found our trusty Pont Neuf metro potty closed for the night, rode to the 5th floor--were you there Croque Madame, creeping along with us?--rode back down to walk home, only to find it pouring again. That was some slow elevator! This was a soaking downpour, one necessitating an umbrella even, which I happened to be carrying in Truck. I had debated between the Drizzle and my long black cashmere coat, had decided to leave that home and it was the right decision. For added warmth I wore silk long underwear top and bottom...so thin that even with sleek pants, they were invisible. The ONLY time I was cold was standing in line at the Eiffel Tower...about an hour at the bottom and another 3/4 hour or so at the next level Christmas night--dark and the wind was whipping.
<i>Truck</i> was an eBay purchase (another first) made just for this trip, a Prada backback, which, if it's a fake is so good I can't tell it from the real thing side by side. My husband named it Truck as it carried all our needs neatly and with some style...umbrella, tour books, maps, carnet tickets (which we later decided were being demagneted by its closures), gloves, hats, scarves when we were inside, emergency candy bar, receipts etc. Truck...he loaded and unleaded it, I carried it..was a wonderful accessory. I still recall my sore sore shoulder several summers ago in London carrying my purse--not a large one at that, but with Truck's weight evenly distributed between both shoulders and resting on my back, it was no problem at all.
Waterproof boots added some warmth, but we probably would have been ok with only the rubber-soled shoes we had, and which I did wear the first day in the rain. That was enough to stay dry, but the boots added a tier of warmth on the coldest days.
<u>HOTEL</u>
Not surprisingly, I've never seen this one mentioned here, and not surprisingly for those who know me from the US board, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Paris-Madeleine. Hush...I hear the groans all the way over here, and that's what I thought too, but this is not your Momma's Hyatt!
By all measures, this would be a Park Hyatt in the states, but there is another Hyatt in Paris which is a Park, so this is a Regency, with rates about 100 euro plus a night less than the Park, but still have an annual average room rate of 404 euro/night. Average rate...mind boggling!
It is a boutique hotel, 86 rooms, located on 24 Blvd Malesherbes just up from the Madeleine in the 8th. We had a 7th floor suite...living room, bedroom, huge marble bath with heated towel racks, big extra thick fluffy bath sheets, rain showerhead, soaking tub etc.
We were fish out of water in this suite, initially unable to figure out even how to turn the lights on (needed to leave the key card in something by the front door) until we called for an explanation! The living room had a plasma screen Bang and Olufsen TV on a stand which swivels the tv toward you as you turn it on from the sofa. When turned off, it swivels back to it's position flat against the wall. Bed (king) had a nice cozy duvet, European style I assume, which meant just the duvet and no top sheet. This truly was our only complaint during our stay as that thing could get pretty hot even with the thermostat turned down as far as it could go. All the windows opened out into a court yard--and were it not for the constant threat of rain, we'd have opened them!
Staff from front desk to bell stand (such as it was) to restaurant were great looking, all dressed in black black black suits with mock turtlenecks under. Very cool, all very cordial in a more reserved (although still friendly) way than is the norm here. It was truly wonderful...far more wonderful than we ever needed as we were awake in our room only an hour at either end of the day, then up and out.
Dec 31st, 2003, 02:10 PM
#14
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Odd...I know I made some corrections to the previewed response above, but they didn't take. Make that word demagnetized, not demagneted, and somehow a short paragraph got lost at the end, telling Pup that mais oui, there were some pups to behold, though naturellement, none as fine as he. Then..on to
<u>SHOPPING</u>
Eh...Scarlett, you will be so disappointed with me! We did very little, as so much of our time was taken up with the sights, the museums, the walks, the places I really had to see this first trip.
The dollar was and still is sinking fast, but you can't let that stop you, after all, it isn't every day you get to Paris. That wasn't my problem at all, it was more limited time, delicious window shopping I wanted to do, and the necessity of getting a few critical gifts for pet sitters (3) and chilluns.
Chocolat, yes!! And after a turn-down amenity at the hotel one night, I had to locate the Laduree shop for the magical little melt in your mouth whachamacallits.
Soaps and candles: L'Occitane and Fragonard plus two other wonderful soaps from a small shop in the Marais. These are heaven to smell and by the time our luggage arrived this afternoon, it had all been packed for over 24 hours, all with H's slacks and sweaters. The sweaters will go to the cleaners before wearing again anyway, but he is going to smell like some kind of honey when he dons those slacks again and goes to the office!
Found a Caspari shop--love their cards and found some beautiful note cards with a delicately engraved fern frond for nice thank you's. Our experience with this shopkeeper was as it was with all the others...delightful to a wo/man. She did not speak much English, and my French is abysmal at best, but we both tried in what words we did know and were able to conduct the transaction easily with her showing different choices similar to what I was pulling out. At the end she even apologized that her English was no better than it was!
No madame, I apologize for my French!! I don't think we had dumb luck with this...there is a reason I suspect, after a nice long coffee with the hotel GM, talking partially business of course, but interesting as it was comparing their business to ours and how they are intertwined. More later on that.
Scarlett's pottery place I had kept an eye out for and finally came across it. Again..I'd seen the shop and thought that was the sort of thing described, but the name on the window appeared to be something else. Having searched the street to no avail, I decided it had changed names. It was Sunday so it would be closed anyway, but we were wandering the St Germain area and wanted to locate it for the Big Shop, when it did come, as I knew it had to be done on the fly. Actually, you almost have to be across the street to see the name, which as with Deyrolle, is written high above the door. I did make some purchases there--you will love this shop...really neat pieces, even my husband was having fun shopping and pulling out this and that that we had to have. Getting it home is the only problem, so our purchases were limited to two small flagons (for lack of a better word) for olive oil) ), a cute bowl, and a tea towel. I love them and the shop, and was relieved that all were packed in our carry on, not sitting somewhere in MIA unattended overnight!! Again, delightful shop and shopkeeper!
Last was a necktie--we'd seen a Brioni shop near the Arc d'Triomphe during a night walk, and had really loved one of the ties in the window. The last evening of our last day in Paris, we were dashing around making our last minute purchases, most around the St Germain, Bonaparte, Jacob area and time was running out. We came back to the hotel just to put down our increasingly heavy stash, arriving around 5 and thought possibly we could still catch the store if we hurried...ran to the metro, 13 to Concorde, correspondance to line 1 and George V stop, by this time feeling the pros navigating the system where just 6 days earlier we'd felt some anxiety at our first metro ride (to Montmartre)...would the ticket process be intuitive, could we watch someone do it, what about those doors and bars to lift, would we recognize the station, blah blah blah. Needless worry, all of it! We arrived at George V at 5:10 and DH is thinking the store is closed (and I'm feeling very guilty as he has accompanied all my assaults on stores without ANY complaint--and there was a lot of boutique looking done which, to me, was as nice a present almost as buying something in them! ) Mais non...they don't close until 7:30, so it was needless worry. He now owns one extremely expensive tie (commented on by customs, "You bought a $XXX.00 tie? I hope it is nice". We didn't correct him to say it was actually XXX.00 euro, not dollars, so even worse. No matter. It was not the one he'd seen in the window, but another even cooler. Torn between the two, my mission now is to find the other from their new spring collection here for an anniversary gift.
That's it for shopping, but what wonderful window shopping! We often walked home along Avenue Montaigne, a walk that leaves your mouth dry from drooling. It was funny, the first day we happened on that street, we had spent the morning in Montmartre. H had wanted to see the Moulin Rouge, just to see it, so after tromping around up there and seeing Sacre Coeur, we had walked to Pigalle, then along Blvd de Clichy to the Moulin Rouge. Yowzer...that area makes Tampa's famed strip club areas look like a Montessori kindergarten. One after another after another, of XXX followed by XXXX's by XXXXXX's. And so the day was ended by a walk along Montaigne with boutique after boutique, one after another, Cartier, Ungaro, Chanel, Louis Vuiton, Nina Ricci, Gucci, Hermes. Night and day, both time wise and world wise!! What a contrast!
Also window shopped our last day at Place Vendome, having completely missed that area earlier...too many things to do and places to go! We'd walked Rue de Rivoli and Rue St Honore, so had been so near, but had not seen it. Pretty impressive and what a location for the Ritz!!
The most intriguing of the shopping areas for me were the little places around Bonaparte, Jacob, St Peres...all of them interesting and all of which will be explored in more depth on another trip when we are no longer compelled to do "The Checklist". I may have to go back on my own to keep from boring dh...heh heh...
Oh Pup, mais ouis, some tres jolie pups, but none as handsome as your self. <u>Paris and dogs</>. I think I saw only one cat our entire stay, and although the people of Paris all seem to be beautifully thin, their dogs are quite often downright corpulent!! Odd. And to our thinking anyway, their owners do clean up after them for the most part, with the exception being parts of Montmartre. That really wasn't an issue.
One of the most striking things about Paris, I thought in fact, was how immculately clean everything was. There was no trash blowing around or caught in shrubs, and in a city where so many people smoke, very rarely did you see any butts on the sidewalks, nor did they come flying out the windows of cars! Actually, thinking back on it, although the cafes were often smokey, I don't believe we saw many people smoking as they walked along the streets. Anyway, we were amazed at how clean and neat it all was.
I'm laughing...it sounds as if we went to Disney World, not a flesh and blood large city, this narrative has been so superlative this and superlative that...no negatives, no downers. Doesn't sound realistic. Perhaps we had such a good time I've idealized the rest? I dunno...but this is how it all came across to me.</u>
<u>SHOPPING</u>
Eh...Scarlett, you will be so disappointed with me! We did very little, as so much of our time was taken up with the sights, the museums, the walks, the places I really had to see this first trip.
The dollar was and still is sinking fast, but you can't let that stop you, after all, it isn't every day you get to Paris. That wasn't my problem at all, it was more limited time, delicious window shopping I wanted to do, and the necessity of getting a few critical gifts for pet sitters (3) and chilluns.
Chocolat, yes!! And after a turn-down amenity at the hotel one night, I had to locate the Laduree shop for the magical little melt in your mouth whachamacallits.
Soaps and candles: L'Occitane and Fragonard plus two other wonderful soaps from a small shop in the Marais. These are heaven to smell and by the time our luggage arrived this afternoon, it had all been packed for over 24 hours, all with H's slacks and sweaters. The sweaters will go to the cleaners before wearing again anyway, but he is going to smell like some kind of honey when he dons those slacks again and goes to the office!
Found a Caspari shop--love their cards and found some beautiful note cards with a delicately engraved fern frond for nice thank you's. Our experience with this shopkeeper was as it was with all the others...delightful to a wo/man. She did not speak much English, and my French is abysmal at best, but we both tried in what words we did know and were able to conduct the transaction easily with her showing different choices similar to what I was pulling out. At the end she even apologized that her English was no better than it was!
No madame, I apologize for my French!! I don't think we had dumb luck with this...there is a reason I suspect, after a nice long coffee with the hotel GM, talking partially business of course, but interesting as it was comparing their business to ours and how they are intertwined. More later on that.Scarlett's pottery place I had kept an eye out for and finally came across it. Again..I'd seen the shop and thought that was the sort of thing described, but the name on the window appeared to be something else. Having searched the street to no avail, I decided it had changed names. It was Sunday so it would be closed anyway, but we were wandering the St Germain area and wanted to locate it for the Big Shop, when it did come, as I knew it had to be done on the fly. Actually, you almost have to be across the street to see the name, which as with Deyrolle, is written high above the door. I did make some purchases there--you will love this shop...really neat pieces, even my husband was having fun shopping and pulling out this and that that we had to have. Getting it home is the only problem, so our purchases were limited to two small flagons (for lack of a better word) for olive oil
) ), a cute bowl, and a tea towel. I love them and the shop, and was relieved that all were packed in our carry on, not sitting somewhere in MIA unattended overnight!! Again, delightful shop and shopkeeper!Last was a necktie--we'd seen a Brioni shop near the Arc d'Triomphe during a night walk, and had really loved one of the ties in the window. The last evening of our last day in Paris, we were dashing around making our last minute purchases, most around the St Germain, Bonaparte, Jacob area and time was running out. We came back to the hotel just to put down our increasingly heavy stash, arriving around 5 and thought possibly we could still catch the store if we hurried...ran to the metro, 13 to Concorde, correspondance to line 1 and George V stop, by this time feeling the pros navigating the system where just 6 days earlier we'd felt some anxiety at our first metro ride (to Montmartre)...would the ticket process be intuitive, could we watch someone do it, what about those doors and bars to lift, would we recognize the station, blah blah blah. Needless worry, all of it! We arrived at George V at 5:10 and DH is thinking the store is closed (and I'm feeling very guilty as he has accompanied all my assaults on stores without ANY complaint--and there was a lot of boutique looking done which, to me, was as nice a present almost as buying something in them!
) Mais non...they don't close until 7:30, so it was needless worry. He now owns one extremely expensive tie (commented on by customs, "You bought a $XXX.00 tie? I hope it is nice". We didn't correct him to say it was actually XXX.00 euro, not dollars, so even worse. No matter. It was not the one he'd seen in the window, but another even cooler. Torn between the two, my mission now is to find the other from their new spring collection here for an anniversary gift.That's it for shopping, but what wonderful window shopping! We often walked home along Avenue Montaigne, a walk that leaves your mouth dry from drooling. It was funny, the first day we happened on that street, we had spent the morning in Montmartre. H had wanted to see the Moulin Rouge, just to see it, so after tromping around up there and seeing Sacre Coeur, we had walked to Pigalle, then along Blvd de Clichy to the Moulin Rouge. Yowzer...that area makes Tampa's famed strip club areas look like a Montessori kindergarten. One after another after another, of XXX followed by XXXX's by XXXXXX's. And so the day was ended by a walk along Montaigne with boutique after boutique, one after another, Cartier, Ungaro, Chanel, Louis Vuiton, Nina Ricci, Gucci, Hermes. Night and day, both time wise and world wise!! What a contrast!
Also window shopped our last day at Place Vendome, having completely missed that area earlier...too many things to do and places to go! We'd walked Rue de Rivoli and Rue St Honore, so had been so near, but had not seen it. Pretty impressive and what a location for the Ritz!!
The most intriguing of the shopping areas for me were the little places around Bonaparte, Jacob, St Peres...all of them interesting and all of which will be explored in more depth on another trip when we are no longer compelled to do "The Checklist". I may have to go back on my own to keep from boring dh...heh heh...
Oh Pup, mais ouis, some tres jolie pups, but none as handsome as your self. <u>Paris and dogs</>. I think I saw only one cat our entire stay, and although the people of Paris all seem to be beautifully thin, their dogs are quite often downright corpulent!! Odd. And to our thinking anyway, their owners do clean up after them for the most part, with the exception being parts of Montmartre. That really wasn't an issue.
One of the most striking things about Paris, I thought in fact, was how immculately clean everything was. There was no trash blowing around or caught in shrubs, and in a city where so many people smoke, very rarely did you see any butts on the sidewalks, nor did they come flying out the windows of cars! Actually, thinking back on it, although the cafes were often smokey, I don't believe we saw many people smoking as they walked along the streets. Anyway, we were amazed at how clean and neat it all was.
I'm laughing...it sounds as if we went to Disney World, not a flesh and blood large city, this narrative has been so superlative this and superlative that...no negatives, no downers. Doesn't sound realistic. Perhaps we had such a good time I've idealized the rest? I dunno...but this is how it all came across to me.</u>
Dec 31st, 2003, 02:17 PM
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Oops...didn't preview that...pardon the extended underlining!
Bailey, "Madame CA"--much easier to write, thanks! Lucky you...do you need a porter for your camera equipment? Me strong like ox!! I'm thinking I need a return trip this year to see everything with leaves.
Thanks cd! I was dragged kicking and screaming back though!
We either saw very little of the news or they discussed it very little there, but I just learned today when talking with our son about all the suspected terrorists having been booked on several Air France flights on the same day! I was a bit skittish over the situation as it was, so glad that I didn't learn of that until safely home!! As it was I was giving the entire passenger list the once over as we waited in France! Can anyone tell me more about that?
Bailey, "Madame CA"--much easier to write, thanks! Lucky you...do you need a porter for your camera equipment? Me strong like ox!! I'm thinking I need a return trip this year to see everything with leaves.
Thanks cd! I was dragged kicking and screaming back though!
We either saw very little of the news or they discussed it very little there, but I just learned today when talking with our son about all the suspected terrorists having been booked on several Air France flights on the same day! I was a bit skittish over the situation as it was, so glad that I didn't learn of that until safely home!! As it was I was giving the entire passenger list the once over as we waited in France! Can anyone tell me more about that?
Dec 31st, 2003, 02:18 PM
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Ooooh you have it bad LOL I know exactly what you mean, the people are nice, the city is clean, as if we were enchanted and saw none of the big dirty city life that must really be there! but not when we are there.
I know how it was our first trip, we just walked, looked in windows, walked, stopped and ate, walked. The second trip was with the addition of some shopping, now after so many trips, I wait until I get there to buy my fall/winter clothes, Christmas gifts, whatever.
When is the next trip?
Perhaps French Pups get so heavy is because they sit under those cafe tables and sneak bits from the floors or from other diners?
I am sure our Pup would be just as plump a Poodle as you ever did see, if he got a tastey treat everytime he gave something "that look"...
Does one HAVE to fly out of Miami for Europe?
I know how it was our first trip, we just walked, looked in windows, walked, stopped and ate, walked. The second trip was with the addition of some shopping, now after so many trips, I wait until I get there to buy my fall/winter clothes, Christmas gifts, whatever.
When is the next trip?
Perhaps French Pups get so heavy is because they sit under those cafe tables and sneak bits from the floors or from other diners?
I am sure our Pup would be just as plump a Poodle as you ever did see, if he got a tastey treat everytime he gave something "that look"...
Does one HAVE to fly out of Miami for Europe?
Dec 31st, 2003, 02:31 PM
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How many times have you been Scarlett and others too? You all know the streets so well, it's as if you've spent months! Yes, I really do have it bad. I know there must be some of the bad but we missed it this time around. Can the 2nd trip measure up? <u>WHAT</u> a place for Christmas shopping. I could have had daughter and d-i-l taken care of 10 times over, to say nothing of Madame CA!
No, you don't have to go through MIA, but I'm not fond of Atlanta either. Still Atlanta is a shining gem in comparison to 2 out of 3 of our MIA experiences, so perhaps I need to set aside my dislike of the air congestion and train situation that I really dislike about Atlanta. We can fly BA direct from here to London too...another approach, although there've been some not-so-good things said about BA here recently!
No, you don't have to go through MIA, but I'm not fond of Atlanta either. Still Atlanta is a shining gem in comparison to 2 out of 3 of our MIA experiences, so perhaps I need to set aside my dislike of the air congestion and train situation that I really dislike about Atlanta. We can fly BA direct from here to London too...another approach, although there've been some not-so-good things said about BA here recently!
Dec 31st, 2003, 03:17 PM
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Thanks for the wonderful report OliveOyl...I needed a Paris fix too!
Aaaahhh...street artists by the Tuileries, Pont Neuf, mass at Notre Dame, Samaritaine, walking through the streets of Paris (with a Nutella crepe avec noisette in hand)...Man! I love that city!
Aaaahhh...street artists by the Tuileries, Pont Neuf, mass at Notre Dame, Samaritaine, walking through the streets of Paris (with a Nutella crepe avec noisette in hand)...Man! I love that city!
