Saturday, May 6, 2023

Paris Day 6: Fashion, Shopping and Profiteroles

 Happy Saturday, y'all! This is the next-to-last day in Paris, still trying to fit in as much as I can. Today was the Women of Paris Haute Couture tour and exploring at Village of St Paul. 

Haute Couture tour: You know when they say "we're not in Kansas anymore"? This tour took place about 10-15 minutes from my hotel, but a complete world away culture-wise. Suddenly people stopped dressing like tourists and wore fancier clothes, the store names got more recognizable and there were security guards in front of each door. This was the land of Chanel, Lanvin, Schiaparelli, and others. If you have to ask how much it is, you have no business being in the store. You could see women being served glasses of champagne (at 10am!) as workers brought them the latest fashions to look over. The tour was very informative, but didn't give a lot as far as places to see. For example, we talked all about Coco Chanel.....while standing in front of her storefront. Which we had to move from because the salespeople were giving us death stares. Fun to hear the history, though. And to people watch. 

St Paul: The Village of St Paul is a small collection of shops tucked away (I'm not exaggerating the "tucked away" part....someone had to point it out to me!) in a courtyard near Notre Dame. Lots of antiques and vintage, with some handcrafted merchants thrown in. I got a handmade hat from a lovely lady who I found out afterwards has been featured in fashion shows from Christian LaCroix, Theirry Mugler, and others - she's awesome. I also picked up a beautiful pair of earrings and ring made by a woman from Morocco. 


A lot of the buildings in Paris are decorated with flower arches. This is Louis Vuitton's take on the theme. 



Stared at this dog statue for a good minute, waiting for it to move.... 



Look up this designer and lobster tail dress....pretty daring for the 1920's. The more recent version is the fashion show that featured full-size animal heads on the gowns. 



The original home of Chanel. 



Rack of clothes, not sure what they're waiting for. 



Home of Lanvin - the logo above the door is she and her daughter. 



Lanvin gown



Entryway to St Paul's. Way out of the way.... 



Street at the entrance to St Paul's (the entrance is the red sign to the left). No cars, no people. 



Sewing machine - love the base! 



My new hat! 




New earrings and ring 




I've read something about these video game pieces of artwork, but I can't find it. Supposedly they're all around the city. Anyone else know? 




 

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