In Paris, the stores have 6 weeks of HUGE sales,
les soldes, once during the summer and once right now, until mid February. This created quite a stir among the Americans. We have since set off on various shopping excursions, like to the famed (and absolutely stunning) Galleries Lafayette.
For me, each trip had limited success and inevitably resulted in sensory overload, or in the very least, feeling poor, oversized and inadequate. That being said, the window displays are truly stunning, and we have mastered the art of
le lèche-vitrines (window shopping). This makes shopping without actually buying anything much better, and it helps that tons of stores and streets are still lit up and glorious. Evidence:
In a crowded bar on Saturday night, there were three TVs. One was turned to soccer. The other two? A fashion channel showing runway shows and collections from Fashion Week, which men and women were watching attentively. Only in Paris.
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| Galleries Lafayette, on the outside |
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| Galleries Lafayette, on the inside! The famous atrium |
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| Le Bon Marché, the oldest department store in Paris. |
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| Beautiful window displays at Hermès, around the corner from the Centre Middlebury where I take some classes. |
We are trying to go out as much as possible this week while classes are still not really a factor (though I did have my first this morning), but it's hard to have the discipline to go out during the current COLD front. It snowed last night, but some of the girls went to a bar in the 5th, where we actually had very helpful conversations with two young French guys, who taught us a lot about colorful language in French. There was also one guy last night who told me in a panicked voice that he wasn't French when I asked him a question. It was great to think that someone would believe I was a native, and also great to watch his look of relief when I switched to English immediately after. Every day I am realizing that Paris is truly more of an international city than I ever would have thought.
In a crowded bar on Saturday night, there were three TVs. One was turned to soccer. The other two? A fashion channel showing runway shows and collections from Fashion Week, which men and women were watching attentively. Only in Paris.
We are trying to go out as much as possible this week while classes are still not really a factor (though I did have my first this morning), but it's hard to have the discipline to go out during the current COLD front. It snowed last night, but some of the girls went to a bar in the 5th, where we actually had very helpful conversations with two young French guys, who taught us a lot about colorful language in French. There was also one guy last night who told me in a panicked voice that he wasn't French when I asked him a question. It was great to think that someone would believe I was a native, and also great to watch his look of relief when I switched to English immediately after. Every day I am realizing that Paris is truly more of an international city than I ever would have thought. 
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