La Vie en Rose au Parie: Vintage Shops, Giggles & "Sex sells"

This was the most exciting day of them all. Morgaine, one of our lecturers, had recommended we explore the area around the Pompadou. We started the day by heading straight to the Hotel de Ville Metro station and wanting to hit the vintage stores before the rest of our course descended upon Free ‘P’Star. Of course on the way we got distracted by a ribbon store and a book store. The vintage store was the most extraordinary little shops crammed full of clothing. Every rail was heaving with hangers displaying usual items from various eras. The first thing to hit me though was the smell…that intriguing scent that you find in the treasures of your grandmother’s dressing-up chest which filled my nostrils with feeling of anticipation and excitement. With a tiny rickety metal ladder leader up to a small raised platform displaying dead animal furs (with heads and paws) alongside boxes of leather belts and a row of belts. The basement has the smallest metal spiral staircase that it was hard to manoeuvre down without factoring in the armful of little gems I have already pulled out. Trying on these items was like a movie montage that all girls dream of participating in. All we needed was some 80’s music on a sound system. I was a very happy girl to walk away with an army jumper/dress, a knitted sleeveless jumper and a silver sequin (second-skin) dress. That has to be a 21st birthday outfit sorted there! And all for the reasonable price of 30 euros!

The naughtiest bookshop I have ever been in was situated next door and had us bunch of girls in fits of giggles. It was definitely worth the tears as my stomach muscles got a proper work out!

Hours and hours were whiled away at our next stop…a charm shop! Like kids in a sweetie store, we ‘ooh’ed and ‘aah’ed over the wide selection of little Eiffel Towers, roses and knives and forkes which can be purchased. Each of us had our distinct individual style but one thing we all wanted to have in common was the same Eiffel Tower charm as a representative of our trip together. And now as I look at it on my necklace, I remember the laughs we had, the tears we cried and the horrendous travelling and accommodation conditions we withstood!

Our lunch was the rather hideously conventional for an English tourist…McDonalds. But blimey, how expensive is McDonalds in Paris? The higher price almost makes you think you might get better quality food than you do…nope it was most definitely the mass-produced high calorific fast-food I’m used to in England.

Rather inadvertently we managed to conduct an experiment over our lunchtime. A few of the flyers we picked up along our way included one from Free ‘P’ Star (the vintage store), which featured six or seven almost naked men posing. This had been placed up against the window where our table was situated…I happened to notice loads of people were looking in at us. I thought to myself, I know we stand out but surely we can’t be sitting in McDonalds any differently than a group of French girls would! Then it clicked…the men and women walking past were ogling at the semi-naked men posing with baby-oil-slicked pecks! Now if that’s not a clear indication that “Sex sells” then I don’t know what is??
I hadn’t known what to expect from the Pompadou centre following lunch. I had heard the name being spread around our tour group but I had mainly associated it with its innovative architecture, which had designed the building inside out! This was more of a spectacle that the interior. I did, however, discover the most exciting stationary shop within which as a big stationary-fiend and ex-rubber collector I was in a mini-heaven!

La Vie en Rose au Parie: Drilling, Chocolate & Shopping

Drilling woke us all up at 8.12am…luckily there was not a headache accompanying the shrill sound of the building work! As we all felt extremely tired and ratty from the awful nights sleep, we decided that today would a careful balance of research and indulgence. First stop was Angelina’s which came highly recommended by our module lecturer. All eleven of us order the hot chocolate; eight milk chocolate and two white chocolate. Wow…was this chocaholics heaven! The consistency of this hot chocolate was like no other I have ever seen…it was simply melted chocolate. It was the most amazing thing I have ever tried…but way to rich to manage a whole teapot full! Whilst trying to enjoy the post-Angelina’s warmth and feeling like we’d all just eaten a meal(!) we browsed a few souvenir shops on our way to Colette. Colette was the most memorable shop I visited during my stay in Paris which displayed a clear mix of fashion, culture and lifestyle. The retail environment was interactive, entertaining and attractive. Instantly you felt you were in a very fashionable place as the table were stacked with fashion publications and books. The clothing itself was displaying on mannequins of which there were around twenty in the menswear section alone. There were no racks of clothing with various sizes, it was obvious that service was essential whilst shopping in Colette and the sales representatives were very attentive. The basement of Colette had a very trendy-looking bar and restaurant which I would imagine was rather pricey to eat it, at least the interior decoration suggested it would be.

We had a traditional French baguette on the go to Champs Elysee. On walking out the Metro Station we saw the Arc de Triomphe from a distance. The rain pouring down stopped us from walking all the way down but it was exciting to see it from afar in all its glory. On the corner at the end of the strip of shops on the Champs Elysee was the Adidas Concept Store. It has so many interactive features that it is hard to remember them all but we definitely did end up spending a lot longer in there than we had anticipated…I think that is called ‘Missioned Accomplished’! Whilst there we played games, designed our own trainers and t-shirts, tested our fitness levels, posed for umpteen photographs which were printed and we were able to each take one home as a souvenir. This to be one of the most effective shopping environments I have ever witnessed. Adidas is not a brand that I particularly like and definitely not one which I regularly shop in but this concept store was highly entertaining and for that I think the brand has been raised in my opinion.

We tested our orienteering skills by negotiating with a map and some roughly translated directions to find the YSL museum. On our way we walked past the likes of Chanel, Dior (the one in which Carrie Bradshaw fell!!), Gucci, Louis Vuitton and loads more. This was great for seeing the top-end in a European market and see the new Spring/Summer window displays.

The YSL museum was displaying a range of outfits for their…

Continuing along the museum theme we visited the Museum of Modern Art. We had bumped into a group off our course and they had recommended we visit it, if not for the artwork but for the feature ride through the ‘Haunted House’. This was A LOT of laughs! In twos, we went around the House of Horrors and saw skeletons, murdered victims and skeletons. It was so extraordinary to experience this whilst in a museum…the two don’t seem too well matched but it certainly made us all keen to go!

Having seen our first sighting of the Eiffel Tower from the Museum of Modern Art, we were all very eager to walk there and see it for ourselves. Some of the girls wanted to take the steps up to the first and second balcony…it may not be essential for me to point out at this point that those who suggested this had not ever been to the Eiffel Tower before and therefore had completely underestimated the height! My feet were cream-crackered just from all the walking we were doing so there was no way I wanted to participate in this activity. Having been up the Eiffel Tower before twice with the Loved One I didn’t feel an urge to see the view this time!

The bitter cold had crept to our nether regions and with the closure of the Eiffel Tower ending any hopes to raise anyone off the ground. We walked to the nearest Metro (which was in fact miles away) and took ourselves to Bastille – this area had been recommended to us for great restaurants and bar. We managed to find ourselves a trendy little restaurant/bar with lively music located right next to a creperie and after our long days walking the streets of Paris we had a couple of cocktails to unwind!

La Vie en Rose au Parie: The Palace of Versailles

If there is anything that will get a group of students out of bed for a 7.45am meet, it would have to be excessive drilling! It was absolutely mind-splitting drilling which was so loud we were all convinced something was going to come crashing through the ceiling!

After demolishing the carbohydrate-fuelled breakfast on offer, our entire tour group congregated in the reception to board the coach to Versailles. The sensible ones had bought their pillows and blankets with them for the journey. Expecting only an hours journey, three and a half later we saw the Palace of Versailles.

It had begun snowing whilst we made our way there and the sight was quite spectacular. It was another twenty minutes later when our coach driver worked out where he could drop us off. The silver lining was that we were given a mini-tour of the area around the palace and got to see a bit more of Versailles.

Getting in free was a not only a saving grace for saving the euros but also for quickly getting us out of the snow! We found ourselves walking through a long row of rooms beautifully decorated with rich fabrics such as velvet and bright reds, blues and greens. Each room displayed family portraits from French royal family and the Hughes generations.

The views out of each window were simply stunning. The beautifully manicured gardens had a sprinkling of snow of the ground making it look like it had had a sprinkling of icing sugar. As we worked our way through the palace, the room sizes increased and the decoration became more elaborate. The Corridor of Light was the most ostentatious room of them all with gold cherub ornaments placed before every mirror, statues facing opposite and crystal chandeliers hung in a long row. This room would have been used for banquets and the vast space with minimal furniture displayed extreme opulence.
On reflection there were many things I learnt from my visit to the Palace of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles was built in an era when wealth was expressed through space and the royal family would have been keen to show this. To further increase the space of the rooms, furniture was hidden behind secret panels and pulled out when needed.

The King’s bedroom which we were able to witness was not his sleeping place but where he would take his closest visitors. The closer you got to his “bedroom”, the most important you were in society. If you were the King’s council, you would go to his “show bedroom” where you would see him wearing his “show nightgown”. Royalty had a separate staircase to “behave badly” in away from prying eyes of the King’s council.
The Guard’s Room displayed weaponry and would have been shown to visitors to show how threatening France could be. The Dining Rooms showed money and cultural dignity. Food was a signifier; meet and dessert came in dish which is a recurring trend apparent today. Our ideas of fine dining today originated from the Court of Versailles. Women were not allowed to eat in front of the men as its was considered seductive, especially women eating meat which was considered ‘extremely titilating’. Women had an anti-table which would be separated from the men, although they were still not allowed to eat to eat here, but instead could gamble, play cards and drink coffee. Great Britain was the biggest drinking nation of the 18th century. Servants would dry out used tea leaves and re-sell them even though this was illegal as tea leaves were extremely expensive.

The grounds to the Palace of Versailles are all about beauty and fantasy. Other aspects of beauty at the time was the female beauty spot which indicated beauty, availability and sexuality. Jugglers and jesters were people of the court as they didn’t like bringing strangers into the palace because of gossip.

The fashions that the Palace of Versailles witnessed was another opportunity to express their wealth but also carried their restricitions. Big, long sleeves meant that you could never put glasses down on a table as you would knock them over when trying to pick them up. But holding the glass displayed innovation and wealth. Even whilst sat at a table, there would be a servant to each person who would hold the wine glass by their shoulder whilst they ate instead of putting them down. At the same time, the wine glass would never become remotely empty! Each time the person put the wine glass to their shoulder, the servant would empty, wash and refill the glass and hold it until their hand returned to their hsoulder indicating they wanted to take a sip. This has got to be a recurring trend…how amazing would that be at a dinner party??

Having had the snow fall down, we were unable to visit Marie Antoinette’s private residence and we had a reduced amount of time at the Palace than initially planned. We managed to have a much faster journey home and were back at the hotel by 3pm.

The six of us girls took the Metro to Galleries Lafayette, admiring the many shops on the way. In particular there was a beautiful chocolatier which had its visual merchandising geered up for the impending Valentines Day. Now that has to be Paris in a nutshell: chocolate + Valentines Day = romance. Galleries Lafayette was simply stunning. The ceiling was incredible and made the whole shopping environment feel very luxurious and up-market. Printemps, another department store which was near enough next door, was not as mind-blowing although the shoe department certainly made me feel like I was in heaven! On reflection, visiting department stores in Paris was not dissimilar from those in the uk, although the stunning layout of Galleries Lafayette takes some beating! There was a clear distinction between luxury brands such as Dior and Chanel however, other more mainstream menswear brands were displayed in a similar way to the visual merchandising you would find in House of Fraser.
For the first time, on our official first full day in Paris, the whole tour group planned to meet at De La Ville Café at 7.30pm. By this time we had all massively worked up an appetite and had the most AMAZING dinner! It was steaks and gourmet burgers all round. Just thinking about it now is making me hungry! It was great fun to meet up with others from the group and trade information about which places were good to go etc.

The evening was nicely rounded of with a slumber party in our room…ten girls and ten bottles of wine!

La Vie en Rose au Parie: First Excursion into Paris

After a short power nap, wrapped entirely in my blanket to protect myself from the hotel’s bedding, we were all eager to head into the centre of Paris to make the journey and hotel seem worthwhile. The Metro station really wasn’t far away which was extremely handy as the blisteringly cold wind was almost unbearable. Having stood at a tram stop for almost ten minutes, quietly comforted that we were definitely in the right place as there was a group of FMB students also waiting there, we clearly looked like a group of English tourists as a metro worker came over to ask us if we needed assistance. And thank goodness he had, otherwise we would have found ourselves in the Parisian suburbs! He also rather worryingly informed us that the area we were located in was dangerous and therefore we should not travel around, even in a group, after dark! Well considering it was 3pm and we were forty minutes outside of the city centre and it started getting dark at 5pm, we contemplated heading back to the hotel! The hotel?? No that really wasn’t an option!

After some disjoined French, or franglais as I liked to refer to it, we managed to work out which Metro Station we were aiming for… “Je voudrais trouver le tour Eiffel?”… “Je voudrais acheter une carnet des billet, s’il vous plait?” Only Sarah-Fabulous Bonner could come out with “Babe, do you do student discount?”

The Metro stations in Paris reminded me a lot of the Subway stations in New York…it was something about the carriage-styles, the stations and the people. It was a little unnerving being a group of girls on the Metro as we clearly stood out like a sore thumb. I’m not sure whether it was because we were white, English-speaking or just fashionably dressed. It was rather shocking the fashion faux pas we witnessed. Fashion did not seem to be a concept that many people were familiar with which was incredibly shocking considering Paris’ reputation within the industry. It is not like the odd-bods you find in London who are clearly seeking to be individual. It made me feel like the Metro was a time-warp for fashion from the 1990s; ill-fitting clothing, dark base colours and a distinct lack of femininity.

Chatelet was our final destination for the day and we initially spent an hour or so wandering around the streets aimlessly, absorbing the sights and smells of the city. In true Parisian fashion we wiled away the rest of the daylight sat in an authentic traditional Parisian café, slowly warming ourselves up with a chocolat chaud. One of the things I had been most excited about with Paris was going to be with my girlfriends and doing what 20-something women do…have the biggest girlie chat ever talking about the course, our ambitions, where we see ourselves going after university! This ended up being one of my favourite memories of the whole holiday.

Having been successfully defrosted we headed back into the cold to see the beautiful shimmery lights of the streets of Paris and meandered down little side streets until we came to a beautiful little square with numerous restaurants. We settled on a small bistro where we all indulged in a gorgeous meal to complete our first day in Paris!

La Vie en Rose au Parie: The Hotel

Think Pontins. Think Butlins. Think South-East Asian hostels. And now imagine twenty times worse! As Parisian standards go, this has to be the lowest of the low! Not to mention its fine location on a motorway, with nothing but a petrol station in sight. We have some spectacular photographs of the bed linen…nicely stained! I wouldn’t be surprised if this hotel rents room by the hours! Famous quote of the holiday: “Girls, I hope you have birth control because you’re gonna need it to sleep in these beds.”

La Vie en Rose au Parie: The Journey

Midnight on Sunday night and Megan and I were pounding the streets on Nottingham. Not an altogether unfamiliar sight but this time without our clutch bags and instead with suitcases. We had spent the last two hours in my room, certain we had forgotten something and desperately trying to cram as much food into our hand luggage as physically possible.

Meeting all the girls outside the Bonington building was when the excitement really started to build up. Everyone was there half dressed in their pjs and half in their finest outerwear carrying designers handbags on one arm and pillows and blankets in the others. The best fashion contradictions ever.

The journey itself was pretty ghastly as coach journeys go but making it to the Channel Tunnel has to be considered an achievement after breaking down 20 minutes outside Nottingham. I think it was after the second stop on our way down to the coast when our driver insisted we all get off the coach whilst he took his 45 minute break that us girls realised we were going to be dependent on coffee for the week!

La Vie en Rose au Parie: Pre Trip

Passport. Check. Euros. Check. Ready for my visit to the City of Romance? Ready to visit one of the most prestigious fashion cities in the world?

My perception of Paris from film and book depiction, plus my previous visits left me feeling a little anxious about going to Paris without my Loved One. Don’t get me wrong, nothing much can come in the way of a girlie city trip away but when I think Paris, I think Eiffel Tower and then it is only natural for a girl to think proposals! I actually have a family friend who proposed to his girlfriend at the top of the Eiffel Tower…pretty big gamble if you ask me. Awfully romantic if she says ‘yes’ but awfully dangerous to be that high up from the ground if she says ‘no’.

Pre-girls night preparation for Paris included the essentials…vino blanc and the final two episodes from Sex and the City. If there is anything that can get a girl excited about going to Paris, it is going to be seeing Carrie Bradshaw walk around the beautiful districts in beautiful clothes and being whisked off her feet by Mr Big (lets forget her faux pas of falling flat on her face in Dior).