Wednesday, April 13, 2011 5:38 PM
Dear Friends and Family,
Day Three in Paris! As you'll see from the photos, the theme yesterday was shopping. Most of the time, the idea of "going shopping" is enough to cross my eyes -- but, as has been the case so far, Paris had a few surprises for me!
We started by walking the Rue de la Paix and Rue Saint Honore and up to La Place Vendome, seeing the Paris shops for Gucci, Chanel, Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, etc. Then, we went from the impossible to the simply expensive, when we moved on to the Galeries Lafayette.
There's a family connection to the Galeries for Isa -- as her husband Dom's uncle was the manager of the Paris flagship store for many years. Consequently, both Isa and Dom have worked there at various times, and know it well. To call this a department store is to simplify it far too much -- seven floors of every brand you can imagine...everything -- and more -- than you could possibly need.
So, yes, I managed to find the refrigerator magnet of the Eiffel Tower, and the Paris snowglobe to add to my collection, and only spent $30 doing so...:-)...but the most stunning part of the Galeries is the intricately crafted stained-glass dome that graces the full seven stories. It literally takes your breath away. And as the floors rise up under it, they look less like a store, and more like a grand old theater, with gold balconies looking like the loges overlooking the stage.
And the rooftop...indescribable...and not a known location for most tourists, as Isa explained. Just a handful stand at the railing looking out at a panoramic view of the entire city. Rising up from the sea of buildings are Notre Dame, the Pantheon, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower.
It was the first time Robert had ever heard me say that I could have stayed at a department store all day...;-)
SUSAN'S FRENCH OF THE DAY:
When I mentioned to Isa about the number of cheeses I saw in the Intermarche, taking up aisle after aisle of a section that for us would consist of only a few shelves, she quoted something that Charles de Gaulle had said just before WWII..."Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?"
The translation is: "How do you want to govern a country that has 258 different types of cheese?" Isa explained how de Gaulle had stood up to Eisenhower and Churchill in WWII even when he was practically unknown in France, and he went on to become a great hero. His point was that there was such rich diversity in the country, it would be impossible to try to impose unity out of the blue. He thought it could only happen through "common peril"...which WWII unfortunately provided...
ROBERT'S FRENCH OF THE DAY: Place Vendome!!
Robert writes: "We went to La Place Vendome which is what Rodeo Drive copied for Beverly Hills. The unique thing about Place Vendome is that all the most expensive watch makers and jewlery makers of the world are in and or around the Place Vendome. These products are out of reach for normal human beings, which is apparent by the lack of shoppers in the area.
One block away at the "Galeries Lafayette" thousands of shoppers line the streets and flow into the "mall" for lack of a better English word. Once inside the Galeries Lafayette you enter a world of Parisan shopping you can not believe. I paid almost $4.00 ea for two bottles of Sprite and the watches were hundreds to thousands of dollars. But compared to Place Vendome, where items start in the tens of thousands of dollars, Galeries Lafayette seems quite reasonable for the French products sold there. Both of these places are indescribable. One must see them to believe them.
So, we walked away with a few items, and hadn't taken a second mortgage out on the house...:-) Another great day in Paris...
Much love,
xxxxx
Susan and Robert
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