Les Soldes

Last weekend I shopped the Soldes in Paris. The Soldes are a six-week, biannual event where stores throughout the country are legally allowed to hold huge sales. (Yes, they need legal permission.) Paris is, of course, the epicenter of the Soldes-- not just for the French, but for people around Europe, and even some Americans.

On Saturday, I wandered through the Marais neighborhood-- a trendy area with lots of used book stores, antiques, that kind of thing-- to the big chain stores on the Rue de Rivoli. The lines were long, but the deals were good enough to wait. In the morning, at least. By mid-afternoon, some stores were so chaotic that I walked in and walked right back out. Think Black Friday.

Find of the day: In a second-hand shop haunted by young Parisian hipsters, I bought a little purse for my sister. A Google search revealed it to be an authentic designer purse that's probably worth a lot more than I paid for it. Words for the wise in Paris: thrift store!

After a not-so-restful night (party on the sidewalk outside + Travelocity reviews complaining of mice in the hotel), I spent the next day on the Champs-Elysees. Nowadays, the avenue features many chain stores that we plebeians can afford, though one can still find the houses of Louis Vuitton and Lacoste there. Louis Vuitton had a line at the door and a bouncer letting people in to shop in groups.

You know, I'm not a big fan of the Champs-Elysees. To me, it resembles a high-end strip mall more than romantic ideal of a high-fashion, old-money promenade. And, unless you really want an overpriced omelette served to you by a man in a sailor costume, don't eat there.

The Avenue de Montaigne, however, spurring off at an angle from the Champs-Elysees, is where that romantic ideal is alive and well. This is the shady boulevard where Chanel, Dior, Yves St. Laurent, etc. all have their "houses." You can walk by the window displays and see what fashion you might be wearing some version of in two or three years. It's amazing how few people you see on this street compared to the Champs-Elysees, when this, in my opinion, is the real attraction.

At the end of one's stroll down Avenue de Montaigne is a cozy, reasonably-priced cafe with a heated terrace and a clear shot of the Eiffel Tower. I discovered this cafe with my mom in October. I got a coffee and lazed as French-ly as I could, watched a massive roller-blading tour go by, and took in the view. To this day, nothing fills me with childlike glee as much as seeing the Eiffel Tower, not even finding a sale item in my size.