It Was Inevitable

I can't remember taking so few pictures on any trip abroad, even if it was only over a weekend, than I did last weekend in Paris. Why? Well, the weather was awful (cold and rainy all weekend) and this makes for less interesting motifs. If this had been my first visit, I would have been very disappointed, but as it was, the main purpose of this trip was to visit the Empress, who of course is a ray of sunshine in any weather (she'd shout Schleimbeutel! now). On the flight back last night, a man in the row next to me remarked to his wife (he was looking at European weather in an Austrian newspaper) that Paris was the coldest capital, even colder than Moscow this past weekend. Great.

Weather aside, my Paris weekend was lovely and it was seriously SO good to spend quality time with the Empress and Emperor. The latter humoured me by speaking in a thick French accent all weekend. Yep, I'm easy to entertain, me...

I blame the Empress who dragged me into Printemps, fully knowing that they had built up a mini treasure trove with the Yayoi Kusama LE stuff that she knew I was very partial to. What can I say...10 minutes after setting foot in there (possibly less) a significant amount of €€€ was deducted from my credit card and I was the proud owner of this beauty in signature Yayoi yellow:

I don't like the classic mongramme pattern for myself - it looks cool on other people, but me, I always feel like a nouveau-riche Russian lady of leisure when posing in front of the mirror. So one thing I love about this print is that it actually covers most of the LV-pattern.

The Empress had the good idea to ask them if they could hotstamp my initials, but I was very dubious they'd do that within a day. They did indeed and so my Speedy is now mongrammed, too. Great service, I have to say. In general, the French service industry is everything BUT quick and I was tempted to throw a hissy fit at the airport where I waited a full 30 minutes just to drop my baggage. So if you want to buy an overpriced piece of luggage or accessory, I fully recommend going to Printemps department store for excellent service.

 Almost eerie window decoration with a life-size wax figure of the artist plus an army of "mini-mes"

I mean, how could I NOT go a little crazy in there?!

I guess, I should take it a bit easy now, having bought a new car, watch and expensive bag all within 30 days, before there are rumours that I've won the lottery or inherited a big chunk of money (I haven't), robbed a bank (neither) or gone a little loopy (well...).