A Weekend in Paris

As I told you in my previous post(s), I was in Paris this past weekend to visit the Empress. It was my third visit since she moved to France and it was as lovely as my previous visits. Just like my girly weekends with l'Italiana quite some time ago (alas!) it was as if no time had passed in between and I loved how she acts like a local and knows all the cool places. I extended my weekend by arriving on Thursday night and working from the Paris office on Friday. Instinctively, I had timed my visit very well - the "soldes" had already started and it was the right time to already have sexy bargains up to 50% but with plenty of stock left. In other words, I shopped. A lot. Despite not actually "needing" anything. Yes, totally knew and very shocking, this confession.

Before I show you my purchases, here are some pictures of Paris to prove that I did see something other than crowded shopping streets and the inside of department stores:

Turns out Paris has a ferris wheel, too (at the Tuileries gardens nex to the Louvre). But we had it FIRST!

A cute "sport" for kids: you rent a boat that you get to shove around a pond dressed in a superman costume while your Dad dies of boredom (Jardins du Luxembourg)

I saw several good exhibitions at the Centre G. Pompidou. This is a close-up of an artwork by Mike Kelley.

The Empress and the Emperor are VERY fond of their Thermomix miracle apparatus that can apparently do ANYTHING short of nuclear fusion. This is the Emperor in action, preparing a very nice dinner.

On Sunday we drove to the La Vallée outlet village. This is me at the gates at 10 a.m. when they opened. The emptiness is VERY deceiving and wrong. About 10 minutes later it started to get crowded to the point of putting me off shopping.

My post-work booty from Friday. The bag with the macarons is from Uniqlo which has some sort of co-operation with Ladurée going on. Shockingly, I did not go to Ladurée this time, but I neither felt like sweets, nor queuing.

Now for the haul. Say "bonjour" to a linen/cotton top fromn Massimo Dutti and a blouse from GAP

On Saturday, we both had a manicure. I went for OPI's "Kiss me on my tulips", which is one of my favourite pinks. I am pleased to report that the nailpolish is still going strong today. The backdrop is a detail of the laser-cut leather bag that was in the Galeries Lafayette bag pictured above.

Here you see the bag, a real bargain, in all its glory, plus my new "friendship bracelet" (the Empress got a matching one) from Printemps and the Uniqlo linen blouse I discovered on the sample/faulty rack. It has a tiny makeup stain on the collar that dissapeared after a wash and therefore was a mere EUR 7,90.

The only thing I had actually planned on getting was the Clarisonic Mia (recently launched in Austria as well and more or less sold out), knowing that the Empress has a Sephora card (got 20%off). I also got 2 small nail goodies and here you see the Massimo Dutti top again.

Well, at the outlet, these Sonia Rykiel shoes were begging me to adopt them. They are the most beautiful pair of sandals I have ever tried on and I fell in instant love with them. They were originally EUR 350 or something and I got them for EUR 90!

The REAL shopping highlight - totally unplanned - was this Burberry Brit trench. I had been looking for a Burberry coat/jacket that was "classic-with-a-twist" for quite some time. I don't suit beige at all and many styles look frumpy. I was actually on the look for a navy one, but the one I liked (the same style as this one) wasn't on stock in my size. The mossy green one actually suits my skin-tone even better. This sexy baby can be worn 3 different ways, one of them very clever and unexpected and I love it. I was a bit hesitant about the lining (slightly too "manly" for my taste), but the Empress insisted that I had to take it. It did not take much to convince me as I love it and have never found such a cool one before.

Time for a leeetel shopping embargo, methinks.