Merci.

This week I had the utter delight of having my dearest darling mother to stay with me. That's right, Mummy Smith made the journey across the channel to slum it with me in my student digs as well as taking in an abundance of sights, shops and sweet treats.


First on our itinerary was the much talked about Merci. An truly divine concept store, including a gorgeous cafe lined with rustic bookshelves, rails of bang- on-trend clothes, more enamel kitchen ware than a campsite and a whole bundle more. Obviously CS and I were in our element. Everything was so cleverly displayed, in glass cabinets, hanging from the ceiling and simply just placed (or so we're lead to believe).

 CS looking dapper. 

 Absolutely delectable smells wafting from bottles. 

Liberty-esque print suit cases. 

After much gazing and deciding purchasing anything would be slightly unjustifiable, especially a roll of floor board print wallpaper (as shown above), CS and I headed to the realms of Opéra to get lost in Galeries La Fayette followed by a browse and lunch in Printemps.

As the sun was trying its hardest to make a dent in the clouds we decided to walk to St. Germain and headed to yet another department store in the form of Bon Marché (my personal fave). After more wanderings and getting ever so slightly lost in the maze that is St. Germain we finally ended up at Rue Berci, an un-evenly cobbled street crammed with chairs and tables from the various bistros and brasseries. Coincidentally it's the same street where my parents and I had lunch just before I frist started out in Paris. Déja-vu as they say.

I'd like to dedicate this post to Mummy Smith as it just so happens to be Mother's day! I really did have the best time during her short but sweet visit. The standard of my Mother's company is just unbeatable, conversation is always flowing, laughter is frequent and the cuddles are second to none. I'll be thinking of CS a whole load today and I wish all Mother's everywhere a very enjoyable day!


P.S CS. This one's for you. Merci.

PFW

So  Paris Fashion Week 2013 has just been and gone. Normally this kind of event would completely pass me by in a flurry of glamour and untouchable fabulousness, however I was lucky enough to be included in this spangly series of events. RJ is the man in the know and I can't thank him enough for being so generous with his invites, as they might say on the FROW, what a dahhhling.

First up was The Berlin Showroom in the 3rd arrondissement last Thursday evening. It was quite an intimate exhibition of up and coming designers from Germany and the collections on display all showed a real variety and different set of skills. designers included, Michael Sontag, Esther Perbandt and Agro Polis. The evening itself was utterly delightful, with guests sipping on wine out of miniature bottles whilst wafting through the rails of carefully put together garments.

Amongst the plethora of trendy people was a woman with green dip dye. she rocked it. 

Next up on the PFW agenda was the Nino Bollag show at Le Royal Monceau. the show itself was a pre-recorded catwalk set in a very grngy landscape with just two models strutting through the gravel in Nino's Autumn/Winter 2013/2014 collection. this video enabled photographers to get the best possible photos as well as providing close ups of the clothes themselves All in ll a very effective presentation in my view and something a bit different. always goes down nicely. 

Apologies for the mediocre photo quality. IPhones sometimes just don't cut the mustard. 

 The collection in the flesh. 

 Love a good glitzy chandelier especially when accompanied by a complimentary glass of Moet. 

Finally on Tuesday to round up the whirlwind of fantastic events I went along to Fatmia Lopes' show on Rue. St Dominique, handily situated just around the corner from uni! BT, RJ and FU all prioritised this show before work/lectures and it was well worth it. The difference between a live show and a pre-recorded show is staggering. There was a real feeling of adrenaline just before the lights came up and the catwalk was revealed. This show was definitely the highlight of my PFW experience and a highlight of my time in Paris. Thank you again to the wonderful RJ. 

 The brutal 'Pit' of photographers. 

 Again, apologies for the lack of high definition photography. I tried my best but there was just no stopping the models. 

 There was definitely a blue theme throughout this collection as well as hints of a cubism inspired pattern and clever tailoring.

Sunday Funday.

Yesterday was such a gloriously sumptuous day of sunshine. I don't want to speak to soon but I do believe that this could be the beginning of Spring and word on the street is that Paris looks pretty sweet this time of year.

After searching for some inspiration of what to do, not including the Paris half marathon that was also taking place yesterday, I stumbled across a street art tour around the Oberkampf, Parmentier area. Unfortunately the tour doesn't function on a Sunday, such is the case with most things in Paris, nonetheless we happily got lost through the back streets and meandered along the pavement in search of graffiti laden walls.

We also came across this gem of a vintage shop. Not too big or too small and it had such a great selection of denim jackets, coloured, fur lined, patch-worked, almost too many to chose from! BT brought a scarf for a mere  euros (see below).

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BT being the best hipster kid she knows how to be. Word. 

A day well spent was the general consensus. The combination of an almost-Spring day along with sightings of some zany wall murals seriously raised my mood to a whole new level

Killing Time.

As a not so studious student in Paris, I feel one has to master the technique of killing time. It's a required art form known only to those who have time to kill. At times it can be a very problematic issue however rest assured, like with most problems there is usually a solution and Paris is a city which caters very well for those with too much time on their hands.

For starters, I have a mere seven hours of lectures a week. A WEEK?! These structured hours are somewhat precious to me as they give me a small piece of regulated routine. The rest of the allotted hours in my week are completely at my disposal. Although this might seem like a wonderful prospect with uncountable lie ins, late nights, mindless wanderings, to me it poses rather a more daunting prospect. How to make my time worthwhile.

With this in mind, I decided to go shopping. In my imaginary world where I have ten grand to spend without keeling over and having an immaculate looking shop assistant put a hair out of place in order to help me to my feet again. I started by heading to Rue Etienne Marcel  in search of renowned hipster hangout Kiliwatch. There's a huge variety of clothing, accessories, shoes both men's and women's and the best feature of this store was the size. The place just seemed to go on and on and ON.

Although the prices weren't extortionate they were at the higher end of my spending bracket, however I would always recommend investing in vintage as it's one of a kind and you just can't beat that attic smell as if it's been in a loft for decades.

As I was out and about, killing time or k-ing t as I've come to call it. I walked to Opéra to get completely distracted in Galeries La Fayette. Oh what a marvellous place. The smell of expensive leather and sickly perfume that hits you as you heave open the heavy glass doors is pretty hedonistic to say the least. As with any of these department stores it all seems a bit of a stage show, however this does make them ideal places for a spot of k-ing t. I'd heard through the grape vine that

Topshop had come to Paris and the news excited me no end. However I was disappointed when I came across the pop-up store on the second floor at Galeries La Fayette. There was only a sample of clothes neatly placed on rails and a very un-intersted shop assistant gazing into space. All the same it was nice to be connected to the mother land for a brief moment.

Weekend Happenings.

Last weekend was a relatively quiet one, however it did include a triumphant victory against the Blues, a trip to Breakfast in America, an lazy Sunday afternoon on Rue de Cler and absolute bliss watching The Parent Trap with BT, 

Burgers and slaw> 

Un expresso et un chocolat chaud with Miss. Thomas