shopping with the master

We discovered -- to no one's surprise, really -- that my mom's favorite activity in Paris was shopping. It was great fun for me, too, since she is the ideal person to go shopping with: she has impeccable taste, she has the funds to buy things, and she usually throws in a little something for me as well! It makes for many vicarious pleasures.

I had to snap a photo of her with her enormous bag of bags -- she picked up several purses at a little shop just down the street from our apartment (a shop I had walked by many times with nary a second glance).

We went to our favorite children's store, which actually has reasonable prices, and she bought a ton of darling clothes to re-sell in her store at home. I am quite sure she made the store's day that day!

But the most fun of all was the day we hit the grands magasins (department stores) near the Opera: Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.

Mom was disappointed to find that of the many many cute shoes in Printemps, none was small enough for her size 4 1/2 feet!! (I had to practically close my eyes in the shoe department -- one entire floor of the store -- I'm still not over the trauma of not being able to wear any of these cute styles anymore...)

I got a kick out of this sign as you get off the elevator on the first floor -- hmm, what's on the first floor? Oh, that would be luxury. (!)

We had a great experience at the jewelry counter. A wonderful saleswoman helped us for at least 45 minutes. From suggesting pieces to putting them on my mom to making helpful and pleasant conversation, she was a gem. She was the perfect example of a French person taking pride in her job. She spent at least 1/2 hour wrapping up all the purchases! Many items were gifts, and she removed the price tags, wrapped each one first in tissue paper, then in a gift bag with labels and ribbon. Even when there were 3 or 4 other customers waiting behind us, she was completely unhurried. We were kicking ourselves that we didn't think to take a picture of her wrapping up the gifts, so we went back later and asked if we could take her photo. She seemed a little uncomfortable, but graciously agreed.

We then went to Galeries Lafayette, where they have the most amazing interior dome, with many floors of balcony boxes. And Mom found some shoes that fit!! She bought two pairs of beautiful shoes.


But not these! Seriously -- who in their right mind would wear these?! And they were not cheap, either. We were cracking up and Mom modeled them for a quick photo. So, if anyone out there is looking for a pair of mouse shoes, I can direct you to them tout de suite!

I think Mom had a great day -- she found some wonderful items to wear and remember her trip to Paris -- and I had a great time tagging along!

**Jill asked me to make sure I documented Mom's flea market finds. I took photos of everything and put it in this gallery. **