When: April 24 // Weather: 60s // Real life: Day 4 in Paris
Should I say it? I’m gonna say it: Day 4 was my favorite day in Paris! The rest of the days were amazing, but Day 4 was amazing plus. I mean, it’s hard to beat a day that ends with sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower watching the sun go down, a baguette in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. I really committed to this vacation, you guys.
We started out in Saint Germain. Yes, again. It was just too cute! We had breakfast at Les Deux Magots, which is famous for being a favorite spot of many important intellectuals (most recently, me). I remember reading L’Etranger in high school French class and realizing “wait…I think I’m an existentialist!” and now I’ve had a croissant at the same place as Camus.
Next up: SHOPPING DAY. I know, how predictable that the shopping day was my favorite day, but that’s just how it worked out. I got a new perfume at L’Artisan Parfumeur, which was a gosh darn delight. All those people who say the French are rude are apparently visiting a different Paris, because I had nothing but good interactions. I told the girl at the perfume store what I liked and she pulled a bunch of options out for me to sample, then encouraged me to try on my 2 favorites, leave the store for a little while, and come back. Obviously, I came back. (After visiting Karl Lagerfeld down the street. That mans loves his cat almost as much as he loves his own face.)
We took a break for lunch at Angelina, which was Coco Chanel’s favorite spot back in the day. Then of course we visited the original Chanel store at 31 Rue de Cambon. I got a new lipstick! Then it was time for…the purchase. The big purchase.
I decided a while back that when I finally made it to Paris, I would buy myself a designer handbag. I saved up my money for it, because I don’t have that kind of cash lying around on a regular basis. I settled on Saint Laurent and did a little research on my options ahead of time, but I decided to make the final decision in the moment. It was a little more exciting that way. Plus, they give you champagne while you shop, so I had to stall a little, ya know? đ
I walked out a lot poorer, but totally satisfied with my decision. It was a lot of money, and I understand that a lot of people think it’s frivolous to spend so much on a purse. But it’s not just a purse – it’s a piece of French history, a work of great craftsmanship, a souvenir from my dream vacation, and a reminder that I work hard for my money! Oh, and in case there’s any confusion, this backpack is not the Saint Laurent. Stay tuned…Audrey (that’s what I named my bag) will make her blog debut soon enough!
Totally switching gears, after shopping, we went to Père Lachaise Cemetery. We saw the graves of Jim Morrison, Chopin, Isadora Duncan, and lots of others. I gotta say, as cemeteries go, this one is really very lovely and not at all creepy. We cut it close on time, and the cemetery was technically closed as we were finding our way to the last grave on our list, Oscar Wilde. We figured we’d find it, then head out. Well, before we could get there, a security guard pulled up in a marked car and yelled at us in French. I could understand “closed” but nothing else. I said (in English because I was startled) we were on the way out, but he motioned to the car and said what I assume was the French equivalent of “get in, you dirty American tourists.” So we did, and he FLOORED it through the cobblestone streets until he slammed on the brakes and motioned to a door. If his car had come with an eject button, I’m pretty sure he would have used it. So that’s the story of how we got kicked out of Père Lachaise Cemetery.
BUT WAIT. THERE’S MORE!
For “dinner” that night, we bought bread, cheese, and wine from a market and popped a squat in front of the Eiffel Tower. No plates, no cutlery, no cups. We drank straight from the bottle and ripped off chunks of bread and cheese and reveled in how great our life was at that moment.
And that, friends, was my favorite day in Paris.
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