Shopping in Paris!

My mind has been on Paris with Fashion Week last week and Bastille Day on Monday.  It's not hard to daydream about Paris, especially if you have ever visited the city of lights.  It is amazing.  Last September I had the opportunity to visit Paris for the first time with Design Trust led by Steve Nobel. I had always dreamed of going to Paris, so when opportunity knocked, I answered with a resounding yes!  Paris did not disappoint.   Our trip centered around design related activities, many of which I haven't shared on the blog.    I decided to take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the photographs I took during my trip. 

 Window shopping in Paris is almost as good as buying things.  The fashion houses go all out, when it comes to their store fronts. There are American companies who send employees to Paris just to see the windows for trends and ideas?  After visiting Paris, I now understand the attraction of the Parisian windows.  Here are a few of the photos I took while shopping in Paris.  I bought a few things, but mostly enjoyed just window shopping.

There are many shopping districts in Paris.  To read more about the various districts

read this article by about.com on the best shopping in Paris.
{click here to continue reading....}

There are high end designer  shops around the famous Ritz Hotel.  Shown here is Rolex.  Note the cars parked out front waiting for shoppers inside.

I got lost from my group when I ducked into  Christian Louboutin  to check out the fall shoes.    
It too me a couple of hours to find my group.  Guess where I found them... Hermes, of course! This picture was taken just before the security guard told me I couldn't take pictures. 

Hermes was beautiful.  I snapped a few pictures before the security guard came over and told me photos were not allowed!  He probably thought I was a street person as I was drenched from my 16 block walk in the rain. 

The streets are picturesque and  manicured.  They often have beautiful 
plantings like these topiary trees.  

 There were many colorful store fronts.  I loved so many of the deep hues used for the stores.  Parisian shop owners didn't seem to shy away from color.

France is known for its perfume.  We couldn't shop in Paris and not go into a perfumery. There are many shops that will make custom perfume for you. 

This young lady was mixing custom perfume.

The perfume shops look very much like our pharmacies in the US.

 The Parfumerie sales person said that this perfume could be bought in the states, but if purchased in Paris, it came with a special bottle that could be refilled in the States. 

This attractive lady had on simple jeans and a blouse but made her outfit fab
 with these sassy shoes.

Credit Via

Parisians are chic!  Often the fashions are simple and neutral in color.   
Parisian women subscribe to the idea that a wardrobe should consist of basic high-quality items.  They are not afraid to wear heels either.  Everywhere we walked I saw women in heels unlike New York where the ladies put their heels in their bag and change into tennis shoes for street wear.  It is easy to see why Europeans think Americans are not good dressers.  Parisians wouldn't be caught dead in workout clothes or tennis shoes on the street; instead they dress as though they are going somewhere special all the time.

Everything in Paris looks organized and well planned.  There are so many photo opportunities.  I loved these motorcycles lined up on the street waiting for shoppers to return.



We finished out day by popping into Laduree for macaroons.  



We had to stand in line to buy our macaroons. 



Laduree offers many beautiful dessert other than macaroons.  Everything was so pretty I wanted to buy one of everything.

This shop had a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson on the window that sums up travel for me.  "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."   My trip to France was a lovely experience, I will carry with me for the rest of my life.  I hope you enjoyed sharing some of my happy memories of my trip to Paris. 
 It was definitely a trip of a lifetime!