Tag Archives: shopping

Advent -5

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Works like a charm….

In her book on Parisienne chic, Inès de la Fressange notes the Parisienne’s passion for good-luck charm bracelets, and who am I to argue with Inès? I actually noticed this habit when I first moved to Paris ten years ago, when every other Mom I saw at the café across the street from the girls’ school had her wrist tied up in a collection of multi-coloured strings. It immediately went on my ‘I want’ list and has stayed there every year since then. After all, a girl can never have too much good luck.

Of course, the penultimate parisien charm bracelet is a set of Dinh Van handcuffs (600€), which I absolutely adore for the slightly twisted message they send out with absolute simplicity. And it is one of the few bracelets I wouldn’t mind seeing being worn by a man.

Since my charm bracelets are usually gifts from my charming girls, the budget is considerably more modest. I have received Brazilian friendship bracelets that they knotted themselves from a selection of embroidery threads (10€) bought at La Droguerie’s stand at Le Bon Marché. As they’ve gotten older, they started giving me engraved charm bracelets (24€) from Mitabaya. Personalized with their names or little sweet nothings, and in a variety of shapes and materials, I wear these bracelets daily, even to the most formal of occasions. Not only do I love wearing these bracelets, but I love coming up with thoughtful or particularly personal messages and giving them as gifts to friends and mentors.

These charms are all lovely and I’d be happy to wear any one of them for any occasion, but we all have more traditional people on our gift list. People who may turn their nose up at a simple charm on a string. For those giftees La Perle de Lune has a an entire collection of gold charms on gold chains (245€) that are accompanied by a series of candy toned jewels you simply want to devour.

Apriati, means gift in Greek and the jeweler on the rue du Four makes some exquisitely elegant pieces (60€) with simple charms that a delight to give. The artist works with hammered gold and had more intricate pieces that are built on several string, include diamonds and are even built up into cuff. If you visit the shop, everything is displayed in glass encased, pop out drawers you can open and explore, like a kid in a (very expensive) candy shop, making the shopping almost as much fun as the gift giving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent -4

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YOGA

Yes, the Yoga Yenta has inspired me. And I get it, yoga is not for everyone, but what I really mean is to give the gift of health and well being. You could offer a book of 10 classes to studio like Trini Yoga (180€) or a membership to your local gym. How about an annual Velib’ subscription (19€) or a calendar (cost of 1 sheet of paper) with pre-set running/biking/exercise dates you can enjoy together?

I’m trying to keep the gift ideas off the grid, but with my passion for running (which I really hate, but seem to be addicted to) and my love of dance, and yes, my devotion to yoga, it is tempting to throw up a bunch of links. I mean there are entire stores dedicated to fantastic sports equipment (did I mention my Yoga Yenta?) that your favorite jock would adore.

But lets just say your giftee is a yogi…a mala bracelet (10€) is a thoughtful gift and yogis are often happy wearing several at once. Or there are the necklaces with the rudraksha beads (45€) that yogis have cherished for centuries.

I don’t know why, but I have always longed for a singing bowl. I can picture myself passing it as I walk through my living room and brushing it for a bit of hum as I head to my desk to start my day. I found Himalayan Bowls with antique bowls (130$) available and I’m hoping Santa thinks of me.

I think I’ve mentioned the Yoga Yenta once or twice. She is my friend, and I love her, but the woman is relentlessly determined to have you downward dogging, sun saluting and practicing your oms. She is so determined that she has come up with a plan.

…the first 10 FindingNoon fans who come in to her shop will receive a card for a FREE class at TRINI YOGA.

Simply stop on by YogaConcept in the Marais before December 24th and tell her you read FindingNoon and she’ll have you in shivasana before you can say OMmmmmmmmmm……………

YogaConcept / 123 rue de Turenne / (M) République / open everyday until Dec 22

Trini / 26 rue d’Enghien, 10e

Advent -3

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A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

The title pretty much says it all. Last year I was particularly stuck on what to get Mr French, so I went online and purchased tickets for a night at the Royal Opera at Versailles (70€). I think his heart sank when he first saw the package; just a teeny tiny envelope. But then he looked inside and saw two tickets for a night at the Opera, and knowing how much I love opera (I’d rather sit through a 2 hour long lecture on Quantum Physics, where nobody dies!!!) he was incredibly touched.

Every time we go to a show Mr French invariable comments, “That was fantastic, we really should do that more often.” And we mean to, but life, and kids and the French vacation schedule get in the way. So I thought I’d do a bit more, and fatten up that envelope. I went on a spree and found tickets to hear Biréli Lagrène, his favorite gypsy guitarist, and, I simply couldn’t resist tickets for a Broadway musical during our NYC stay. In the end I found 6 different performances I knew he’d love, filling up the first 6 months of the calendar year.

Not everyone speaks French fluently, so musical events are the way to go for most people coming to town. The opera is a start, but not for everyone (ahem) and fortunately, countless places play all kinds of music every night of the week. If live music is not your thing, there is always dance, or even the Bartabas horse show. All fantastic performances, French not required.

Some of my favorite (affordable) resources are /

Billet Reduc for discount tickets to small concert halls and church performances. They feature shows that go beyond the ordinary, like the Russian Army Choir (33€)

TickeTac is particularly helpful, as you can select by genre, venue and/or date and (my personal favorite) the reduction you’d like! They have such a fantastic line up of shows that I was just inspired to buy 2 seats at Sara Barras Flamenco (58€) for this holiday season.

FNAC Spectacle for special shows I know about well in advance. I just learned that Lilly Wood and the Prick (33€) are coming to the Olympia this June. I have no idea who Lilly is, but since she plays with a prick, I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy the show.

Of course, not everyone is in Paris, but no matter where in the world you may find yourself, there is sure to be something on stage, for the show must go on…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent -2

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After photography, there is graffiti…A few years ago I was on the look out for a very unique, incredibly personal gift idea for Mr French when I came across a post by AnnetteC on Our Paris Forum. Annette, who has a sweet little flat in the 5th that she rents to tourists (there is a gift idea… a flat in Paris), had recently created an utterly memorable terribly romantique gift for her hubby, a bit of street art. I LOVED the idea and wrote if she minded if I did a little copycat. She didn’t mind and I started purring….

While strolling the streets of Paris, Annette had become curious about the street art of the artist Gregos. Gregos creates faces that look like someone is walking through a wall on to the city’s streets. There are three moulds of the face, but each face is individually painted and Gregos welcomes collaborations by other artists. Artists like me, or YOU!!!

For 30€ you can order a plaster of Paris (I know, ironic, hunh?) face from Gregos‘ website. You then paint the face with an idea, theme or inspiration especially for your giftee. Once painted the face is ready to be gifted or have Gregos stick it on a Paris street. He’ll even tell you how you can put it on the streets of YOUR (or the giftee’s) hometown!!!

Not only did Mr French love his mask, but I absolutely loved the expression on his face as we strolled by the Luxembourg Gardens and he noticed a very cool face coming out of the wall, then realized it was dedicated to him. It was another week or so before he understood that I had not just commissioned the face, but that I was actually the artist behind the art. And every time we we’re in the neighborhood, he wants to stroll by, just to check out his face.

The faces truly are art, which makes them collectables, which means they may be stolen. For Mr French I purchased two, had one put up on a wall in his beloved 5th arrondisement and kept the other one for our balcony at home. Which turned out to be a good thing, because after three years, his face was stolen sometime this summer!

Not an artist? Gregos is and you can buy one of his painted faces (135€) on his website. With the Gregos face, you’re supporting the arts, while giving the gift of art, a gift you’re sure will not be one of three identical gifts. If you’re looking for something fun and funky that doesn’t cost more than a tongue and cheek, this is the gift you’ve been looking for…

Advent -1

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My mom was raised by nuns, so you’d think I’d know what Advent was. I don’t, I have no idea and pathetically my curiousity has never been great enough to inspire a google. However, being a chocolate lover, I know EXACTLY what an Advent calendar is and I’ve always wished that I could have my own. Especially today as I stood at the check out line of the Grande Epicerie du Bon Marche, where Mom after Mom purchased handfuls of treat-filled calendars for their brood at home. Well, today, I made it happen, I got my Advent calendar. It is 100% chocolate-free, but I love it even more than chocolate because I can share it with you… Instead of chocolates, you get 100% fat-free, absolutely healthy, gift ideas for the holidays.

GIFT IDEA #1 / Paris Photos

Much to my dismay, friends and family are always clamouring for photos of myself and my kids. I don’t get it, and it makes me feel rather vain, but the fact is that many people love collecting photos of friends and family. This year was particularly special, so I decided to calm the roar and hired the Paris photographer par excellence, Lindsey Kent of Pictours Paris to create Paris moments we could share.

As a once-upon-a-time photographer myself, I am pretty picky. I found Lindsey’s work to be excellent. We had rather unusual requests and Lindsey came up with photos that we’re as quirky and original as we had wanted, while remaining pretty pictures that the Grandpa was happy to receive. You can judge for yourselves…

When I mentioned my Advent calendar idea to Lindsey, she was thrilled. So thrilled that she is offering 15% off of a 1.5 or 2.5 hour photo session in Paris before February 15th. Just mention FindingNoon and remember to Smile!!!!

If this all sounds like an ad, it is not and I assure you, I paid for my photoshoot with Lindsey. I am just a very enthusiastic client who likes sharing a good thing!

Even more of a good thing includes some of the gifts we’ve come up with since the shoot. These are things you could with any photos of places you’ve loved.      M decided to have a custom case (30$) made for her iPhone at SkinIt.com, while E was talking about making a calendar (20$) at the Apple Store and I am considering getting one of them printed on canvas to have as art. While skimming the web I’ve found throw cotton pillows (20$) from PersonalCreations.com and I’m now thinking of creating my own Paris tote. Whatever you do with your Paris photos, smiles are contagious.

 

 

Tis the

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As a child I would spend my Thanksgivings around the dinner table at my Grandmother’s house with the rest of my family, all 30 of us. My Grandmother would insist on using her finest china, sterling silver and crystal glasses. She didn’t worry about the clean up, counting on her 3 daughter’s in law to leave the kitchen spic and span. The next day, full of energy and raring to go, she’d throw me, my brother and our cousins into her station wagon with her vicious toy poodle Bucky and we’d head to The City for the Christmas window displays.

San Francisco’s Union Square is a great place for leche vitrine-ing with Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus at each corner of the square. But my favorite windows were the windows at the local, extremely exclusive GUMPs where they’d install elaborate Victorian rooms with silk brocades and golden baubles and in each room would be a litter of orphaned kittens or puppys read for adoption through the SPCA, who had a table in front of each window to make it all easy.

As a kid I loved these windows and the frolicking pups. And as an adult in today’s world I appreciate them even more because they were about doing something for someone (or something) else and not blatant mass commercialism.

I am not a Grinch and I still love visiting the animated holiday windows in Paris, but this year I was a bit put off by all the branding. The city’s department stores alternate animated children’s windows with windows featuring fantastical products of what can be found by stepping beyond the glass. Fair enough. But it seems to me that just this once, at Christmas time, they could give a commercial-free moment to the kids and leave the animated windows to pure fantasy. Louis Vuitton chose to do otherwise this year, creating scenes of LV bag toting dancing polar bears and rockette-style dancers on LV trunks. yes, they were beautiful, and yes the the kids loved them, but I found it all over the top.

Princesses on a merry go round

The windows at Printemps showed considerable more class. Decorated by DIOR, with a discretely placed logo decorating the animated windows which were product free. The theme is Paris, with windows that feature skating on the Eiffel Tower, the Opera and ball with costumed princesses dancing in the arms their princes charming. They are gorgeous and elegant and made me want to be 7 years old all over again.

Not that the Bon Marché cares what I think, but I’d like to congratulate them for getting back on the right track, because the last few years their windows have been tragically adult-oriented, forgetting the kids and destroying the festive spirit. This year they almost make up for it with particularly fun ramps that lead the kids to the decorations behind cut outs of the roof tops of Paris. The black and gold clad windows were designed to celebrate the department store’s 160th birthday and what better way to celebrate that by featuring the monuments of the Rive Gauche? they do it this year with joy and style, making it a merrier Christmas for everyone.

Gifts

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It’s the All Saint’s holiday here in Paris. Until Hollande and his gang came to power, this was a ten day school holiday, but the socialists are not the biggest fans of work, so they’ve now prolonged the vacation to last an entire two weeks. The locals claim this is a secular country, but with two week school breaks every six weeks, I am a serious sceptic. Our kids are out of school for AlL Saint’s Day, Christmas, the beginning of Lent and Easter. Not to mention the handful of long weeks dedicated to ascentions and assumptions. Meanwhile, important exams are held during Ramadan and Yom Kippur.

This year, though, the timing couldn’t be better. E has been at the University of Chicago for exactly five weeks now (not that I’m counting or anything) and it is the University family weekend, so M and are leaving in a jetplane, Chicago bound, then back to our roots in San Francisco. I have not been back in THREE years.

Going home means gift shopping and gift shopping is a challenge with everything so easily available in the US, even Sel de Camargue! The day before departure I braved the schizophrenic weather we have not been enjoying, determined to find gifts not available abroad.

Just a block from chez nous, I pass Puyricard, a very old school, traditional chocolatier from the South of France, who must have a terrible PR team, because this shop gets virtually no anglophone press, despite having excellent chocolate and surprisingly fair prices. I chose a bunch of bars, my personal favorite being the trés original Versinthe, and added some packages of their housemade pate de fruits, guimauves (marshmallows) and candied citrus peels. My friends are going to be getting fat!

Monoprix does some interesting partnerships with worthwhile designers. This season they’ve launched a collection by Antik Batik, so I scored big getting clothes for the little folk I’ll be seeing, while finding a few fun scarves for the women folk, before headong to men’s wear for a few more. This fall they have a gorgeous earthtone scarf with red trim, that looks particularly elegant.

My final stop was Marie Quatrehommes for an entire selection of raw milk cheeses because I’m a mère juive and take a bit too much pleasure out of feeding my brood.

Pinch me, I’m dreaming…

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That maybe a title for another post. I can’t recall. It’s a feeling that happens to m fairly often since moving to Paris. And yesterday I got a big dose of it while attending the Elie Saab fashion show. This was my first large, international show with super stars and the über-chic crowd. After years of watching them saunter by as I ran errands or hurried to the office, I was finally “in”. And I got to be “in” with a truly fantastic designer who is more about style than brand, more about design than labels. I was as happy as a cat in a patch of sunlight on a winter’s day.

Elia Saab is an independent designer from Lebanon who was first invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to show his collection at Paris Fashion Week in 2000. By 2006 he was a member of the Chambre. When I think of other designers, I may think of their classic cuts, nostalgic silhouettes, or daring designs. When I think of Elie Saab I immediately see sparkles and sumptuous fabrics that flow.Yesterday’s show did not let me down.

 

And I was not the only one soaking it all in.

 

Hundreds of international press were there recording every moment. Like when Taylor Swift showed up, or Rachel Zoe sashayed in. And my personal favorite, when the designer himself came out to acknowledge his fans, a brilliant, genuine smile on his face.

Rachel Zoe loving the blue dress

Taylor Swift loving the blue dress, too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is it like going to one of the main shows? You get there on time, because if you’re late, they won’t let you in. Than you stand around for about half an hour until they start letting the press enter. As you wait the fashion press and bloggers are out milling about and shooting everything that moves while fashion students flirt with the guards, hoping for a nod in. Finally, you can enter, and within a few minutes close to 1000 people have taken their seats. The music begins to pump through the speakers, loud enough to vibrate in your chest and the first model steps out. Flashes start flying, iPhones start tweeting and a brief 12-15 minutes later it is over, you’ve seen the entire collection and the women return, walking out single file for a final viewing. Just as they disappear behind the screen, the designer walks out, gives an appreciative wave and the music stops as everyone files out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fashion was fantastic. Bright, solid colors flowed elegantly while enlightened with plays of lace and light. A couple of graphic dresses were young, modern and ready to hit the streets. It all looked wearable and even comfortable, which almost sounds like an insult in this world of tortured looks, and nearly impossible for formal wear, but it was a delight to the imagination and something of a dream come true.

Paris Fashion Week / Chanel

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Yesterday, with sinuses swollen like two bagpipes and bags under my eyes the size of Louis Vuitton trunks, I dragged my drugged up self out of bed and started Dressing with a capital D. Its still fashion week and yesterday was the Chanel show at the Grand Palais. I was going to the spectacle even if it meant calling in medical reinforcements.

a sneak peek

Since following Paris Fashion Week, I’ve learned to arrive on time. Never early and there is no point in being late. But this was Chanel and I was expecting something different, so I went an hour early, camping out at a nearby café nursing a mint tea. Sitting there with my personal fan, Jane, we were surrounded by the crème de la crème of the fashion world, everyone proudly sporting their black and blue plaid, glossy invitation. Of course, I didn’t have one (sniff, sniff)

This lady showed up at our café on foot, and then had the limo drive her the 50 yrds to the backstage entrance!

Earlier than usual limos started to arrive and we started following the crowd, literally falling into the International press and the elbow of a super aggressive Japanese photographer as they waited for celebrities arriving by the back door. Photographers screamed for the attention of each fashionista as she poured out of a limo. I recognized no one and all the jostling had my instincts looking for the nearest shin to kick and I was afraid it would awake my inner parisienne like the full moon brings out the werewolves. It was time to move to the entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good move, because that is where the party was full on. Aspiring, young designers from across the globe were wearing their most outrageous outfits, hoping to be discovered. Fashionista bloggers were in full outrageous mode, with same dream. And the fashion world started to arrive, the true professionals heart breakingly elegant and simply beautiful. Gala was handing out roses, American Apparel giving freebies and Les Echos had a Karl inspired magazine for everyone. And the shoes. OMG the shoes. Simply orgasmic. I got dizzy shooting all the amazing shoes walking in every direction, like watching a meteorite shower under the desert sky in August.

Don't know who it is, but the skirt is pure Alaïa

The man in the bordeaux cardigan is Bill Cunningham, my idol!!!

 

 

 

Half an hour after the show was supposed to begin, the doors opened and soon, the vibrant, pulsing music began. 20 minutes later it was over.

20 minutes is long for a fashion show in this part of the world. Karl was giving the crowd a generous fix. They poured out of the enormous hall looking happy and relaxed, which is another anomaly for fashion week.  Pure magic.

 

Happy happy birthday

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Satrapi window at Bon Marche

I have a thing for the Bon Marché. Sounds shallow and frivolous, but lets face it, I grew up listening to Madonna, so I seem to have “Material Girl”. But my crush on this store goes much deeper than that. It begins with Emile Zola and his novel “Au Bonheur des Dames” which chronicles the life and times of the shop girl Denise. It is a romance, but it is also a testament to the times and freedom that industrialization brought women, for better and some times for worse.

Boucicault, the force of nature behind the world’s first department store, was a marketing genius, coming up with ideas to get people into his shop that are still being used today, like the regularly held art exhibits at the Bon Marche. His wife a socialist before socialism, carefully looking after the well-being of their employees. They made a difference in society that is still felt today.

The Bon Marché is 160 years old this year and to celebrate they are throwing a party that seems to have leapt from the pages of Zola’s novel. Some of the most famous brands in the luxury world have created special limited editions to celebrate, all proudly displayed in a pop-up shop designed by the graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi. Satrapi’s illustrations also fly above the large open space, in the form of montgolfieres, bi-planes and Jules Vernes-like contraptions. Inside most of villages there is merchandise for sale. Fabulous designs to celebrate the Bon Marche’s 160th with inspired limited editions. Everything from iPhone covers to handbags, Baccarat crystal to Repetto ballet slippers.

In one area there is a documentary by Loïc Prigent, as he follows the city’s icon, Catherine Deneuve to all of her favorite Left Bank haunts. One of those haunts is Gerard Depardieu’s fish shop, Moby Dick, and its the film I saw them working on earlier in the year. I checked, and nope, I didn’t make it into the background, but it was very fun to see what had made the final cut!!!

Satrapi is the artistic force behind the film Perspolis. Her lines are bold and brilliant, the perfectly modern foil as her art continues outside, featuring more scenes of Catherine at places like her fish monger’s, the Café Fleurus and the Place Saint Sulpice in a specatcle that draws people in, and would make Boucicault proud.

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