Licking the windows

"Faire du lèche-vitrines" is the French expression for window shopping, according to my friend Rick Steves. It translates to licking the windows Well, my tongue is dry.

Kevin and Darby went off to Rouen to catch the Tour de France. Sounded like torture to me. They thought a day of strolling around Paris shopping was torture. Off they went. Off I went.

I had a definite shopping plan of attack. First, Desigual in the Halles. I have been a huge fan of this label since we went to Barcelona. It's funky and fun. It's also pretty hard to find in the states( although getting easier) and it's expensive to have it shipped here if you find something you like online.

Success! Two shirts and a dress later, I was out the door and off for a stroll. I hopped the metro and headed for Bon Marché.

The stairs in Bon Marché.

Bon Marché is one of Paris' department stores. It's big. And Fancy, with a capital "f". If you have any issues with fragrances, I'd suggest avoiding the parfumerie. Whew. They like to spray. The funny thing is all those Parisiennes were buying parfume and I'm sure I'll still smell plenty of B.O. on the train. The French invented the department store and I'm pretty pleased that they did.

After a light lunch and a couple of glasses of wine, it was off to Hermès. Not that I was buying anything, but I wanted to see the space. The store opened a year ago, in the former Art Deco swimming pool of the Hotel Lutetia which was built in 1935. It was beautiful. The scarves and purses are down a set of stairs that takes you into the pool, which still has the tile from the original pool. I would love to have a picture, but the security guard was watching and I already felt like I was gonna get kicked out for not looking like I had a high enough credit limit to be in there in the first place.

I found an adorable bookstore. I found some of my favorite books that I read to the kids everyday. So funny to see a title you're so familiar with in another language.

Funny that A Sick Day For Amos McGee is shortened to AAAAtchooum and there's no Caldecott on the cover. Those silly frenchies.

I fell in love with this board book about going to school. The little donkey even had a back pack that had another little book on counting. So cute!

A bit more strolling. A bit more licking of the windows. Found a sassy pair of sandals at Kamper. I had my disigual. I was ready to head home.

But, a funny little thing happened. I had hopped off at our home metro station and decided to check out a big old building that was a church right around the corner from our place. I turned and the sidewalk was empty except me and these four girls directly I front of me. And, about a hundred paparazzi! I had walked into a photo shoot.

I had to walk thru all these photographers to get down the sidewalk. Then I saw this huge crowd across the street.

Of course, being a huge busybody and always on the lookout for celebs, I had to stop. A nice teenager told me that Jean Paul Gaultier was unveiling his new line. Bonus!! I hustled over and watched the excitement.

Of course, I had no idea who half the people were but it was still pretty cool. There were lots of fashionista wannabes in the crowd and they kept screaming when famous Parisienne models kept coming out.

A model, with her fans.

When the show finished and the people started coming out it was pretty cool to see them. There was a huge variety. Haute couture. French heiress. Regular joe.

Check out the guy above. Nice face thingy. What's that fashion trend?

Fancy Asian couple. Loved her dress.

My favorite hat. (she's had a bit of work done, non?)

The lady next to me told me that this girl is a French heiress. She kinda looks like the French Riviera version of Snookie, if you ask me.

One of the models.

The male models.

Another model. She got the rose from a young fan. When she offered to have her picture taken with her, I thought the fan was going to have a heart attack. She was crying and hyperventilating. I'm thinking she's not going to be happy with her photo.

The funniest thing was the person who got the most excitement was this blonde woman that everyone kept screaming for. The lady who was standing next to me (she was from Portugal and stopped like I did to see what was going on) and I really had no clue who this lady was, but we figured she was big. She walked right by us with her three bodyguards, a handler and about 300 photogs chasing after her. We almost got crushed because her limo pulled up right next to us. Seriously, the door was touching me. Crazy.

Her, getting in the limo.

Off she goes.

Now, I'm dying to know who this HUGE celeb is. Ready? Zahia Dehar. Who? She's a call girl who caused a huge scandal here in France when half the French football team, including Franck Ribery, got caught sleeping with her. She was 17. Rats. No Madonna. No Victoria Beckham. A call girl. Well, it was pretty cool anyway.

Congratulations on a show well done.