Summer in Paris - in a word: Magical.
Sunny, blue skies. Beautiful old buildings. Pretty girls with shiny hair in flat leather sandals. Androgynous boys with chiseled faces and turned up trousers on bicycles. Chic couples with breathtaking multicultural children.. it's enough to make you want to move here.
For pleasure. Entirely for pleasure. Definitely
not for business.
Paris is not a city that "never sleeps".
In terms of getting stuff done, Paris is a narcoleptic.
As my wonderful friend Kinga (we went to St Martins together) was telling me yesterday over dinner: even large corporations give 9 - 5 workers a standard 2 hour lunch break. Yep, you read that correctly.
First of all, on Sunday everything is closed. I am not exaggerating: restaurants appear to be open, but when you sit down, they warn you that there will be a wait, as the chef is currently "away". Hmmm..
It doesn't stop there, though: today (Monday) I attempted to visit some baby boutiques and introduce them to our collection.. I write attempted because more than half were closed. First I thought that the recession has really hit France very hard. Then I realised this might mean I they open on Sunday instead (hard to believe) or whether a three day weekend is standard here.
One shop that does open on Mondays is Merci - the brainchild of Marie-France and Bernard Cohen (founders of Bonpoint), the concept store is filled with everything that makes a bon vivant's heart jump (flowers, fashion, furniture, stationary) and donates all its profits to a co-op for young women in Madagascar. At the moment, Merci has a "linstallation" (sic): a linen and hemp theme runs through the displays, including the Merci mascot:
Merci 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais in the 11th arrondissement, very close to the Marais. Métro: Saint-Sebastian Froissart, Line 8. (+33) 01 42 77 78 92.
I love the generosity of space of the displays, the muted, natural colour palette, the tactility of furniture and clothes, the general easy glamour of it all - which is why I was there in the first place: I think Baby Issa would complement the childrens clothes and general aesthetic of Merci perfectly and vice versa. I have sent their buyer and email as well as dropped off a lookbook for her, keep your fingers crossed that we hear from her...
Back to Paris, the narcolepsy patient. Taxis are a chapter unto themselves, as anyone who has ever visited knows.
Technically, there are bays where they are meant to be waiting, and if they aren't, there is a little call station to alert them that someone is waiting.
In practise, this usually means empty taxi cars, drivers that look at you blankly or drive off when they hear where you want to go, or even better, tell you "it's around the corner. walk" when you're carrying two suitcases, a laptop, a handbag and a hat box.
"Wave one off the street" you say? Good luck with that, buddy!
Should you be lucky enough to get one to stop, it is not uncommon for them to listen to your request and wordlessly drive off again (without you) or, which happened to me today, to welcome you inside, then tell you they have no idea where your destination address is.
Do they have a navigation system?
A map perhaps?
- This type of question is answered with a haughty death stare perfected by the average Parisian and reserved for tourists. Esp ones with no / little french.
One totally amazing feature (for a working girl) of Paris is The Metro (subway/ tube). It is extremely efficient, cool and has mobile signal underground.
Not only that, but it stops on bridges with amazing views here, too
Metro stubs - I have taken it nuff times in the past two days. - Yes, also because I can't get a taxi for love or money around here..
What I'm saying is: I have been walking a lot. In my super short womens-size model of the Baby Issa "Ella" dress and my wedge espadrilles, I have had one too many "Marilyn moments" here in Paris. I've genuinely flashed the whole city and my feet are killing me.
In what has become my "sales uniform"
- excuse the amateur posing, was trying to get my whole body in the frame...
On the upside, I have seen parts and streets of Paris that have given me an understanding of this city and its inhabitants that is totally new to me.
All of the above has really driven home to me the importance of understanding the culture of the foreign country you're doing business in (yes, i know there's some wordplay going on there).
Imran Amed's Business of Fashion blog (a daily must-read for anyone interested in the industry) published a fantastic article on it recently
http://tinyurl.com/yhbtane.
Must put my aching feet up now.
Just one last image of an enterprise that I hope to welcome to LDN soon:
Velib aka rent-a-bike-wherever-whenever-and-return-whenever-wherever. Total awesomeness. Am considering membership for my remaining two days. My feet would thank me. As would a lot of bored van drivers...
The Girl xx
