Paris in August
1998 French Calendar
During the summer months in Europe people close their shops, and head for cooler places. When we reached Paris in late August we saw a good percentage of shops that closed for their vacations. We did find interesting places to visit.
I attempted to locate a few bookstores, in order to browse the reading material available. When a person travels in a foreign country and has a daily habit of reading the news in English there are withdrawal symptoms if English newspapers are unavailable.
I encountered one bookstore, which was not air-conditioned, but had an interesting assortment of art books, children's books, calendars, and other memento-type items.
I had a hard time deciding which calendar to purchase..... since there were a couple of small calendars that caught my eye. I finally settled on selecting a calendar on the sights of Paris which featured the familiar tourist sites of the place... but included photos of small, intimate cafes, the walkway areas by the Seine, the Eiffel Tower lit up with fireworks, and a view of a cobbled walkway, lined completely with trees.
Explorations into a city can turn into a walking marathon. Sometimes little "finds" that one uncovers can happen by serendipity.
A children's book that I purchased was a small, colorful French atlas. It was designed for visual appeal, with colorful illustrations and transparent overlays. In order to read the short commentary in the book, I'll have to use my French dictionary to translate the text.
A French Atlas for Children
A couple of blocks away, I encountered another bookstore - one which was air-conditioned. I didn't enjoy the items in this store as much - since the bulk of books were text-based, with less emphasis on illustrations. It had reading material that appeared more sophisticated - or maybe it just seemed that way, because the books had smaller type sizes.
Carol decided to locate Shu Uemura's cosmetic shop - which carried items for creating one's own individual cosmetic bag. We finally found the shop - which was a modern store, with a varied collection of cosmetic items: brushes of all sizes and shapes, lipsticks, eyeshadow selections, sponges, plastic containers, etc.
She purchased gift items for her friends, made up of small plastic bags containing a variety of make-up brushes.... and each little bag sold for $30! Paris is not a cheap place to shop. Shu Uemura's shop, like other fashion places, carried specialty goods at a premium price.
We stumbled across a store that sold clothing - which appeared to be western versions of Asian designs. There were brightly colored fabrics sewn into jacket designs, with kimono sleeves. Also hanging in the shop were vests, and simple (dress) shifts. The items were very nice to look at, with equally inflated prices.
One store in which we browsed very briefly carried baskets of all sizes. I remember wondering how the store owner made a living since the baskets were so similar in design and weren't visually attractive.
At a fashion designer's store Carol had hoped to look at the latest apparel. A sign on the shop's door indicated that the store was closed for a vacation - and would open after we left Paris. She was disappointed to learn that, since it would only be a few days later.
We enjoyed a special treat of ice cream at one of the outdoor cafes. And yes, we sat outside eating our ice-cream and watched people walk by. I think we ate at the cafe which Ernest Hemingway frequented, while living in Paris.
Amy L. Fukunaga,
Copyright 1997, All Rights Reserved
The Louvre and Pompidou Center
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