Sequins in Le Marais When Ron and I were in Paris, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time shopping as I knew he doesn’t like that. Not anymore, I should add. When we met, he would happily shop with me for four hours on a stretch. One sad day that ended.

As Ron found lots of fun places to visit in Paris, I didn’t mind not shopping. Especially not as I had already spent quite a few pennies in Turin and in The Netherlands. So what’s with this sweater in the above photo? Found that on Friday in Le Marais, an area of Paris which is full of lovely shops, cafés and well dressed women. But that was not my fault. Ron wanted to go to the museum of arts and crafts (Musée des Arts et Métiers) and that happened to be very near Le Marais. I didn’t suggest the museum. Please take note of that.

Let’s start the day in chronological order. More about that sequined top later.

Below: passing a window in the early morning which displayed this… what is it? Ron thought it would make a nice hat. Beautiful but no.

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We started with coffee on a terrace. Of course. By this time I had unlearned to ask for cappuccino. I just ordered espresso.

Below: looking serious.

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Below: our view from the terrace

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Below: sitting on the terrace I spotted this well dressed woman

Woman in Paris

Below: I had to run to stop this woman, who is a good example of a Paris woman with that “je ne sais quois”. We had a chat and exchanged cards.

Woman in Paris

Below: high up on a wall across a road, we saw this mozaic. Apparently there was a ledge up there, where smart people had put chairs.

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Below: Paris lady passing by. Or a tourist?

Woman in Paris

Below: the weather was more unpredictable that day. Clouded. Behind this building is a large building with a round window. That is the museum of arts and crafts. Pretty terrific area buildingwise.

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I was so mesmerized by everything I saw in the museum, that I hardly took any pictures. They had so much good stuff. You could spend days there: working models of about everything that moves, trains, bicycles, cross sections of so much, glass, carpentry work, cars, computers (from the early days with floppy disk to now), industrial production machines. And plains. Honestly, they had three or four real planes (very old ones) hanging in the main building and in the adjacent church. It was awesome.

Below: see the first (or almost the first) plane that was ever built to get off the ground. (That ceiling!) The opening just left from the rear wheel, was where the “pilot” was seated.

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Below: here is view from below. Spitting image of a bat.

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It was really too much to take in. I can recommend it though.

Time for lunch.

Below: spotted this stunningly dressed lady. I am not really up to date with all the designers and fashion, but I reckon this is Fendi or MSGM? She didn’t mind posing at all; probably used to being asked to have her photograph taken.

Woman in Paris

Below: we walked further into Le Marais and passed Kesslord at 65 Rue Beaubourg. My French is well enough to understand they can make you shoes to mesure. EVEN offer the possibility of having a different shoe for your left and your right foot. Brilliant! Price between € 126 and € 290.

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I have a larger right foot, so I thought this was the answer to my prayers. Only, I didn’t want to stay in a shoe shop for a couple of hours, knowing Ron would be bored to death.

Below: therefore I bought none of these babies…

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Below: neither these. My brain must have been temporarily switched off as I love them. They were ready-made. I could have tried them on, couldn’t I? That didn’t have to take hours. Fifteen minutes utmost.

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Below: not looking very hot. I think this dress/tunic, looks so much better with my skinny jeans plus high heels. As you can clearly see here. It might have been better if I hadn’t closed the buttons or if I had put a tight belt around my waist. Oh well, little mistake. The bag which I am holding in my left hand is a present Ron bought for himself in the museum shop. Just in case you were wondering.

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Below: strange phenomenon. A street hair dresser. I think the dog is trying to warn the girl not to go ahead.

Hairdresser in the street

Below: Ron spotted this shop: Addicted. He was besotted with the black, flashy jacket on the right. It really took me a while to convince him the jacket wasn’t me. He still disagrees.

Addicted in Le Marais

Below: the sales assistant of Addicted was wearing sequins

Sequins in Le Marais

Below: so why not me? I like sequins but haven’t got a single sequined thing. High time to change this.

Sequins in Le Marais

As we walked on, we met a few women worth photographing. You will see four of them.

Below: not really for a 40plus blog but so interesting. She had two long black pins stuck in her hair.

Woman in Paris

Below: also young, very Paris style: black and white, nonchalant but with a very good bag

Woman in Paris

Below: with this lady, an artist from Brazil, I got chatty. She now lives in Italy and was visiting Paris. Her name is Andrea de Carvalho. I loved the dress/tunic she was wearing.

Andrea de Carvalho

Below: three examples of the art she creates

Art by Andrea de Carvalho

Art by Andrea de Carvalho

Art by Andrea de Carvalho

Below: and last but certainly not least, the fourth lady. I asked whether I could take her picture for my blog as an example of a Paris woman. She laughed and said she had just come off a 20 hour flight. She looks remarkably fit for somebody who travelled so long. And yes she was a Parisian.

Woman in Paris

The last day we went to the sewers of Paris. I thought it would be just tunnels made all nice and clean. Hell no, WE WERE ACTUALLY IN THE SEWERS OF PARIS !  EW!  I so wanted to get OUT! The smell.

Below: leaving Saturday with a good impression of Paris, We had a nice lunch near the Notre Dame at Café St. Regis, Ile St Louis.

Café St Regis

Two last photos to show you how I styled the sequined top with skirts. As I find this top to be too short for jeans/skinnies, but the perfect length for skirts. (Ron hates taking such -boring- pictures.)

Below: this red skirt was a bargain at a thrift shop in Vancouver, living its former life as a strapless dress. Worn here before. Perhaps dark tights and short booties?

Sequined top with red pencil skirt

Below: this skirt was a score at the Max Mara outlet last year. Wore it with my “eye shirt” here. The shoes were a find when out with my Shopping Saturday friends in Rotterdam.

Sequined top with cream A-line skirt

Next week a report on my visit to Eindhoven (Dutch Design Week) with my Shopping Saturday friends Anke and Sabine.

Greetje

no-fear-of-fashion

 

 

 

 

 

 

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