Paris - La Tour Eiffel, La Seine, Notre Dame

We were off to Paris on May 12th! I was full-on sick at this point, oh woe is me. But I was greatly cheered to see our first-class train car:
That nice gentleman took a picture of L and I:

If you ever have to get from London to Paris, I highly recommend the Eurostar train - holy smokes, it's fast! Only two hours, city to city! I sprung for first-class tickets - what the heck, we were on holiday (and I'd booked them months ago, so they were already paid off before we even left home).

We got fed a fabulous breakfast:

That's mine (you can see I've snagged L's yoghurt, heh heh). That's a salmon mousse omlette with potatoes and mushrooms - and real cutlery too!

Poor L went with the cheese breakfast:

Three measley grapes? Lame!

Because the trip was so fast, we were able to have the whole afternoon to explore! We stayed in the Trocadero area, only a couple of blocks from...

Wow, so amazing. All the plum/cherry trees were in bloom too. We decided not to go up the Eiffel Tower - too pricey.

We walked along the left bank of the Seine, thinking it was only a mile or two to reach Notre Dame Cathedral. But no...

That shot reminded me of the scene in "Les Miserables" where Javert throws himself into the river.

After over an hour, we arrived at Notre Dame:

See that crosspiece between the towers? and the top of the tower on the right? We went up there!

But first, we went inside:

It was gorgeous. I love old churches.

We waited in line for the tower tour for about 40 minutes. Was it worth it?

Heck, yeah!

Forgive me, I love gargoyles. I took a lot more pictures than these few. Here's a view from the very top of the tower:

You can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance on the left side. That red arrow is pointing to the "Place du Wipeout", which is where I tripped and fell in front of hundreds of people, skinning my knee and ripping my tights, and resulting in me having a bloody knee. Of course, I popped right back up: "I'm fine!" and suffered for the rest of the day. Gah, I'm so clumsy.

You can see that it was a pretty cold and hazy day. We did not have great weather while in Paris.

Here, I'm climbing into the top of that tower, where the bell is:

You can see a bit of my skinned knee. I'm also totally bundled up in my toque, scarf and gloves. I'm so glad I took them!

This is my favourite gargoyle:

Because I have a replica of him!

That's my "Smaug", and he was made locally - he's a limited edition casting. I got him about 17 years ago.

And now back to fashion!

I dyed my hair last night and it came out a lot darker than normal (ah well, it will fade). I also have bad hat-head because I got caught in the rain on the way to work. Enough of rainy spring! I want summer!

Check out the shoes! I got them in Paris, near Montmarte (near the Moulin Rouge). There were tons of cheesy prom gown stores and cheap shoe stores. I fell in love with these - only 29 Euros (less than $40), so I'm sure they won't last more than a year.

The stuff:

But they are gorgeous, aren't they? They smell (vinyl) and they make my feet sweat.

A close-up of the jewelry:

I've worn the pins before, but the ring is new - I got it at the Louvre gift shop (more on the Louvre tomorrow). It's inspired by the Russian exhibit they had on - we didn't view it, but that's the kind of souvenir I like to buy. It was 35 Euros, is gold plated and that's an enamelled "stone" on it. I like the thickness and the scrolly pattern on it.

Vest (Le Chateau, gift from Ruth), blouse (Vero Moda), skirt (Mexx), shoes (Belle Women), skinny pin (80s vintage), big pin (The Bay), ring (The Louvre Museum).

Never Seen - Accessories!

This post will show some of the odds and ends of things that I have hidden away - accessories! A lot of these are vintage or "homegrown" vintage.

My wig box!
Elaine gave me this for my birthday last year? The year before? I store scarves in it that I don't wear much.

The skull scarf is from MetroWear in San Francisco (4 years ago), the white/grey scarf is from Fairweather (1999ish), and the pink mix scarf is from The Bay (5 years ago).

My Swatch!

This is from 1985. I loathed it when I got it, because this was "the" accessory that all the cool kids (note: I was not a cool kid) had. I got this for Christmas 1985 from Grandma J - it was not what I'd hoped for, like the flat black ones.

The strap was originally a vibrant purple see through. The neon green hands glow in the dark. I didn't wear it much. The battery is dead, but I'm sure it would still work...but I don't wear a watch.

Speaking of watches, this is a hair clip I made in the late 80s:

The watch face is from one of my grandfathers (Dad's dad?) and you shake it to wind it. It still works! The fan is one of a pair of earrings I had in the early 80s, ditto with the long pearl dangly thing. The cameo is from a pin I wore in the early 80s. The turtle was one of a pair of turtle pins, and belonged to Mom. I think it's from the early 60s.

The pin is from one of Mom's kilts (I still have them, Mom, they're in the costume box for "Braveheart" Hallowe'en costumes).

I have a boa (it's in the Never Seen - Hats! post), and here's a picture of me wearing it:

That's what I wore to an Oscar party back in oh...2001?

These are a pair of pale pink shirred gloves from the early 60s:

I wore them to high school (I wore some pretty crazy stuff back then - I wish I'd taken more pictures!), and of course, they were "acquired" from Mom's dresser.
I also liberated these lacy gloves:

Very Sunday church, aren't they? I also wore these to high school. Here's a close-up for the texture:

Thank goodness Mom forbid me from cutting the fingers off (a la Madonna's "Like a Virgin" video!) back then.

These furry cuffs are from Fairweather, from about 2000:

You just stick them on over top of a long-sleeved top. Cool, eh?

In the same vein, these lace cuffs can transform a jacket:

Those would be pretty easy to make if you were crafty.

And you can take them off for the soup course!

In my (slightly) younger days, I liked to really dress up for parties:

Of course, that means leopard elbow-length gloves and a tiara! Duh!

This belt is from the grunge-era - it's one of the few things I kept:

I love the wooden beads and the spiky bits. If hip-belts ever come back, I am set.

This Le Chateau belt is from my underage club days (I snuck into clubs with my friends when I was 17):

It's so worn out, the leather is all stretched - I'm pretty sure I wore it nearly every weekend. It's meant to be worn low on the hips, but it's got a hole or two that I punched in it (with a steak knife or exacto knife, no doubt) to make it fit right at my waist.

Heh, here I am in the early 90s, wearing it:

Ha! As you can see, shoulder pads were not exclusively 80s! That jacket was from Fairweather in 1989. I have not had long hair many times in my life...and it's even permed! Wow, I look so young there (I'm about 22).

This Le Chateau belt has never been worn:

I bought it when I was heavy because I fell in love with all the beading and the fringe-y ties. Now it's too big to wear at my waist and it's a little big on my hips even, but it's too cool to toss.

Well, those were some fun accessories! Hope you enjoyed them.

Sunday Brunch on a Hot Day

Orange wrap t-shirt (Inwear, Dots), green cotton cami (Esprit), white cotton pouffy skirt (Gap), psychedelic wedge slip-on canvas shoes (Gotta Flurt, vacation), paper and bamboo parasol (Chinatown), wood cut-out flower earrings (gift store, vacation).
It's about 30 degrees today - smokin' hot! So when we got home, I popped this outfit on after my shower. Nice and cool for a stroll to downtown with L and Andrew for lunch at our favourite hangout. Of course, Inigo missed me so much he just had to try to get in the picture!
I hate the feel of sunblock on my skin (ew, greasy), but need to keep my fair skin covered. The solution? A parasol! I got this for Chris and Tracey's wedding years ago - it literally saved my skin since their wedding was outside with the sun beating down on our backs. Three other women were huddled under its shade with me.

A close-up: This was $10, but I had to open all of them to get the best pattern - I like the birds and the mix of colours in the flowers. That's all hand-done.

The shoes! Aren't these absolutely fantastic? My m-i-l has been telling me about this hair salon in her town that sells shoes, so we went in there yesterday, and yes, the whole front of the salon is...shoes. A woman was getting her foils on and there I am browsing through the selection. They only had maybe a dozen styles total, but every one was fantastic, right from this casual design (which came in an aqua combo and a baby pink combo as well as this lime mix) to very dressy heels. These were only $45! I'd never heard of this brand before, but they have some awesome styles: http://www.gottaflurt.com/en/index.asp. Love the Habit, the Stoned, and the Tread.

The earrings:
Found these (and another pair of earrings, and a necklace, AND a leather purse) in a little gift shop boutique. These also came in purple and yellow, as well as another style with a butterfly, but I liked the orange roses best. They were only $7.95 and are light as air.

So good to be home! I need a nap.