Below you'll find my 30x30 Outfit 1, which I actually wore Saturday, since that's when we left and I packed only my 27 items {I'm getting 3 here, remember?}. Since our trip took us from Reno at 6am to Paris at 6am the next morning {that's 3pm Reno time!}, and we couldn't check in to our hotel till 2pm, I also wore it Sunday. I'm calling it my travel outfit, as seen here at our 2nd layover in Charlotte {I love layovers here- do you see all those real trees lining the hall? There are white rockers between them. Classic southern style :) }:
I have very specific rules for long distance traveling:
1) Wear pants with some stretch, a loose top, and closed-toe slip-ons for cold planes and airports.
2) Carry a jacket, toothbrush and paste, facial wipes, and oil blotters to freshen up between flights.
3) No makeup. My face gets really oily, and somehow travel makes it worse.4) No contacts. Since hopefully I'll sleep a bit, I wear glasses. They also distract from my blond eyelashes. I've tried wearing just mascara, but it smudges and I end up looking like a hungover rock star wannabe.
5) Braided hair. Plaits keep it up and out of my face without an annoying bump when I lean back and also seem to prevent it from getting too oily. Then, when I get to my destination, I take it down and I've got fun wavies.
When we first arrived in Paris, we took the train to the Gare de l'Est and dropped our luggage off at our hotel just down the street, got some brioche and croissants from a nearby pâtisserie, then strolled down to Les Halles to find a charming street market selling fresh fruit and veggies, delicious paellas and poêles, meat, flowers, and cheeses. With some yummy apricots in hand, we continued on to The Louvre's courtyard:
Top: LOFT / Jeans: AE / Shoes:Sperry / Watch: Skagen / Jacket: Gap
The line was ridiculous, and we'd been in on our last trip, so we headed on to the Tuileries, where we watched children floating mini sailboats in the fountain and men playing pétanque, then enjoyed the greenery on our walk down to the Place de la Concorde, where the famed Champs Élysées* begins...
...and stretches way down to Napoléon's Arc de Triomphe.
I checked out some of the French shops like NafNaf and Lacoste, but couldn't resist the less pricey, massive H&M. We then stopped by the Louis Vuitton flagship shop, where I ogled over the designer goods...
... then we hopped the Metro over to La Marché aux Puces, Paris's famous vintage Flea Market. I'll be doing my Francophone Friday past about Les Puces this Friday, so for now I'll just disclose that I scored some fab finds and am trying to decide which to add to my 30x30. After a quick bite from a crêpe cart, we headed back to the hotel by 3pm. We found an excellent deal on Booking.com, getting a room at the Hotel Français with one of those quaint cast-iron Parisian balconies, very close to the Gare de l'Est {you can see it bottom, right below}, originally priced at 250 euro for 55 euro.
From here, I'd like to say we took a nap then went exploring. I really wanted to go to Montmartre again, revisit the shops by Notre Dame, and roam the charming Île Saint Louis once more. {This is my 5th time in Paris- but I'm saving all previous trip photos for future Francophone Friday posts. } Instead, we fell asleep and our intended 30 minute nap turned into 6 hours. We hadn't slept very well on the plane, obviously. By the time we woke, we had enough time to hit up a café for dinner then headed to bed. And voilà, our first day in Paris!
P.S. I haven't any photo editing software on my laptop and since time on the internet is precious little whilst we travel {and Blogger takes for e v e r to load}, my photos will be in their unedited glory till I get home. So no fixing that harsh light, no cropping, and no fun collages. It'll drive me crazy enough to go back and redo all photos from these posts I get home, mark my word {editors note: mission in progress!}
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Les Champs Élysées = The Fields of Élysées. Orignally a farmer's field for markets, it's become a frontrunner in fashion with flagship shops like Louis Vuittion, Chanel, and much more finery. It's currently the second most expensive strip of real estate in Europe and is known as the most beautiful avenue in the world.
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Les Champs Élysées = The Fields of Élysées. Orignally a farmer's field for markets, it's become a frontrunner in fashion with flagship shops like Louis Vuittion, Chanel, and much more finery. It's currently the second most expensive strip of real estate in Europe and is known as the most beautiful avenue in the world.
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