Posh and Elegant Paris

Paris, city of roses and flowers. City of glamour, elegance, haute-coture. City of the chique, fashion, luxury and beauty. This side of Paris is just as interesting as taking in some of the major cultural sights. A walk a long the Champs-Elysées is one of the best ways to take in the posh side of Paris. This is the place to see and be seen. It is almost like Paris own crazy version of Vegas. You got all the big designer shops lined up here. People are standing in line to get into some of the fanciest stores. 

 We wanted to rest our legs and get a coffee so we sat down at a place a long the Champs-Elysées. I must say that is the most expensive coffee I have ever had in my life! Coffee in the touristy parts of Paris is generally expensive compared to other cities in Europe. It was interesting however, just to be able to watch people.

The posh, elegant and luxurious side of Paris is very much present in certain parts. You can find anything and everything here. Sky is the limit when it comes to cash at certain places.

I had an interesting experience. I wanted to go to a nice department store and found one in my guide book that was recommended that sounded great. I ended up at Le Bon Marché.

I have never ever been in a place like this before. Stockholm has nothing that can compare to this place. You ONLY had the big designer names. It almost felt ridiculous for me to walk around here. This place was so much out of my reach in every possible way. There was NOTHING I could possibly buy here. But never less it was certainly nice to look and to touch. I have never before even touched a designer dress for 2000 Euros. I did find a small section where they had hair accessories. I thought to myself, ah finally something I could possibly afford and marched in there. I had to leave as soon as I saw the price tags again. 100 Euros for a piece of something for your hair. What ever I held in my hands did not look super fancy but quite ordinary. 

Well a very interesting visit even if it made me feel like the poor cousin from the country side.

They did have the most amazing food section though. Ooooh la la!!! This was heaven! This was THE place where you could find just about anything and everything you could possibly desire to put in your mouth. Here I finally did grab a shopping basket and did bring a few items with me home. Paris very own version of Whole Foods come true.

First when I saw all of these fancy bottles I thought it must be liquor but it turned out this is fancy bottled water in many different versions. 

Paris is a city that sure can tempt your senses. You just find the most beautiful sorts of pastries you can ever dream or imagine. There are moments when you feel you have entered Willy Wonka´s candy land.

Paris is also very much a city of flowers. It was so lovely to come back here in June with all the roses in full bloom. They are everywhere. I love the way they wrap around the balconies in all shades of pink.

You have flower shops in just about every street corner with so many beautiful flowers to choose from.

So I leave you with this last picture of Paris. Yesterday was a busy day getting everything ready as our dear friends from Sweden are coming to Basel today. I am picking them up at the airport in a few hours. C won't be home from Paris until late tonight. Tomorrow we will see what the weather is like before we make plans and on Friday we are driving off and up to the Alps for a weekend full of hiking and biking.