It's Really Not Smelly, Though

"It's really not smelly, though" — the first words I uttered this morning, upon deciding that one of my two tops warm enough for Paris did not need to be washed. (I only brought four blouses — two light ones I brought for the south of France [which are not warm enough], and my two black knit tops, and haven't bought anything new, other than the pretty red one, which is not suitable for my purposes here.)

"It's really not smelly, though" — high standards indeed! It's amazing, how little it takes to get by. On Sunday, for church and the opera, I dressed up my green raincoat by using the scarf that had been draped over the sofa in the apartment, and I looked quite passable. But maybe a shopping excursion for a new blouse (or, better yet, a nice warm sweater) and a new scarf is in order today!

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Of all the gin joints in all the world…. er…. sorry, let me begin that again.

Of all the shops in all of France, and I finally walk into his. I can't tell you how many shops I've popped into, trying to find a warm sweater or a new winter coat. My current black winter coat was purchased in 2006, when I came home from Sitka, and I had decided that it would be fun to come home with a new coat from France. But it appears as if it is not meant to be.

Likewise, I like to buy a new sweater each winter and thought it would be fun to come home with one from France. I have looked and looked, but to no avail. Either the styles were not to my liking, or the sizes were not large enough, or (as was the case with a gorgeous cashmere sweater today), the prices were out of my league.

Until today.

I ended up in the Marais district (and walked past the apartment building with the red door where Carrie and I stayed in 2008), and after having lunch at a little corner bistro, I ambled along and stopped in at some beautiful shops. And then I found Antoine & Lili — a store that had some very unique and beautiful clothes that were tremendously appealing to me (and at affordable prices). Unfortunately, the deep teal/greenish wool coat that I adored and would have bought in.a.heartbeat was just a tad too small and a tad too short; however, I was sure I would find something, and the tall, elderly, elegant man with a moustache and be-jewelled fingers was very courteous and accommodating.

I ended up buying a large, loose-knit red cardigan that, being a style meant to look oversized, fits me now and will still look good when I get back to my pre-France weight. (The salesman suggested it to me, since it is the same colour of my little red hat.) I also found a lovely, deep teal, light-weight wool scarf. And, even though I was trudging along in my "not smelly" black top, trusty green raincoat, and "sofa scarf," I felt tres chic, walking through the Marais with a shopping bag containing my treasures wrapped in bright, fuchsia tissue paper.