Paris Purchases

I decided to make things easy on myself (ha) and start out with a fairly simple post: the purchases we made while in Paris. Not surprisingly, all seven of us came home with at least a few things we found we couldn’t live without.

I first must document what our obsession was throughout the entire trip: palmiers. Oh. My. Goodness. Crispy, crunchy, buttery, sugary deliciousness. We went through a solid dozen of these babies while we were there. Thank goodness we walked everywhere.

 Photo credit

We also indulged in pain au chocolat (chocolate stuffed croissants), the famous Berthillon ice cream on the Ile St. Louis, macarons from Pierre Herme, and vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio mini muffins from Eric Kayser. I was in sweet heaven.

In addition to stuffing ourselves with a myriad of French sweets, we brought a few culinary treats home with us as gifts. Nola, Jenn, and Lizzie each got a trio of French cheeses to bring back for their husbands. Nola and I went to pick them out, and the guy working in the cheese shop was so charming. He gave us multiple samples (presented with a flourish), and everything we tried was so delicious.

 

While Nola, QP, and I were walking around the Left Bank on our last day, we went by a very fancy chocolate shop called Patrick Roger. After seeing what was displayed in the front window (yes, that is ALL chocolate)…..

….I just had to go in. The smells in there were intoxicating, but I limited myself to buying one bar for Kenny’s dad, a fellow chocolate lover. (He did share it with everyone on Father’s Day, so I got to taste a small piece. It was some of the best dark chocolate I have ever had.)

And although Nola and I tried our best, we could not find the one consumable thing we desperately wanted to bring home: a particular bottle of wine. After a very long day in the middle of our trip, the three younger girls (Eli, Ita, and Lizzie) decided to crash early while Nola, QP, Jenn, and I walked over to Le Taxi Jaune for a late dinner.

I am so glad we did.

We got to discover a charming little bistro right in our Marais neighborhood with an equally charming waitress named Chloe. Even though all four of us had had a really long day (37,000 steps and 16 miles!), we lingered at our table for three hours and didn’t leave until close to midnight. Although the other three girls were missed, we had such a wonderful time. Great food, great atmosphere, great conversation.

Back to the elusive wine. Le Taxi Jaune was where we discovered Petit Campet Bordeaux. We searched for it the rest of our trip, unfortunately with no luck. I don’t usually rave about French wines, but this was SO. GOOD. I’m hoping our local wine store can somehow get their hands on a few bottles case!

We didn’t just go home with edible purchases, though. I think we all lucked out the most on the Ile St. Louis, the smallest of two islands in the middle of the Seine between the Left and Right banks. Flowy shirts, sunglasses, purses, scarves, and jewelry…..there was something for everyone.

I came home with two necklaces and a pair of earrings, but my favorite find was a beaded wrap bracelet. Julee, the shopkeeper, was wearing a purple and gold one that I coveted the second I saw it on her wrist. I finally returned to the shop on our last day to get a similar one she happened to have in stock. Happy Birthday to me indeed….thanks for the early gift, Nola!

We also found a great little shop on our last day called Anoki that had quite the selection of zippered pouches, with which QP has a fascination. I think she bought four, Nola got one, and I got three (two for me and one for Aunt E).

Now for my last, and most expensive (hi, Baby!) purchase. I am certainly not what you would call a fashion-forward girl, so it came as no surprise to me that I knew nothing about a famous Paris brand called Longchamp. However, this outing was what Ita had looked forward to the most on the whole trip, and she was very patient to wait until our last day to get there.

We visited the store near the base of the Champs-Elysees on the Right Bank, and more than half of us walked out having purchased something. I spied a wallet as I was leaving and decided I had to have it. The gorgeous green color (which looks so much better in person) and the fact that I can actually stick my iPhone inside of it sealed the deal. I just hope it lasts a very long time.

I did not buy a single thing for Riley-bean. Luckily, I had Nola and QP to rely on to bring him a few somethings from Paris. Nola got him two books from Shakespeare and Company (one is called Everybody Bonjours!) and a Le Petit Prince plate to go with his bowl, while QP got him a really cute football jersey. Thank you both for thinking of him!

So our bags were a little bit fuller on the plane ride home, but we found some great things that will forever remind us of the fun we had.

Come back tomorrow for the first main recap of just what we did all of that walking for. Paris is full of some pretty awesome sights, and we saw many of them. Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, La Conciergerie, and the Luxembourg Gardens are up first!