Paris bound! - YouLookFab Forum

Category

Off Topic

Paris bound!

Jules

Veteran

We (me, husband and two teen girls) are off to Paris for 12 days next week. We have an air bnb (well vrbo) in the 15th, walking distance from the Eiffel tower. I spent quite a bit of time there in my twenties, and have my favourite galleries, etc, to visit beyond the Louvre. We will fill the time no problem! But I am curious if anyone has any particular museum, fashion or vegetarian restaurant recommendations. I’m sure we will check out the luxury fashion house strip and the fancy Starbucks near the opera house, but would love to know about lesser-known brands, local gems etc. I’m particularly interested in accessories as I imagine we are mostly sized out of clothes (I need a generous North American size 14 and my girls are smaller but not small). One of my kids loves thrift/second hand and there is a weekend marché aux puces near our rental so we plan to check that out.

Thanks for any input! Including your own trip memories

Off Topic

24 replies

Latest reply was from Jules

April

Veteran

Have never been myself but will be watching carefully for vegetarian suggestions. My world-traveler friends always told me that Paris, unlike London, has few options for vegetarians. That was decades ago; surely things have changed.

Eliza

Veteran

Have a great time! Haven’t been post-Covid, but I enjoyed the smaller shops on the LB near rue Cherche Midi (and surrounding streets) and not far from St. Germain. Local handbags, accessories, clothing and shoes, nice places for coffee and restaurants make for fun shopping days. Also, the Marais (3rd/4th arrondissement) is full of appealing shops with unique local costume jewelry and your girls might enjoy it. A particularly good neighborhood for vegetarian food and more stores are open on Sunday there.

We are primarily vegetarian and April is correct; Paris has made it much easier than it used to be 10-15 years ago. No current recs; yet most places make it easy.

pirouette

Veteran

I am going to Paris with a very good friend the end of March for a few days. We are going to see the Dior exhibition as well as a bit of retail therapy, not Dior retail therapy though!! I have been before but not for a few years so can’t advise on the shopping.

Runcarla

Veteran

Woohoo! Have a blast!

kkards

Veteran

No recommendations, but so excited for you and your family
please let us know how your trip goes and what you see!

Jules

Veteran

Thanks everyone! I was hoping the vegetarian situation had improved so it’s great to hear that’s the case. Eliza, I will definitely refer to your tips! Pirouette, I hadn’t thought of the Dior exhibit, will add it to the list.

Helena

Veteran

Never been but just chiming in to say it sounds fabulous!

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I'll be in Paris next month! 'Tis the season...Paris in Spring!

CarolS

Veteran

Have a fabulous time, Jules! I'm jealous!!!

It's been a decade since I've been there and I really didn't shop much. I did enjoy taking a peek in Le Bon Marche, though.

Would love to hear about your travel capsule....

Jules

Veteran

Working on that today CarolS! I’ll probably post a capsule review when I get back.

CarolS

Veteran

Yay!!!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

How magical! We used to live just outside Paris in Fontainebleau.

My favourite parts of Paris are Le Marais, and Il de Cite. Wrap up! It will not be warm yet

Have a beautiful and safe trip!

Anonymous

Check out the perfume. The best hair cut I ever had was in Paris, but pricey.

AnneR

The New York Times published an article today titled Casual Guide to Paris Shopping with a variety of notes. Looked like it may be useful.

Jules

Veteran

Ooh la la! Thanks Anne - here’s a gift link if anyone else is interested:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0.....ticleShare

MsMary

Veteran

For a wonderful vegetarian experience, you might want to do the cheese tasting course at Paris by Mouth. We did it and loved it! https://parisbymouth.com/french-cheese-workshop/

ETA: Oops I see you are going next week and they schedule further out than that. Another suggestion: If your husband likes fashion at all, the printed shirts at Coton Doux are super fun and my husband likes to stock up every time he's in town. https://www.cotondoux.com/en/c/6-printed-shirts

Jules

Veteran

Back home after a near-perfect trip! Thanks everyone for your advice. Eliza and Angie, we enjoyed Le Marais which was convenient to the Picasso Museum and did find a good, trendy (ie/ teenager-approved) vegetarian restaurant there for our only reserved dinner out, as well as excellent falafels for lunch. Didn’t end up buying any fashion there, I think we just ended up on the more commercialized main streets as our friends reported finding a lot of small unique boutiques which we didn’t so much. However, we enjoyed browsing, there were wonderful street musicians and we loved the area.

Overall most of our shopping (of which there was plenty!) ended up being either at vintage/flea market, or Monoprix (French equivalent of Target). There were surprisingly good quality new items at good prices in the flea markets (eg. cotton, wool, made in Italy leather), as well as more unusual items for my oldest who loves a unique find, and fake Uggs for my youngest who’s a little more basic

Ms Mary, we passed Coton Doux stores often on our wanders and I told my husband they were youlookfab recommended. On our last day he made a point of finding one near our sightseeing and we chose a fun shirt for him! It’s a touch more maximal than his usual style but we agreed this pattern would remind him of the trip It will work well with his default dark blue jeans and new white Stan Smiths purchased for the trip. He was so patient with all of our shopping so it was nice that he got something too.

This post has 1 photo. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.

If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.

Jules

Veteran

Oh AnneR, your NYT article also resulted in some underwear and PJ purchases at Monoprix

Kyle

Veteran

I’m glad you all had a great trip!

Irina

Veteran

Oh, sounds wonderful! Glad you had a great trip. Would love to visit Paris again!

CarolS

Veteran

Glad you had a great trip, Jules! I love DH's new shirt!!

rachylou

Veteran

Very cool!

Runcarla

Veteran

Beautiful shirt for DH! How did your travel capsule work out?

Jules

Veteran

All good Runcarla! It wasn’t that exciting a capsule to post about but it was functional and I felt good in my outfits. But realistically i spent most of my time in a coat. I may post about my purchases (all accessories).