ohhhh, paris. the land of delicious food and impeccable shopping. continuing where we left off last time with our girls-only adventure in this wonderful city… most of the pictures in this post are from our shopping trip to le BHV, a department store in paris. and can we talk about this place for a sec??
le BHV was conveniently located a few blocks away from our apartment – just across the street from the hotel de ville. and. it is soooo much better than any department store i’ve ever been to in america. picture an IKEA mixed with a nordstrom mixed with a mini barnes & noble mixed with a toy store that IS NOT TOYS ‘R US, with a little ace hardware and high-end souvenir shop added on. yep, heaven. seven floors of goodness, with a “food court” on the top that is like, well, nothing in america because it is so very french; i.e. you could choose between ordering hot items like a meat with veggies, pizza, pasta, etc. [but not food court pizza and pasta – gourmet and elaborately prepared pizza and pasta in reasonable portions made with all fresh ingredients] or a cold salad bar that was light on lettuce overall but instead offered lots of vegetables in dressings or vinaigrettes with meats and hard-boiled eggs, or plates with one or two cold prepared salads of the type mentioned with a fillet of salmon. and in the center of the cafeteria, wedges of all different kinds of cheeses that you could purchase individually, fruit, yogurt and every kind of dessert you can think of. there were big tarts and cakes with slices cut and little glasses of puddings and parfaits. and nothing looked like it was made out of wax nor was packaged in plastic like they do in america, but it was all homemade-looking and fresh and out for the taking, just to tempt people like me. and above the desserts, little individual bottles of champagne. champagne. for purchase at the department store cafeteria with the intention of them being opened now, at lunch. paris, you’re too good.
and this “food court” [i’m using quotations because i struggle to call it that when it’s so far from the images of the fast food hubs at american malls that my brain conjures up when i say the words food court. you know, the ones specializing in cookies layered with waxy frosting in unnatural colors and rubbery pizza and frisbee-sized cinnamon rolls and that infamous orange chicken that’s breaded and fried until you can’t find the chicken and then dunked in that thick orange goo] – okay, i shall call it a cafeteria going forward – had lots of windows and a lovely view of the city, of church steeples and buildings with intricate details and beautiful rooftops, because in paris, rooftops are beautiful. and across the street, there are even more little stores that are part of le BHV – there’s a pet store and a bike store, i think. and maybe some others. and it was all good quality stuff, but not TOO expensive. i was in complete awe of it all.
{paris outfit of the day}
{one morning ashlin and i went to a cafe for a perfectly french breakfast of cafe au lait and crepes. of course i got them with nutella which is the ONLY way to eat crepes in my book. the whole experience of sitting outside under the awning, talking and watching the rain and the people of paris, eating crepes and sipping on coffee, was a scene from my dreams.}
{pride in paris? i suppose it does look very pretty here…}
{…and this, ladies and gentlemen, is le BHV!}
{they had the neatest customized bracelets with gorgeous fabrics and adorable charms. i tried to get one but the person who made them was at lunch while i was there. at the time, i just said oh well, but i sort of regret not going back to get one later. i sure would have loved one with liberty of london fabric and an eiffel tower charm! maybe next time, le BHV. i WILL be back!}
{check out all the spices in the food section…}
{…and the flavored salts!}
{this made me giggle… it was a section labeled “united states.” it’s all “american food.” some of it i totally get, but i wouldn’t touch easy cheese with a ten-foot pole. do people actually eat that here? i don’t think i know them………… but then again, this is the same country that eats orange chicken at the mall. so yeah. anddddd that one can of heinz beanz is funny to me!} :)
{here’s another aisle of food from the U.S. and one from the UK – ours is full of sugar sugar sugar, but so is britain’s, only theirs takes the form of biscuits and marmalade and mint jelly instead of sugary cereals, pop-tarts, and marshmallow fluff. to each his own?}
{i loved all the little flavored and molded sugar cubes and the rock candy stirrers.}
{bento boxes of every size and color and with every accessory. i’m obsessed.}
{the lovely cafeteria at le BHV}
{see what i mean about the view?}
{dessert after dessert for the taking and champagne. these french sure know how to do shopping right.}
{you can make your own strings of lights with these colored balls. cute right?}
{people don’t hesitate to bring their dogs anywhere and everywhere in paris, and no one blinks an eye. this little pup loves shopping at le BHV too, apparently.}
{everything had cute tassels – bracelets and scarves galore. i wanted one of these gorgeous silk scarves but i saved my money…}
{and this. i was quite certain that this little passport holder HAD to be made just for me with its floral print and sparkly airplane on the front, but i didn’t care to pay the price. this time. sometimes i just take pictures of things so i don’t spend…}
{i heart le BHV.}
{they even had pink toilet paper!}
{now that i’ve doted enough on parisian shopping, here are some photos of rainy paris to show you the downside of the city… the weather [at times].}
{i love the french flags that were hung everywhere for the world cup.}
{what mcdonald’s serves in paris – macarons, pastries, and some sort of caprese-style pasta. we didn’t eat there [that would MAJORLY break our travel rule that forbids us from eating anywhere that we have in the U.S., and for that rule i am grateful], but we had to get a photo.}
{on this night, we ate at a fancy seafood restaurant in marais. on the left is a tiny little ramekin of a very buttery, creamy bisque of some sort with soft bits of onions and a single mussel on the bottom, and they give everyone one of these as a sort of appetizer and you drink it. and on the right is my own little pot of spinach and a little ramekin of aioli that came with my meal.}
{i ordered cod, which came with the said spinach, fennel, tourne carrots and potatoes, a hard-boiled egg [the french sure do love their hard-boiled eggs] and whelks, which are sea snails. i thought the whelks were a bit more chewy than escargot is [escargot refers to land snails], but i’ve only had a handful of opportunities to try either one, so i’m no connoisseur. also, a side note on the tourne vegetables… in culinary school, we had to learn how to do the tourne cut, which is that football-like shape that is actually supposed to have seven uniform sides. it is way more difficult than it looks, trust me. anyway, at the time that i was shaving slice after slice off my potato, trying to create the perfect tourne cut and wasting lots of potato, i clearly remember having the same thought that i had in calculus in college: “when am i ever going to use this??” because i had never seen this type of cut at a restaurant. and so i was quite humored to find out that in france, of coursssssse they serve tourne vegetables, and should i ever move to paris to become a chef, i would absolutely be using this skill that our chef so wisely taught us. [not that i plan on being chef, in france, america, or anywhere else, but still…]}
{lastly, a picture i stole from ashlin that she took of her entree – a big pot of mussels!}
could you ever go wrong with seafood and shopping? okay, let’s rephrase that, could you ever go wrong with paris? not even in the rain.
a day trip to versailles was our next adventure, so be on the lookout! :)