Rose Petals and Baggage

I arrived in Paris on Saturday afternoon from Milan. I was in an ever so slightly grumpy mood because I had flown Air France. This meant that I had been forced to pay an inordinate penalty for overweight baggage because Air France believes it's reasonable to expect people sitting in coach to travel with a suitcase the size and weight of a breadbox. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I could have bought my bag its own economy seat for what I had to pay. Maybe it would be more prudent to for the Post to let me fly business class. I'm just sayin'.

But thankfully,when I arrived the sun started shining and the Dries Van Noten store was open. I'd been hoarding my demoralized dollars so I could buy one of the floral print dresses from the designer's breathtaking spring collection. And yes, indeed, I walked out with a splendid little frock - as well as one of the zip-on cuff bracelets, which turned out not to cost the fortune I had expected. The floral print, fabric-covered shoes are gorgeous, but one false move on the street and those things are snagged and destroyed. I had to leave them in the store.

On Sunday, the weather was still glorious so I went for a run outside along Rue de l'Universite, crossed the river down by the Grand Palais and circled back to the left bank over by Notre Dame. The streets were fairly empty except for other runners and some bicyclists. It was a lovely way to tour a smidge of this gorgeous city.

My first show was by designer Rajesh Pratap Singh, who I had never heard of, but I am told is quite the big deal in India. His show space was the typical white box but the floor was covered in a thick layer of fuchsia rose petals and so the room smelled delicious. Because my wee little brain was thinking in a terribly cliched way, I was expecting the collection to be filled with color. In fact, it was a mostly black collection with floral embossed leather coats. I wasn't blown away, but it was interesting and it's always great to see something unexpected.

Later in the day, I went to the Peachoo & Krejberg show, where we all stood around in a courtyard on a weirdly balmy February evening and sipped champagne. I'm not sure exactly what the designers were waiting for. Maybe they were just waiting for the audience to get nicely liquored up. Anyway, we finally were summoned to sit and the collection, which I'd never seen before, was an eclectic mix of layers in black and gray, chiffon tunics decorated with yarn embroidery and coats with full, gathered hemlines.

On Monday, all the familiar names start showing...