What I'll wear in Paris

Today, I'm en route to Paris, where May can skip into 28C/82F heat or sulk down to a damp 7C/45F, from day to day.

I packed black, white, and pale grey—or as I like to think of it, pastel black—spring-ified with pink.

Key items:

There are also Lolë black travel pants (shortened to slightly cropped length for spring), a pair each of black and blue jeans, cotton v-neck tees in white and fuchsia; a black lace tee, and that Piper rain shell.

Scarves in the palette: linen or cotton, several in silk to dress up the tees for evening:


The rain shell will dry quickly, but if shoes get soaked, they're soggy for days. I'm flying in black patent rain slip-ons (Merrell), which have excellent support. In the bag, sneakers (Timberland) for clement-weather walking, metallic silver flats (Ecco) for evening.

We will walk, hang out with friends of over thirty years, shuck oysters. Bookstores, the ballet, markets, and an apèro at an outdoor table. To my consternation, I will miss both materfamilias and Janice Riggs (of The Vivienne Files), as well as two other dear friends, by one day!

Does this outfit make my butt look touristy?

Several of the friends I will see, two Parisiennes, could not be more different. Last time, Huguette took me to a boutique where nothing fit, and the clothes were fantastic. Oof, major pain. This time, the ballet, and if we shop: accessories.

Someone asked if I thought I'd look like a tourist. No, but out with either, I'll look low-maintenance.

Danièle will wear grey jeans, a crisp white shirt, an impeccably-cut blue blazer with an antique lace pocket square, and brown loafers. Huguette will wear a ditsy-floral midi dress, a peach 7/8-length coat, a funny little Japanese knit hat, and mustard ankle boots. They represent the antipodes of French style: BCBG vs. eccentric chic. I can't muster either look (and am not the eccentric type anyway) with a carry-on bag.

Posts for the weeks following this will be sporadic at best or I'll be absent, replacing writing with watching bees dart through spring blooms, communing with art, buying fish we never see here.


I'll awaken next to the oldest music school in Paris; from the common courtyard, song floats through the casement windows. It's as sublime as it sounds.

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Comments

Susan said…
Have a fabulous trip! Your wardrobe sounds like it will work well. Thank you for this post!
Madame Là-bas said…
Your wardrobe looks great! I like your pink coat. Where are you staying? It sounds ideal. Bon voyage!
Duchesse said…
Mme Là-bas: Staying in an apt. in the 5e.
materfamilias said…
So sorry we miss each other there -- it would have been so grand to meet up in Paris.
I love your palette -- very sensible, really, and yet it doesn't look particularly so (by which I mean it has so much more personality than the neutrals we too often see recommended for travel).
Have a wonderful, wonderful time -- how could you not?! Profites-en-bien! Bon voyage!
LauraH said…
I just finished sweltering through a late April heat wave in Italy. Hope it passes you by, cooler is so much nicer for long leisurely walks. Have a wonderful time.
LauraH said…
I just finished sweltering through a late April heat wave in Italy. Hope it passes you by, cooler is so much nicer for long leisurely walks. Have a wonderful time.
attorney said…
"Pastel black"?!? Love this phrase, adopting it as mine!
Utter utter blissikins, as a friend used to say. Your wardrobe looks lovely and versatile.
Sounds like you have the perfect trip planned and a lovely wardrobe to wear while you are flaneuring around on the cobblestone streets...Enjoy it all!
Leslie M said…
Have a lovely time. My first trip to Paris was in the month of May. Seattle has similar weather, so my wardrobe was very “springy”. This was 16 years ago, but my dressy item was a pencil skirt and corset top. Everyone who passed on the street was wearing an overcoat. I felt naked. A memory I can’t forget, nor want to.
I should have read that you were en route before I sent multiple emails. Will wait for your return. Bond voyage,
Leslie M said…
Bon..not bondage voyages. :-)
Adele said…
Sounds divine, and you will look both chic and comfortable, which to my mind is the ultimate.

Positively green with envy -- wishing you wonderful adventures!
Araminta said…
You are wise to cover all of your bases temperature-wise. We are just back from London where we had two days of record-breaking heat, reaching 29 C. People collapsed, and one person even died, during the London Marathon because of the abnormally hot weather. Then it dropped to 6 C for the rest of our visit, with endless days of heavy rain. I had to drag my stored winter parka out of the back of my daughter's closet to survive. Enjoy your time in Paris. I hope that the weather is clement and spring-like.
Yes, I figured that conservatory would be either in the Quartier latin or the Marais, but the Marais is more "mineral". What a splendid location. I love to go up on the roof of L'Institut du Monde arabe for the glorious view of the 5th, the islands and the Marais across the river.

There is a pop-up restaurant on IMA's parvis now; nice for a stop to have green tea. https://www.imarabe.org/fr/actualites/l-ima-au-jour-le-jour/2018/l-alexandrie-cafe-un-restaurant-ephemere-sur-le-parvis-de-l

And le Jardin des plantes!

I'm sure you'll have a superb time ... in your solo space?

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