Bk Takes Me Shopping.

One of the highlights of having bk join me for my Paris adventures (convincing him didn't take much arm twisting) was all the cool kid stores we'd go to along the way. We've sort of got this perfect mixture of new and old going on. Yesterday I took him on my walking tour of Montmartre and the Sacré Cœur, through old charming Paris, to the place where Amelie was filmed, Today we went to all the hip stores in Paris. Artoyz (a big little toy store with all of the little figures that bk and his friends collect) and Kiliwatch (a big expensively priced but cool vintage store)...There were a bunch of others. Even I got into the swing of things, spending money.  I'm consistently amazed at the amount of work that goes into designing stores. We walked into one and there was a narrow spiral concrete staircase that led to a little cavern underneath, fashioned after a cave with arched walls of brown concrete bricks.  Everyone in most of the stores were really nice (another kick in the face of the french rudeness myth) and I think that most of the bored attitude you encountered in any of them would be akin to any high end retail store.

Another thing that I love about Paris...walking through the streets (nearly running at times to keep up with his longer legs) are the things you run into along the way. We passed the Gallerie Vivienne, which is one of the great passages in Paris...most of the roof is made up of these ancient skylights. Slightly brown and yellowish. You walk through a hall with shops on both sides until you reach a big dome, with the same skylight/greenhouse effect and a big light fixture hanging down that reminded me of a cross between a candelabra and a chandelier. 

Somewhere in the midst of this we stopped to eat at a small cafe (my food was cooked this time) while it rained and was sunny at the same time.