Paris Loot

During our trip, I made sure to work in a little shopping time. Shopping in Paris sounds like the pinnacle of retail therapy, however, two buzz-killing conditions loomed over me: 1) the exchange rate is still not awesome and 2) I'd have to lug any purchases home with me. I got over the negative factors and found some great stuff...making the rule to only go into stores that we don't have in the US.

Some of my favorites included Flamant, Habitat, Maison de Famille, Zara Home, and Hermes. I'll do a whole other post on the stores themselves since all were gorgeous.

On to my loot...from Flamant I got a darling new decanter (it has polka dots!) and a few tiny silver cups.

I came home to blooming hydrangea and rose bushes so I cut a few buds for the cups.

I didn't actually buy anything at Habitat, but I'm sure I would if I lived there. It was like Crate and Barrel meets IKEA. They also were generous with the air conditioning (unlike everywhere else in Paris), which was heaven.

At Maison de Famille, a little glass butter dish found its way home with me. Now if I can only get my hands on some of the fresh French butter I had...

 At Zara Home, I got this lucite tray table and box. I had to take the table as my carry-on for our flight home...the customs guy clearly thought I was nuts.

I also stumbled across this shop, Les Toiles du Soleil, which I was thrilled about because I've seen their website before and they carry mostly striped goodies, which I adore. I picked up a pair of these super cute placemats. It's located at 101 rue du Bac - 75007.

I saw this turquoise melamine tray in the window of a store (that I can't remember the name of) and went directly in and bought it. Since it's melamine, it'll come in handy for poolside booze/food too.

Hermès was completely amazing. Their home section made me want to become a drug kingpin so I'd have enough cash to actually buy things (only kidding). Among the best - and actually attainable - things were the table linens. I especially loved the H bordered placemats and napkins. They had them in tons of different colors.

Speaking of Hermès...drumroll please...I came home with the long-coveted Avalon blanket! It wasn't purchased from the flagship store on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré...it came from the duty free shop that was right by our gate at Charles de Gaulle. My sweet mom got it for me under the condition that she gets to use it when she visits :) The orange one has always been on my radar, but the shade was a big disappointment. It was way more yellowish brown than it looks on their website. I'm considering exchanging this oatmeal/ecru color for the dark gray, but the warmer neutral is really growing on me. Thoughts?

Finally, I got big, acrylic salt and pepper grinders from the Peugeot store.

They will enjoy their new lives here in America :)