Desperately Seeking

I stepped out of the lift on the deuxieme level of Galleries Lafayette and I had found it.

Granted it was a slightly odd decision but I intentionally travelled to Europe for three months without a handbag. Why bring along my Orla Kiely number (which admittedly does still have a few years left in it, and I am not completely sick of it) when I had grand plans of French and Italian designs I would store in my new suitcase (also bought in France to get purchases back to New Zealand).

Have I done any shopping? I was asked from New Zealand this morning. My account so far of our trip shows no evidence of purchasing aside from the mad rush on day one for tights and coats in the near-freezing weather.  Oh yes, there will be things to fill the new suitcase. More about that soon. But back to Galleries Lafayette.

I find handbags a notoriously difficult thing to purchase. They’re such a big commitment. Unless you have the purchasing power to own a suite of bags, you and the bag are going to be joined for some time. It’s like nominating a best friend and knowing you’re going to have to wait a while before you can justify moving on to another bestie even after your enthusiasm has waned. I don’t really think of myself as a commitment-phobe but then perhaps that’s why I desperately avoid built in furniture and need to re-arrange my house on a fortnightly schedule.

So for nearly a fortnight my portable life has been a section in the Macpac backpack Jamie carries everywhere. Added to that, I have worn the same pair of trousers every day since we changed into warm clothes for the flight at Singapore airport and I have had to wear the black showerproof jacket I brought for exercising to ward off the cold wind. I have felt like a fish out of water in elegant Paris. I have even been too scared to enter nice shops.

Imagine my delight then when the lift door opens and I see ahead of me some beautiful structured bags in interesting colours.  One of these bags and I could be BFFs. I can instantly imagine it accompanying me to David Jones, Prefab, Moore Wilsons, Small Acorns, Tea Pea - all my usual haunts. The search is over. We have a winner.

In the 20 paces it takes to get to the display section I have already picked the blue and mentally matched it with all my outfits (yes, I hear your laughter, any colour would go with my eternally black wardrobe).  But before we begin, our love affair is quickly dashed. I have wandered through the entire women’s section of Galleries Lafayette and looked at a lot of bags. Some were even as expensive as 1200 Euros. But my love at first sight? Well she’s a cool 3200 Euros. She’s the equivalent of a small couch or flights to Fiji. There’s no way we’ll even make it past first base.

Shame. She was a beautiful bag.

As you can see from the photo though there has been shopping (I will save the detail for another day). Approximately 90% of it has been for the children and a few nice pieces for Jamie. The shopping in Paris is extraordinary. I would love a few weeks just to wander the shops, one arrondissement at a time. To indulge in such frivolity I would, of course, not be wearing any black. There would be a scarf and some Audrey-Hepburn style sunglasses. I might even don some lippie.

The bag is still on my list and there is still one more day. I have a good feeling she is out there in a little Paris boutique, just waiting for me and my Nike shower proof jacket to walk through the door.