Fashion designer Arpita Mehta relives her sunny memories from the French capital...
The first time I visited Paris, was probably 10-12 years ago in the chilly month of November, it was the last city of my super-long Euro-trip and I couldn’t wait to get home, therefore everything about my first trip to Paris was blah and I thought it was overrated. And then it all changed.
This September, I get a call at 3 am from a friend (on one of those crazy rainy nights) asking me, "Will you come to Paris? And in my sleep, I just said, 'Yes okay!'"
Little did I know that I would actually be at the Mumbai airport three days from then taking a flight to Paris. So where do I begin? In just six days, Paris easily became one of my top three cities I’d experienced.
Felt like home
Paris is ideally divided into districts unlike areas like we have here, every district has something unique to offer, squares, gardens, quaint streets, cafes museums etc because we were a bunch of people, we decided to rent an apartment which by far was the best decision of our trip. The city felt like home eventually.
Incredible food
The food in this city is just outstanding! Be it a regular café like Chef Francis or a Michelin star restaurant like Le Atelier, every meal was unreal. A glass of wine, a creamy mashed potato and an extremely exotic desert had kind of become a compulsory part of all my meals. Restaurants such as La Avenue, Ralphs, Kinu gawa, Angelina served up some scrumptious meals right from continental to Japenese. The bar at Hotel Costes, was a memorable experience, purely due to its brilliantly created opulence, fine detail yet an intimate character.
The mesmerising Eiffel
As cliché as it may be, the Eiffel Tower is the most mesmerising structure I have seen. Standing tall and glorious in the day and shining at night, it truly defines and identifies Paris.
A walk in the Jardin du Luxembourg, an evening drink by the riverside or just being in an area like Le Marais is what makes this otherwise formal city, very warm and likeable. Montmarté was another rather charming area, one could easily spend all day, walking through the small cobbled streets offering unique art galleries, live pedestrian music, cute Parisian cafes as well as the magnanimous Sacre couer Basillica.
Street style
The one most important thing that made me feel connected to this city is the way people dress. Paris being Paris, obviously the basic sense of dressing started a few notches higher than the rest of the world. Parisians clearly love their Givenchy and sharp Saint Laurent well-cut blazers besides the vintage Chanel brooches. Just watching people live this way was an absolute delight. All in all, the street looks are clean, sharp and subtly feminine, following not more than two to three colours at one time.
Rue St Honore, almost felt like a sacred street, housing some of the worlds best luxury brands.
Vintage shops like Catherine B and Didier were one of the most exciting stores to visit/shop in Paris, as one gets to pick some extremely special and unique pieces. To sum it up, I’d say, Paris Je T’aime.
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