It's a Good Day: A Rainy Day in Paris Turns Sunny and I Got Lucky with Sandro

Closet Content Analysis: Unexpected Find #3

NEW and NICE

Sunday and Monday: It's not like Paris needs more rain. We arrived in Wissous, an outlying city/suburb of Paris where our friends live, on Sunday evening. The traffic was notable with people returning to Paris after being in the country for the weekend. The rain made it treacherous and slow moving. There had been an accident which held things up as well. When taking our exit to Wissous, we faced a car that was going the wrong direction. How in the world he got there I don't know. We arrived safely but thirsty and just in time for apero. 

What a difference a week makes. Last week a friend was sent home early because of the danger of the Seine flooding. About the same time, the motorway by which we arrived had also been re-routing traffic owing to the floods.Traffic jams abounded and I can only express my gratitude that our trip was relatively normal. 

The rain makes it easy to enjoy the intimacy of our friends' home on our first day here. Since it's Monday I don't mind because many museums and restaurants I would like to visit are closed on Monday. Tuesday, the weather will be the same but it is our only opportunity to visit Paris before we leave on Wednesday. 

Tuesday: My one day Paris visit included a visit to the Marais (the 3rd and 4th arrondissements) where we had lunch at Pizza Momo. Alain, a cab driver introduced us to the quartre fromages pizza several years ago and each time we are in Paris, we make a pilgrimage there. In fact we told the waiter our story and he told us that we just missed Alain. Domage. After we were well satiated with pizza and wine, we visited the Musée Carnavalet (16 rue des Francs Bourgeois) which depicts the history of Paris. And then, we went shopping.

I got lucky with Sandro; in fact I have often gotten lucky with Sandro. We were walking along without any particular destination when I saw a Sandro outlet store (26 rue de Savigné) in the 4th arrondissement. Déja vue - this reminds me of my recent Max Mara experience in Bordeaux. I am presently on the lookout for a navy blazer however I chose a black one that has an interesting loose weave which should be cool to wear in the summer. My good fortune was that I received 30% off the outlet price. This is basically their pre-sale sale, partial markdowns before they slash prices even further in July. Thing is, I won't be in Paris in July. As well, considering the number of people and purchases happening today, this blazer in my size could easily be gone by July. I will be in Romans-sur-Isere where Marque Avenue has a Sandro outlet but will this blazer be there? In this case I follow my travel rule: when you see it and want it; buy it; and don't lament a cheaper price later. The actual fact is that it will be unlikely that you will find again whatever it was that caught your attention. I have had several friends contact me after arriving back in Canada asking me to check a particular item in a local French shop. Domage.

My husband who was looking for a more "European" look in a dress pant also got lucky; no, not at Sandro. Just two stores away, we stopped to check out the display windows of "Loft design by" . I encouraged him to go in and again, he was able to purchase a pair of black cotton skinny leg pants that will take him to dinner on the river cruise. 

There was a sprinkle of rain at about 5:00/17:00 and we ducked into Féria Café for a "petite blanc".

With 70% predictions of rain we got lucky twice in the 30% range - the weather was pleasant with only a sprinkle of rain and I got a 30% discount. Nice.