Green Suede Shoes

How's this for a tale of two sandwiches? Had a very fruitful trip to Paris yesterday, bookended by lunch at Paul's and dinner at Quick, the French McD's. S and I managed to get an early start by staying over at VLS (the boys' place near the train station) after Picard and cheesy movie night (a classic for the books: "Man, there are a million fine girls in the world, but not all of them bring you lasagna at work. Most of them just cheat on you.") We hit Etam, Benetton, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in quick succession, where I managed to put my newly acquired carte bleu through rigourous interval training.

French sales are the real deal. Storewide discounts of 30% and over, with further reductions during the last few weeks. My lack of proclivity for designer fare means I don't get the greatest benefit from these sales, but I still did pretty well this time. Pretty well to the tune of €180. My fave purchase? A gorgeous pair of Benetton dark green suede knee-high boots with little tassles just below the top - an absolute steal at €50 after a 70% discount!

Laden with (my) shopping bags, S and I moseyed over to an ex-colleague's place for a small Chinese New Year gathering. Unexpectedly, I thus stumbled into a social situation which would force me to parle the most francais since arriving in France. It started as a joke - bemused by my pronunciation of the French word for green, vert, a Frenchman in attendance tried to teach me the proper way to spit it out. This soon expanded into an experiential lesson on French grammar and the pronunciation of other words such as euro, which I managed to thoroughly enjoy despite my obvious embarrassment. I don't know when I'll get my next opportunity to practice French in such a non-threatening atmosphere, but in the meantime, S - you've been warned!

One Quick cheeseburger and train ride later, our day ended with VLS' inaugural party. The highlights for me were the opportunity to tinker around with P's DJ software and rocking music collection, and the chance to go a little crazy in the company of trusted friends. Still a far cry from the get-stone-drunk-and-happy experience I think I'd like to have at least once in my life, but good fun nevertheless.

What's the forecast for the week ahead? I'm not entirely sure at the moment, but I see a pair of chaussures vertes de suède in my immediate future. Hope I said that right!