June 14, 2011

La di da. Another fine day in this lovely city. As usual we woke up and indulged in the free continental breakfast downstairs in our hotel (Grand Hotel De Balcons) . Today is going to be extremely hard to top . First, we had an industry appointment at Nelly Rodi, trend forecasting service. I really do marvel at how there are actually businesses that exist solely to predict future trends. I definitely think they are more accurate than the weatherman on channel 7 by a long shot. At FIT we have access to forecasting services such as Doneger, but theres nothing like seeing the office and actually being able to look through the physical books.

We were all pooped this morning, all of this adventuring is catching up! It was hilarious, we were all straining to keep our eyes open during this presentation. Don't get me wrong now, we were all 110% excited and interested in what this woman was presenting to us, and it was no fault of her own that she had a slowly dying audience. We all must've looked fantastic. Tonight we were supposed to cash it in early again to avoid this from happening tomorrow as well, however obviously that did not occur.

Next, we went to a cute little bistro near Lesage Embroidery ( a swanky atelier for Chanel, Dior, YSL, etc.) You name it they did it. I got a delicious dessert sampler. Pistachio mousse, tiramisu ,espresso and biscotti for 6 euro. Not too shabby. We then strolled over to Lesage where this supermodel like structure with a Brooklyn Decker complex introduced herself as our tour guide. We walked into this place, and I died and went to heaven for the thousandth time this trip so far. I was in awe of these artisans hand embroidering sequins. It is so reassuring that there are still individuals out there that still are incredibly skilled craftsmen. This atelier was so unbelievable. Cream of the crop. I can't decide what was better. The archive or the current work. BLEW MY MIND. Another thing where you don't just wake up in the

morning and decide that you are going to go on an adventure to Lesage to peruse the latest and most cherishes Parisian artisanship.

Lastly, but not least, we went on a tour of the Madame Gres Exhibit with a unilingual tour guide. Guess what language she spoke. French of course. Alrighty then. Good thing Prof. Markus speaks fluent French. Otherwise the exhibit might have been a slight fail. Again, I was awestruck. To be able to see in person the detail that this woman did BY HAND on her gowns ( because machines were not popular yet) .It was just room full and room full of her designs. Each one had its own charm , can't choose a favorite.

Today was a FULL DAY. Every second sizzled. We found another favorite restaurant tonight. This time the waiters and the rest of the staff were nice to us Americans. Had another dessert sampler. Nothing short of delicious. Oh, not to mention an additional order of banana and chocolate egg rolls. Can't even phrase how nomtastic these bad boys were.