Travel Diaries: Dior, A Flash Mob, And The Arc

That next morning I woke up closing my suitcase, and putting on my shoes to head to the train station. I've never been happy to wake up at 6am, but this day was different. My dreams since I was a little girl were about to become true. It was a quick trip through the train station, we settled before having coffee and croissants. Seeing the board saying London to Paris was a thrilling feeling, I still can't quite put my finger on it. When the platform was announced we headed out but before making the train we had another interesting experience. A woman was speaking in tongues, kind of passing out almost. I don't know if she was afraid to travel or the heat was getting the best of her. But I hope she made it on her train. Our train ride was filled with Rupaul's Drag Race. Another reason I love Mackenzie is we both love the same shows. I just recently put her onto Real Housewives of New York, and now thank god I have someone my age to discuss all things RHONY. Getting off the train is not what I quite pictured, we don't pull into some fancy scenery, and we even ended up roaming around the train station because we weren't quite aware of which way we needed to go. When walking out of that train station it hit me, I'm in Paris.

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I don't recall where I had seen it, but someone had been asked to describe Paris, in their answer, "I can't, it's simply just a feeling." My answer is exactly the same. We stayed at Hôtel Artus in Saint Germain. A quaint building all blue on the outside, the cutest little elevator, and the nicest staff. While my mom and my room may not have had a jaw dropping view, we did have a little window in the bathroom. It was my absolute favorite thing. I would open it every time I went in. It was an enclosed area, and you could see the windows to chic Parisian apartments. I always heard some music when I opened up that window, and it put the biggest smile on my face. We headed out to get a quick bite to eat. If you follow fashion influencers on Instagram you've probably seen them pictured at Café de Flore. It was right around the corner from our hotel. We ended up getting food inside. Now I know how stupid this next part will sound, but I'll be honest I was PMSing, and being in the fashion capital I wanted to look my best. So I wasn't the happiest camper at Café de Flore because I wanted to be dressed to roam around Paris. So we made a quick trip back to the hotel. I changed into my navy blue dress, and out we went to travel the streets of Paris.

We headed towards the Louvre Museum, the world's largest art museum. Our plan was to buy tickets and head inside. Come to learn you need to buy tickets in advance. The outside alone is absolutely stunning. Of course a bunch of tourists but it's this beautiful open space that is so full of history, and just standing there I was beyond grateful. The origin of the name Colette comes from the French, the meaning being "people of victory." My mom had told me since I was a young girl about the famous store Colette in Paris, France. My parents had even gotten to visit the luxury store. I dreamed countless times of going to this store. Sadly the owner had decided in 2017 to close the store, which in the Business of Fashion marked "The End of an Era." From the Louvre we headed to Rue Saint Honore, it's filled with the most high end stores in the world from Saint Laurent, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and so many more. We ended up even going into the Dior Store. I know everything about high end bags so of course I kept talking and asking the saleswomen about them. She said to me at one point, "I could tell instantly you knew what you were talking about." To me that was the biggest compliment in the world.

From there we walked our asses off all the way up to the Arc De Triomphe. On our journey, first we were told by French police that we needed to move because we were trespassing. To this day I still don't know what important structure we were standing on the grass of. So we decided we'll walk through Allée Marcel Proust, a beautiful park. While standing around and trying to figure out how we would get to the Arc, we saw a group of people emerge. All of a sudden the music started, and they began to dance. It wasn't exactly a flash mob but I've never seen a group of people begin to dance like that. And I'm from New York and been in the city thousands of times, I've seen everything.

Needing a little something to keep us motivated, we decided to stop and get some drinks and snacks. In Jardin des Ambassadeurs, we stumbled upon a restaurant that's connected to the theater in the park. Let me tell you something, I found every Parisian who we were sitting close to at restaurants chic. For instance there was a woman in just a black tank, hair up with a clip, drinking a coca cola, and smoking cigarettes. I enjoyed my Rosé while everyone else had their Gin and Tonics. Now before you say. "How could you be drinking"!!! maybe I looked older, but if you are with adults and under the age of 18 in France you are allowed to drink. After fries, and Rosé we continued to make our journey to the Arc. Of course we did stop once more, to eye shop. I came across Jacquemus bags, and cried a little inside.

That walk I will never forget. I think it may be the most steps I've taken in a day. Once finally arriving at our destination, I was just in total awe. You've seen the pictures, and all of a sudden there you are, right in front of it. Making your own memories. Travel is my own type of high, discovering landmarks that I've always heard of or stumbling upon an underground vintage shop. It truly is a rush. We stood at the Arc during "Golden Hour," which made for amazing photos thanks to Mackenzie. What I've come to realize is there are points in your life that you feel on top of the world, as if you've reached the top of a mountain. This is one of mine. The past year had been filled with building myself up, getting rid of negativity. No one could ruin that moment, this memory for me ever. I finally felt like "you're doing it, you're going after what you want and most of all you're loving every second." It was just pure happiness and that's all I've ever wanted in my life.