The Paris Traveler

This guest post is by Mary Jo Manzanares, Travel & Culture Channel Editor and travel blogger at Flyaway Cafe.
If the thought of a fine bag, a decadent pair of heels, or the feel of the fabric of a finely crafted suit makes you swoon, then an afternoon on the Champs-Élysées in Paris may be your definition of heaven.
Avenue des Champs-Élysées is not only one of the most recognized street names in Paris, but in the entire world, and is lined with luxury and specialty shops, theaters, cafes and restaurants.  Its name translates to "Elysian Fields" a reference to the …read more

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Yesterday’s post took you to lunch on the Champs Elysée.  Hopefully that went well for you and now you are ready to walk off some of your delicious lunch and continue taking in the sights. 
Today, we are going to walk a few blocks towards Concord (the big ferris wheel should be straight ahead) and do something “free”.  Yes, one can find free things to do in Paris and feel as though they really should have paid for the experience because everything is done in such a big, beautiful way.  
This experience is the Louis Vuitton flagship store.  Opened in …read more

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The Prêt-à-Porter (Ready To Wear) Spring/Summer 2008 collection will soon be hitting the runways here in Paris between September 29 to October 7. I’ve had several friends of mine who have taken to the catwalk through the years, showing off the latest designs and fashions and it’s always been an interesting time filled with excitement! For me, that is! (I especially love the ones at the Carrousel du Louvre.) For them, however, it’s a crazy hectic time that is, more often than not, nervewracking!
Fashion Week has just wrapped up in London and New York this past week and is continuing …read more

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Okay, so I was starting a post all about Fashion Week coming up at the end of the month here in Paris, (which I’ll talk more about in a day or so) when it got me thinking about Sarah Jessica Parker. Why? Because she happens to be a favorite of mine, and has the kind of body that no matter what you put on her, she always looks fabulous! (I hate her! ….Okay, okay! I’m kidding! Don’t believe everything you read!)
If you’ve seen Sarah Jessica Parker’s commercial for her new fragrance “Covet” you know what I’m talking about. How could Jean-Paul …read more

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I recently sent one of my poems (not this one) to be included in the Jack Kerouac exhibit that will be taking place on the 23rd of September in Paris at the Cabaret Pirate in front of the BNF (Bibliothèque Nationale de France), which got me to thinking….  How could I have not seen that my poem, This Is Paris To Me, fits in perfectly with my blog! 
                                                                                     THIS IS PARIS TO ME
Cobble stone streets; and chic cafés.
Strolling down the Champs Elysées.
Going into the Madeleine,
or riding the Bateaux Mouches on the Seine.
That is what you must do and see,
but this …read more

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I really can’t understand what all the hype is about owning a Louis Vuitton bag! Personally, I prefer Lancel. Perhaps it’s nostagic memories of my first Lancel leather purse more than twenty years ago bought for me by one of my French admirers. Or perhaps it has more to do with the fact that although the price was high, the quality of that bag and all the others I have owned since then have lasted throughout the years.
Lancel began in 1876, but it wasn’t until the early 1900’s that the company began to cater to women’s handbags and accessories, and not until 1976, …read more

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The French have a great expression for window shopping, it’s called “le leche vitrine” which literally means, “to lick the window”. Well that’s exactly what I did when I use to go to work everyday for a group of international lawyers who have their offices on this avenue right off the Champs-Elysées. My philosophy was and still is, if your going to lick windows, then why not pick some of the best and most expensive windows to lick?!
The Avenue Montaigne is just the place. It is filled from one end of the street to …read more

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