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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 7 – Be Like the Queen of England
Day 7, in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days, is “Honor your body with chic movement.” Fiona repackages the idea of exercise into the far more attractive (at least to me!) discussion of “chic movement” – doesn’t that sound much more elegant? It brings to my mind photographs of the Queen of England walking with her corgis in her quilted barn coat with a scarf tied over her hair (a la Grace Kelly.) If the Queen can be out walking in her 90’s, looking casual-chic, then certainly, I can be! In addition to her Majesty, the Queen of England, I have the real-life, everyday examples of Parisian women (of all…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 6 – Time for Auntie
In Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days, Day 6 is titled “Be Your Own French Aunt.” In this chapter, Fiona advises that we have chic mentors to help inspire us to bring more beauty and elegance into our lives. In keeping with her theme that a chic life starts in our minds, she presents the idea that we can make up our own imaginary French aunt to help guide us away from our less chic habits and inspires us toward a more appealing way of living. Definitely, this imaginary French aunt must be loving and kind and truly want the best for us. (No mental drill sargeants, please.) The purpose…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 5 – A Safe Space to Dream
In Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days, Day 5’s title is “Create and Guard Your Secret Garden.” The idea is that each of us needs a sanctuary – internal and/or external – where we can dream and create free from external input (even if the input is positive). We give ourselves the mental space to build creativity and happiness into our daily lives when we set aside a quiet spot (either internally or externally or both) that is only for our positive, imaginative thoughts whatever they might be. Fiona’s suggestion to keep this “garden” private is quite perceptive. I find that I have experienced similar reactions as she discusses in…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 4 – Little Things Matter
In Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days, Day 4’s title is “Make Up Your Eyes.” The idea is that if you put even a tad of extra effort into your appearance, you experience the day differently – in a positive way – than if you get dressed on auto-pilot and rush into your day. (Buddhism, among other philosphies & spiritual traditions, also says this, by the way. That we can find contentment by paying full attention as we live the minutes and actions that make up our day.) Fiona’s Day 4 gives us discrete ideas of how to apply this idea to one part of our day. I’m embarrassed to…
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30 Chic Days and Paris Lockdown 2020
How do we stay positive and upbeat during these crazy, scary times? I have a plan for myself – do lockdown “by the book!” Keep reading to see what I mean. The CoVid-19 (Coronavirus) infection count increased during this the first week of Paris’s lockdown. In my neighborhood of Paris (the 16th – Passy area), the streets are quiet and deserted. The shops and the cafes are all closed. Only the food stores and the pharmacies are open. The skies are blue, the breeze is balmy. Paris is its usual gorgeous spring self. (And there is even a dearth of smokers out – yeah! No cigarette smoke clouds from outdoor…
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Corona Virus & the Internet
One silver lining to this whole pandemic situation (certainly, the only one I can come up with at the moment) is the on-line contact with friends and acquaintances. Thank heavens for the internet and all the app developers who are keeping me as emotionally on-balance as is possible in these crazy days. I would be a basket case without regular phone, email, text, & WhatsApp. And, of, course, the main lifeline is the internet. So, thank you to all those folks, past & present who develop, deploy and maintain all the hardware & software that makes “keeping in touch” possible. Cooking news: Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) did me a good…
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Paris, Papers & Pork Chops
I walked out this morning to look for almond flour (making macarons is on the “Lockdown: What To Bake” list.) Several stores later, I was in line to check out and did a half step to the right to pick up some lemons. An older lady brushed by me and plunked her bottles of wine on the checkout table. In Paris, if that happens, one is supposed to speak up at once. My French is barely adaquate but I put some volumen in my “What are you doing?!” Several snarky comments went back and forth, the lady snatched her wine bottles up AND I realized that she had only those…
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Lockdown in the City of Light
My family and I moved to Paris in January. The Corono-Virus arrived here shortly thereafter. Last week, the schools across the country were shut down. Today, March 17, at noon, the French government has instituted a lock-down program for all Paris residents. We are to stay inside except for visits to food stores, pharmacies or to walk our animals. When we are outside, we must carry an “attestation” (a paper filled out with our names, address and the reason we are out.) Also, only one person per household should be out at the same time. That certainly puts a damper on living “la belle vie” in beautiful, springtime Paris!! Happily,…
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Quest for the Perfect Travel Coat, part 2
My current “PTC” (Perfect -for me- Travel Coat) is a hybrid mix of a Lands End 3-in-1 Commuter Coat (sadly, Lands End only offered it for about 2 seasons) and an LL Bean 850 Downtek coat purchased off of eBay. First, let’s take a look at the Lands End 3-in-1 Communter Coat and then I’ll discuss how I added the LL Bean 850 Downtek coat into the mix for exceptionally cold weather. Here is a photo of the Lands End 3-in-1 all put together. Notice that I have a “vintage” mink collar attached to the inside collar area of the coat. (Many people are opposed to using real animal fur…
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Quest for the Perfect Travel Coat
Like the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail, the hunt for the “Perfect (for me) Travel Coat” has been one of my long-standing quests. Over years of travel and many variations of travel coats, I now recognize a few themes that directly tie into my sense of coat contentment. 1. The number, type & placement of pockets. 2. The overall appearance of the coat. 3. The specific construction of the coat. Pockets are critical to ease of movement and convenience for the traveler. Too many pockets and I forget where I put things. Too few and I have overloaded, bulging pockets. Quick note here: I am a “hands-free” traveler. What…