Au Revoir to Paris

PARIS, July 7, 2006- This morning I left downtown Paris at about 6:30 am en route to the airport, stopping in at a local Brasserie for one last café crème. The star of the zinc bar at that ungodly hour turned out to be a French woman of Moroccan ancestry, who announced that she was looking for a husband. “Someone that knows about wine and champagne,” she said. “Someone with class.” She went on to say that he needed to be old and NOT be taking Viagara, since she wasn’t about to be woken up all night long. I wondered how many dowagers attending the haute couture shows this week in Paris harbored the same secret desires. Didier, the bartender, declined her offer. When there were no other takers, she simply went on to describe her famous couscous – seven fresh vegetables, meat, and nothing canned.

I’m now sitting in no man’s land, having cleared French police at Charles DeGaulle 2E (my home away from home). It’s au revoir to Paris, but the Ready-to-Wear shows are only three months away.

– Timothy Hagy