STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

bex · Chanel

Am I forgetting anything? Please add where you would want to go...

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

YOu should totally make the trip on the train to versalii (sp?). It is so beautiful there ! They huge lake at the bottom of the castle has rowboats you can rent , my hubby and I rented one and he rowed me around the lake for a few hours. We had a bottle of wine with us, it was so romantic!

Also I love the musee de orsay (sp?) that is my FAV muesum in Paris !

I am so jealous, I have so many fav places in paris ..... Have fun!

sephorablue · Marc Jacobs

London: the Victoria & Albert, Westminster Cathedral, Tower of London, British Museum...

Paris: Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle, prowling in the Marais, Montmartre & Sacre Coeur, Jardins des Tuileries...

Hermes

have you been to one of the concerts at St. Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square? it's a beautiful experience if you haven't been.

As far as Paris is concerned - Versailles is a short train ride away. I also love the de cluny museum, deux magot cafe, and chez rene for dinner...

ETA: I highly recommend the candlelight Vivaldi four Seasons concert if a St. Martin in the Fields concert is appealing to you http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/jserv/concerts/viewmonth.jsp?month=8&year=106

-- Edited by D at 11:42, 2006-08-27

HeatherLynn · Gucci

No suggestions, but I wanted to say have fun and take a ton of pics!!!

alb · Marc Jacobs

Okay I didn't read all the responses so sorry if this is repetitive:

London: You should check out Top Shop and Jigsaw for shopping.

Paris: You MUST check out the Montmarte neighborhood--it's fabulous. You could also hit the Colette dept store and/or a Petit Bateau store for tees and baby clothes (if you need a baby gift or something, their stuff is awesome). You should of course walk down Champs D'elysee (I think that's misspelled)--the most famous street in Paris, and def. walk along the Seine.

Oops--just read that you lived in Paris for 6 months so you probably know all of this stuff. Sorry!

-- Edited by alb at 13:06, 2006-08-27

kittenheels · Coach

I can't comment on London, but here are my top picks in Paris:

1. Bois de Boulougne - perfect for a picnic, and the prettiest park I have ever seen

2. Macaroons and tea at Laduree.

3. Musee Carnavalet - smallish but very interesting museum of Parisian history

4. The Louvre at night - you get a totally different perspective and it is so much less crowded

5. There is a wonderful couscous restaurant on Rue Tiquetonne in the 2nd by Les Halles - cheap and amazingly filling.

6. The galleries - tiny, covered shopping corridors in the 2nd - built in the early 19th century and housing lots of really neat little stores.

7. The big Longchamp store on Rue St. Honore. They have every color leather bag and wallet under the sun!

8. Have so much fun!

rlutz · Chanel

you are going to have such a great time...

My favorites in London
-Camden Market
-Harrods food hall
- British War museum

-Versailles
-White Cliffs of Dover

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

London: the saatchi gallery, stonehenge ( you can usually take tours that take you to stratford, stonehenge, bath, etc.) kensington palace

paris- i'm sure you know this, but the view from the sacre couer at night is phenominal... a mass was going on when i was there and i'm far from religious and definitely not even catholic and it brought tears to my eyes

the marais, cafe de flore, etc.

oh! if you need a book for the planeride, read Paris Hangover by Kirsten Lobe- it's about a New Yorker who moved to Paris.. she talks about tons of cool restaurants, cafes, places, etc in there- you could try to find some of them!

halleybird · Hermes

I loved Versailles too! But I think you'd really need a whole day there. We were there for half a day and barely saw the gardens at all. I also agree with Montmartre/Sacre Coeur. I also thought Pere Lechaise (sp) was cool, and I heard the catacombs were fun too, but you'd know better than me.

Re: London: I didn't get to see the British Museum, so that would be on my list. Bath was really cool, though I was underwhelmed by Stonehenge. It might be cool to go to a show. I don't know what the weather's like now, but just walking through St James's park was really neat when I went.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

Orsay!! It's my favorite museum in the entire world- I like it so much better than the Louvre!

cc · Marc Jacobs

I'm trying to plan a stopover in London to see the Velazquez show at the National Gallery but I think that might not be open yet. The only place I really loved in London which isn't a usual tourist stop is the Sir John Soane museum.

Not sure when you spent the semester in Paris but the Musee de l'Orangerie, which was closed for years, finally reopened in May. I'm really annoyed that I didn't realize this when I was in France earlier this summer. I would have taken a day trip to Paris just to see it. Also I recently read about the Chateau de Monte-Cristo (Dumas' house) which looked really cool.

bex · Chanel

all of your suggestions are PERFECT! keep them coming!

i'm compiling a list and BF and I are going through it on Thursday to lay out exactly what we want to do each day...

i can NOT believe this trip is almost upon me! i'm freaking out!

mikacat · Coach

don't have any places to add but Have a fantastic time!

I am jealous!

JoceyBaby23 · Gucci

I hope that all of these places include shopping..

Have fun!