Paris, Day 3 - Macaron Heaven and Lolita Shopping

I had wanted to go to Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty on the day before, but since we did so many fun things, we decided to do that the next day. Baby opened earlier than AP, but since that was at 11:00 am, we decided to visit Pont Neuf (the New Bridge) and the Louvre first. We knew that the weather wouldn’t be too great on this day, so we weren’t surprised to see a grey sky from our window. After taking a shower, getting dressed and having breakfast, we took the metro to Pont Neuf.

The view from the bridge. The one you see in the picture is one of the bridges
where lovers hang their locks on the netting, to ‘lock’ their love forever.
After taking pictures on the Pont Neuf, we returned to the metro and drove to Concorde, a square with fountains. We went there last year too, but my mom was very disappointed because of the mess we found there. Now we call it ‘the Disappointmentsquare’. From Place de la Concorde, we walked through Jardin des Tuileries, a long, Italian-styled (or so I heard) garden that reaches all the way to the Louvre.

Say cheese~!
We took some pictures of each other, the garden, the sculptures and the surroundings. Even though the weather wasn’t very nice, the garden was filled with colourful flowers.

I call this masterpiece ‘the Holy Mother’!
Eventually, we arrived at the square with the pyramids in front of the Louvre. We had planned to go in this time and joined a short line, which was a bit too optimistic of course. It turned out to be the line for people who already had tickets. The ‘without-tickets’ line was waaay longer! We looked if there was another entrance, because I had read about one somewhere, but we couldn’t find it. We decided to forget about the Louvre and visit it some day with pre-bought tickets (and we will, because I need to visit the Louvre at least once in my life)!
We walked towards Rue de Rivoli, the enormous street next to the Louvre to take the metro. There, we discovered a small square with wooden poles with huge pictures attached to them. It turned out to be an exposition with beautiful pictures of all kinds of nature, from simply trees to special kinds of rocks.

I think this was my favourite picture of the exposition. The little bird has
such a striking colour compared to the background.
Unfortunetaly, be couldn’t look at the pictures in peace, since the square was crowded with beggars and they had invented something new: they’d walk up to you, waving with a pen and a sign board. We didn’t want to talk to them, so we contstanly said ‘No!’ or ‘Go away!’ They were really, really annoying and we got quite irritated. Some of them were even very rude to us after we refused to talk to them, while I don’t think they have the right at all.
After a while, we heard some noise and looked around. The beggars were in a heated conversation and started to yell at each other. Apparently, there were two gangs that operated at the same time, but they didn’t seem very pleased with each other. I though it was rather funny, I can’t help it.

I look so serious here, like I’m examining the picture completely. XD
After looking at all the pictures, we took the metro to the Champs-Elysées. When we got there and walked through the exit, I realised I had made a mistake: instead of going to the part of the street where the Arc de Triomphe stands, we got out at the other end. But it didn’t really matter, since there was a beautiful little park at the other side of the street with a fountain.

I wonder if my mom was imitating my posing-style? XD
We walked through the park and crossed the street again, so we could find Ladurée. After a while, I recognized colours of green and gold, indicating we had found it.

One of the two entrances into the shop. It was like
a combination of a castle and a chic tent.
We walked around the green extension, to look at the windows and the menu, since you could also have lunch or high-tea. We planned to return there another day for tea, but we simply forgot! I’ll put it on the ‘next time’-list.

The amazing Ladurée window. It was filled with macarons in the colours pink,
orange and purple and flying bows were stuck onto the windows.
Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. I didn’t really get it, since Ladurée is an international brand, but hey. We stood in line for a while (yes, in line. It’s a popular shop). They had so many interesting flavours! I bought eight macarons in different colours and my mom bought four big macarons and two pudding-shaped pastries.

Here you can see the size of a big macaron. I believe this was a raspberry one,
we also had vanilla. You can see how much I loved it!
Macarons are expensive, that’s a fact. But they are also de-li-cious! And Ladurée macarons are totally my favourites!
While eating our macarons, we crossed the street and walked into metrostation Franklin D. Roosevelt (there are many things in Paris named after Americans, actually) and we went to my shops!

We walked high stairs like these very frequently.
Imagine dragging your suitcase upwards!
We changed lines once to get to Ledru-Rollin, a metrostation very close to Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. While we walked to the store, I felt the feeling of positive nervosity coming up. I had been looking forward to this for so long! And then I saw it: the purple front of the shop with curtains painted on the windows.

Finally back at Baby, the Stars Shine Bright! At least I didn’t cry this time.
I was jumping around and took pictures of every angle of the shop’s front. I couldn’t help but feel really great because of the fact that I was carrying a Baby’s umbrella!

Taking pictures!
We went inside and I looked around in awe, as if I had never seen it before! The shop was the same, including the layout. But the clothes were all different of course!

When you get in, the first thing you see is a rack with skirts on the left
and a rack with cutsews and cardigans on the right. So many adorable things!
I asked the new shopgirl if it was allowed to take pictures, even though I already knew that. Megu-san (the shopgirl from last year) isn’t in Paris anymore, regrettably. I read she has returned to Tokyo. I hope she’s very happy. ^^ The new shopgirl was very friendly too and her outfit was very classy!

The mirror next to the dressing room’s curtain.
I had set my mind in advance: I wanted to buy a blouse, wristcuffs and accessories. Walking through the store made this goal a bit difficult, there were so many beautiful dresses!

The dress in the middle, the light blue one with blue flowers, was so beautiful!
It reminded me of a shorter Marie Antionette-dress!
My willpower was mainly tested by this gorgeous, dark red dress from Alice and the Pirates. It was so beautiful… I don’t think it would have fit me, but still…

The dress in question. The straps were detachable. It was so pretty..!
Eventually, I turned my back on the dresses and focused on the blouses. I picked two lovely white blouses (I wanted a white one) and tried them on. They were both so fine, but I chose the first one, which was for sale too!

This dress was so special too! It was a lovely shade of lavender,
but still had that fierce Alice and the Pirates look.
Since I wanted to visit Angelic Pretty too to see what they had in stock, before I made any decisions, I asked if they could hang the blouse away for me, which the shopgirl did. ^^ So we left the shop and proceeded to Angelic Pretty.

Tadaaa, Angelic Pretty! I must say that the mint version of Honey Cake is very lovely!
Inside, I told the shopgirl, who wore the navy version skirt of Merry Making Party, that I was there for Angelic Pretty. With two other visitors we walked around the shop and went upstairs. Angelic Pretty, at last!
Compared to last year, the shop didn’t have a lot in stock. This was understandable, since the Angelic Pretty Tea Party had taken place the week before, with a special event in the shop itself. I was very happy to be there, though. The shop was exactly how I remembered: small, pink and cosy! Unfortunetaly, when I asked the shopgirl if I could take pictures, she said no. That was a pity, but I didn’t let it ruin my happy mood. After examining the expensive blouses, I asked if they had wristcuffs, but they were all sold out! So no wristcuffs this time. They did have accessories of course and I chose two lovely necklaces.

The Smile Bear Face necklace in mint and pink and the Dot Love Heart necklace in red
I chose the Bear necklace, because I love the colours so much and it’s simply so cute! I chose the Heart necklace, since it suits my Starry Night Theatre Jumperskirt perfectly and it’s so adorable! I’m very happy with my two purchases. I was doubting about a pink Tokimeki necklace, but I already have one in mint, so I left it behind (which I regretted later, of course).

It has become a little tradition to take a picture
with the bag with purchases in front of the shop.
Then we went back to Baby, the Stars Shine Bright (my mom is so kind to just keep on walking with me)! My mom said I could take as many time as I wanted while she stayed outside and listened to her new mp3-player on a bench.
After browsing through all the clothes again, I bought the blouse. This was kind of scary, since the pinmachine acted all weird. Finally I paid and they wrapped up my blouse in pink paper and the wellknown pink bag with the red and gold logo on it. While I was examining all the clothes, a lot more people came in, including a girl that turned out to be from my country! She had seen the blouse I just bought and told me that was the exact blouse she had seen on the internet and she had hoped she could buy it. I felt a little guilty, but I loved my blouse too much! But I kind off made it up to her, since she didn’t know there was a Parisian Angelic Pretty too, so I explained her how to get there (and let’s hope she found it after my great explanation).

And the tradition goes on!
And no, I didn’t forget! *drumrolls*

My purchase: the Polka Dot Marie blouse! The collar is detachable
and it has neckties too! It’s so beautiful…
On the way to Angelic Pretty, my mom had seen a restaurant that seemed nice, so we ended up having lunch/dinner there. We both ordered a Croque Madame and a small coke (always do this, otherwise they give you a huge glass on purpose, I swear! XD).

The food was very tasty and we had a nice view too.
While we were eating, we decided to ride a bus again. We had bought tickets for two days and it would be a waist not to go, since the weather was okay. The metro-entrance was right next to the restaurant. We took the line to Place Charles de Gaulle-Étoile again and took the bus at the Arc de Triomphe.

My mom, pointing at the red and blue headphones. She listened to the guide,
but only for a couple of minutes.
We drove around Paris one time, which took about two hours, but it was worth it. We sat both in the back and the front, behind the window. The last preparations for the next day, July 14th, France’s national holiday, were made while we drove by.

I’m so proud of myself for taking this picture! It’s so… mysterious!
We got out at the same place as where we had started the tour. We took the metro back to our hotel, where we read a book and ate the macarons I had bought that afternoon.

I’m not sure if this is the right order, but the flavours were: Lemon-Thyme,
Rose Petal, Pistachio, Vanilla, Chocolate, Liquorice and Coconut.
Then we went to sleep.

Next time: A white cake and a portret painting!