Paris, Day 4 – Angelic Pretty Tea Party

On Sunday morning, we woke up early again, because it was the day of the Angelic Pretty Tea Party! You might remember from last year’s post that the Tea Party took place in the Ritz Hotel, one of Paris’ most famous hotels. This year, the Tea Party took place in Le Meurice, another one of Paris’ most famous hotels! I admit that I had never heard of it before, but the French Lolitas were quite ecstatic about it! The theme of the Party was ‘An afternoon with Madame de Pompadour’ and both Emilie and I were very happy about it, since the theme perfectly fit the dresses we had in mind!
Since the Tea Party would start at 2 pm, we had plenty of time to get ready. Emilie suggested to visit Montmartre in the morning and it sounded like a great idea to me. We got dressed and planned to buy some things at the bakery near the hotel, take them to Montmartre and eat them there. But when we left the hotel and walked up to the bakery, it was closed! Which made sense, since it was a Sunday. Ahem. -_-We decided to proceed to Montmartre and get something to eat for breakfast there. We took the metro to Abbesses and walked through the deserted streets of Montmartre. It was strange to be there almost all alone, while this place is usually filled with people. We arrived at the foot of the Montmartre hill with Sacré Coeur on top. It was already quite warm (we hoped we would be okay in our dresses later that day) and the white church looked beautiful in the sun.

Sacré Coeur looked so beautiful in the sunlight!
As it was still early in the morning, not many shops were open. This resulted into us getting a very healthy breakfast: a warm waffle with nutella and a can of juice (well, ice tea for me, I had a sore throat). We sat down on a bench next to the carousel and ate our breakfast. There were no annoying string men (read my last year’s post if you want to know what I’m talking about) and the only people were groups of tourists doing an early tour with a guide. There were also some homeless guys, who had slept on the second floor of the carousel (which is quite smart in my opinion) and who were looking for their stuff in the bushes.
We finished our waffles, took some pictures around the carousel and then walked up to the Funiculaire, the special little tramline that takes you up the steep hill. We arrived upstairs and Emilie showed me the location where the Angelic Pretty Tea Party was held a couple of years ago. I remembered the pictures and the location was really amazing!
The view over Paris was wonderful. Everything is better with sunshine and that definitely counts for Paris as well.

The view down from the hill.
We followed the road and I showed Emilie a spot where you could see the Eiffeltower (with a little effort).
I had told Emilie I didn’t really feel like going into Sacré Coeur. I had been there before and I didn’t feel the need to see the big art work with the angry Jesus on it again. But since we had loads of time and Emilie had never been there before, we decided to go in after all. The entrance to the church is free, but two very smart collectors were standing on both sides of the doors with a little basket, making people feel like they had to at least give something. It worked well and we gave some money as well.
The church was way bigger than I remembered and much more impressive (I was glad we had gone inside after all)! We enjoyed the beautiful sculptures and were annoyed by people taking pictures, ignoring the signs asking you not to. Emilie agreed with me that the big Jesus portrait looked indeed very angry. Somehow we got to a point that we should join the ‘Angry Jesus’-religion and that we should pray to both win a prize at the Angelic Pretty Tea Party (we were really not serious about this all, don’t worry. XD). We left the church again and since we still had plenty of time, we decided to walk up to Place du Tertre, the famous square with all the painters. We walked up the steep street and were quickly asked by someone if we wanted to have our portraits painted. ^^ We politely declined and walked on. I was surprised (and also not really) by the fact that even here we found a Starbucks. It looked quite cute and the exterior of the building fit the buildings around it quite well. We looked at some stores (I discovered the most adorable cat postcards) and Emilie bought a little mirror with a Mucha painting on the back for her mom.
It was really relaxing to just walk through the little streets and look at the goods you could buy at the shops. After a while, it was time for us to go back to the hotel and finally get dressed. We went back to Sacré Coeur and took the Funiculaire down. There was one string man who of course had to talk to me, but I managed to get rid of him. We took the metro back to the hotel, but when we arrived there we discovered our room and bed hadn’t been made yet. We wanted to prevent a situation where the maid (or guy) came in while we were getting ready, so we asked downstairs if it was possible to have our room cleaned so we could shower and stuff. I hope they didn’t think we were too annoying. ^^’ After waiting for a while, our room was done and we could start getting ready.
We both pulled out our dresses and lay them down on the bed: Eternal Rose Bouquet in ivory for Emilie, Lady Rose in pink for me. I was very excited to finally wear this dress. After I had bought it in Japan I kept it especially for the Angelic Pretty Tea Party! We both freshened up and got started. My hair style, a really big bump, took significantly less time than on Friday, luckily, and soon the matching pink canotier, lavender bow with dangling diamonds and pink and mint flowers were placed on my head. It felt weird to feel the canotier against my ear, but I soon got used to it. I looked quite interesting: bloomers, shirt and a big, elaborate hair style. XD I helped Emilie with her hair style and she helped me zip up my dress (which zipped up a lot easier than my Baby dress). Then I put on my socks, shoes, accessories, petticoat, etc. We were both finished perfectly on time, so we also took some pictures.

Some hotel room pictures! Do you like our outfits?
While Emilie took pictures of me, I started to feel really hot and a little nauseous (my mind was like: ‘Oh God, please don’t get sick now!), but after some water I felt better. We got our things and left the hotel room.
Downstairs, before we could leave the hotel, the reception lady wanted to take a look at us and she said we looked so beautiful. ^^ Apparently we were not that annoying after all.
We walked to the station (drawing more attention than last Friday) and took the metro to Concorde (again), where we transferred to line 1. We got out at the next station, Tuileries, and walked up the stairs. We got out at Rue de Rivoli, a very crowded and touristic street. While we were waiting for the traffic lights to become green, a man holding his little daughter’s hand asked me: ‘Are you a princess?’ I was so overwhelmed by the fact I got called a princess I said: ‘Oh uhm… I don’t know. Maybe?’ Brilliant respond on my part. XD
We crossed the street and went left. Rue de Rivoli is next to the Louvre and everything looks fancy! I was hoping we were going the right way. After a little walk, we passed ice cream shop ‘Angelina’ and Emilie said Le Meurice should be next to it. It was! The brolita we had met the day before, Simone, was just going inside (he wore Day Dream Carnival and had a beautiful Rococo-like hair style with feathers), so we followed him.
Le Meurice looked indeed incredibly fancy and expensive. The room where the Tea Party was held was in the back, so we walked straight into the receiving hall next to it.

Even the sign announcing the Tea Party looked fancy!
There were already some girls, like Hoa and Vera! Hoa looked beautiful in her white Lady Rose (twinsies!) and big hat filled with flowers. Vera wore Fancy Box in a beautiful coordinate. Both looked amazing! ♥
Emilie and I took some pictures. Coincidentally, we were standing next to the table where Dominique and Madame Cocotte were doing something, when Dominique invited us to pick a pin with a number. As we were the first, we could choose any number we wanted! I immediately picked number 3, my favourite number, while Emilie chose number 8. Then, we were invited inside the Pompadour room, where Madame Pretty, Asuka and the Yokohama shop girl welcomed us. I can tell you: the room was stunning! Modeled after Château de Versailles, it had mirrors and chandeliers everywhere, a big painting of Madame de Pompadour herself and little tables scattered around. There was a long table with two men, waiting to serve us drinks and another table filled with prizes!

The Tea Party room was like a tiny version of Versailles!
Emilie and I chose a table at the back of the room, close to the prize table. We were soon joined by Vera and a Russian Lolita named Alice, who wore the famous ‘Gossiping Cats’ print! Emilie and I left our things at the table and walked around, taking pictures of everything, starting at the prizes table (hey, no harm in being curious right? ^^). The most amazing prizes were selected and so many! There were small prizes, like a pair of socks or a tote bag, bigger prizes like a Lyrical Bunny bag or a t-shirt + badges set and of course the really big prizes: a complete set with either a skirt or a jumperskirt, matching socks and a matching bow or barrette. Everything looked amazing!

The prizes table~! *_*
I especially loved the second prize: a lovely set of the polka dotted French dress I had seen in the shop in black, with matching socks that had ‘Bonjour!’ embroidered on them and a matching barrette bow. There was also a Milky Planet set in sax and the big, ‘best-of-them-all prize’ was a Dreamy Baby Room set. The best dressed winner would win a beautiful watch and there was also a special prize: a drawing made by Maki for her favourite outfit. So many prizes! *_*
More girls were entering and Emilie and I took some pictures of each other. We also took pictures with Madame Pretty. ^^

With Madame Pretty! She really loved pink and red outfits!
I was really frustrated by my camera: every picture I took was blurry and I didn’t want to end up with nothing useful. Just then, always wonderfully matching twins Vief and Annso came in (wearing Star Night Theater ♥). Vief heard me talking, took my camera, changed some settings and saved my day~!
I noticed Maki still hadn’t shown up. For a moment I thought she had gotten sick or something, but then Asuka’s voice sounded through the room and we all gathered around her and the translator. She welcomed us and told us the program for the day: chatting, taking pictures, cake, lottery, outfit contest, etc. She also told us there would be a small fashion show and behind us a door opened and Maki appeared, followed by four girls. They were all wearing the newest Angelic Pretty lines: Musée du Chocolat and Melty Royal Chocolate! Maki and the French Lolitas looked stunning! They all posed for us and Maki and Asuka told us some things about the new lines.

Musée du Chocolat on the left, Melty Royal Chocolate on the right. ^^
I could tell Musée du Chocolat would get popular: not many Lolitas can resist a chocolate print! ;) After the little fashion show, we could walk around to talk and take pictures. Several waiters walked around with plates of small appetizers, which were so freaking good! I have no idea what I ate actually, but everything was amazing and so fancy!
We took some pictures with Libellule (in Melty Chocolate), Marie (in Wonder Story) and Cecile (in Sweetie Chandelier). They all looked amazing! It was really nice to talk to them, they are such sweet girls!

Emilie and Libellule. They both looked so wonderful!
We finally got the chance to take pictures with Maki! I was so in love with her awesome hair style! Musée du Chocolat looked wonderful on her as well!

With Maki! ♥
We took a lot of pictures with other girls and finally Emilie took her Angelic Pretty mook out of her bag, to have it signed by both Maki and Asuka. Emilie’s picture is used for the ‘European Lolitas’ page! ^^ First she asked Maki and showed her her picture. Maki was really enthusiastic and gladly signed!

Maki signing Emilie’s mook. I love this picture!
We asked Asuka a little later (somehow she didn’t seem to know about the mook? Interesting. XD). Emilie and I walked around a lot and took pictures with people. It was a lot of fun to look at everyone’s outfits. I had a hard time choosing my favourite coordinate! ^^’

Lady Rose twins!
We also took a picture with the Yokohama shop girl, who wore Freshly Picked Strawberries (red looks really great on her)!. She took pictures of everyone solo. I wonder if there will be a page about the Tea Party in Kera Magazine again..?

I loved the outfit of the Yokohama shop girl so much!
Emilie’s friends Lou, BloodyQueen and Tro-tro appeared and we talked with them for a while. We also took pictures of course! Tro-tro and Bloody both wore a mermaid-inspired outfit, so pretty! Lou looked adorable as always too! ♥

Mermaid Princesses Tro-tro and Bloody!
We also took instant pictures with Maki and Asuka! Maki pointed at my hair and said we had the same hair style! ^^
After a while, we were told there would be cake! Two beautiful cakes were served: one white cake with red letters that spelled ‘Angelic’ and stars and one dark chocolate cake with red letters that spelled ‘Pretty’ and flowers. It was amazing to see how everyone jumped on the cakes to take pictures, including Asuka and the Yokohama shop girl! XD

The two amazing cakes!
Emilie and I both chose chocolate (of course) and got it served with warm vanilla sauce. *_* We also got some delicious juice.
We went back to our table to enjoy our cake and drinks. The chocolate cake was so incredibly divine… I still have dreams about it! Vera had chosen the white cake (strawberry). I tried a piece and it was good, but the chocolate one won easily! Vera agreed with me, haha!
Then it was time for the lottery! Maki would draw numbers from a box and if they called out your number, you won something! Maki and Asuka wished us luck and the lottery started.

Maki looking adorable while drawing numbers.
First were the pairs of socks and our table mate Alice won a lovely lavender pair! Then were the tote bags and Vera won one! She later told us she had been planning to buy the exact tote bag she had won! Lucky her~! Then were the Lyrical Bunny bags and Vief won one! It’s not really her style (very pink), but still! Then were the t-shirt sets and Annso and Libellule won a set! They were both very happy. ^^

Lucky winners!
Every time someone won something, Asuka handed them an Angelic Pretty bag. Sometimes she had to run after someone, because they forgot their bag, haha! XD
After a while, Emilie and I still had a chance to win one of the big prizes. The third prize, the skirt set, was won by a lovely girl in red. Then, the second prize was up: the beautiful French dress set. I looked calm from the outside, but from the inside I went: ‘Number three! Three! Trois! Trois! Please, number three!!!’
‘Numéro trois! Three!’ the translator said. The noise I made was probably not human, but I couldn’t believe it! The set I wanted, so, so, SO badly was won by me! I must have looked like I was about to cry (I always show emotions really well), but I was so happy! Asuka handed me the beautiful set and I posed for the cameras. When she helped me put the set into a bag, I told her I was so happy and she and Maki smiled. :’)
I returned to my seat, completely dazed, but I didn’t have much time to recover. The next set was up, the Milky Planet dress, and despite the fact I didn’t have a chance for that one anymore, I wanted to see who won it. ‘Numéro huit! Eight!’ the translator said and I jumped up and grabbed my camera. Emilie was number 8, she won the Milky Planet set! We were both so lucky!!! *o*
A lovely girl I hadn’t met before won the Dreamy Baby Room set and then the lottery was over. Alice, Vera, Emilie and I took a picture together with our prizes. We were one lucky table!

Our lucky table and my super happy face!
Emilie and I admired each other’s prizes, repeating how we couldn’t believe how lucky we both were! We joked about how Angry Jesus must have loved us and how it helped us that we visited the Sacré Coeur after all. XD
We took some more pictures and then it was time for the outfit contest! After a drumroll, the winner was announced: it was the lovely Simone! He posed for pictures and received the beautiful watch as a prize. Then Maki’s favourite was announced: it was Hoa (aka Harlyharlekin)! She received Maki’s beautiful drawing.

The amazing winners posing for the cameras!
We had some more time to walk around. I took some ‘bustle pictures’ with Bloody and Cecile. We were all wearing a dress with a bustle back, so we decided we were the ‘bustle back club’! ^^

I present to you: the Bustle Back Club. Members: Bloody, Cecile and Rosalynn.
Emilie and I also asked Maki and Asuka to sign our instant pictures. I am so happy with mine! ♥ I love instant pictures and the ones I got during these days are so special!

Maki and Asuka signing our instant pictures!
The Tea Party was coming to an end, but first we took a group picture! Because our group wasn’t that big, the picture came out really nice! I took the picture from the Angelic Pretty site. They made a really nice, big post about it!

Our wonderful group! ♥
Then the Tea Party was over. Maki and Asuka thanked us for coming and told us what our Tea Party gift would be: a little bag in three colours (sax, pink and black, we could choose) and a badge. While everyone slowly left the room, we thanked Dominique and Madame Cocotte for all their hard work and I could give Dominique my gift: a can of ‘stroopwafels’, a Dutch delicacy. We also took a picture together. ^^

With Dominique!
Emilie and I left the room and we both chose a gift: Emilie chose black, I chose pink. I realized I still didn’t have a picture with Asuka alone, so this was my chance!

With Asuka! ♥
I also gave Maki and Asuka my gifts: a bag of Old Dutch peppermint candies, with a little thank you card attached to them. They were so happy with them, I am so glad! ♥ ^^

Lovely Asuka and Maki with my candies! I am so glad they liked them!
We thanked the staff again and went to take some pictures with Vief and Annso (some didn’t turn out so great, oh well) and then finally left Le Meurice (after explaining Lolita fashion to a lovely lady). We decided to take some pictures in Jardin des Tuileries, since the hotel was just across from it. We said goodbye to Hoa and Ada and entered the big park. Not long after, people started asking us for pictures. We were quite popular and just couldn’t say no, especially to children. The only annoying people were the people who didn’t ask for a picture, but just snapped some. What’s the use of having pictures of strange people posing with Lolitas who aren’t even looking at you? Oh well.
Despite our popularity (XD), we managed to take some pictures with the ferris wheel as a background. I had a lot of problems with the sun reflecting in my eyes, but luckily the sun disappeared behind the clouds for a moment (Annso and Vief wore matching sunglasses, smart and cute)!

I love how different our outfits are!
We took some more pictures (and also posed a lot), but we started to feel quite hot and went on our way to the nearest metro station. Inside, we said goodbye to Vief and Annso and then took the metro back to the hotel. It was really hot inside the metro. I tried to cool us both down with my fan, but it didn’t help so much. Luckily I had a bottle of water with me, which helped a little.
We arrived back at the hotel and changed into cooler clothes. We just couldn’t stop talking about the amazing Tea Party and how incredibly lucky we had been! We also took some pictures of our prizes.

Number 1 and number 2~!
We talked a lot and Emilie packed her things, since she would leave the next day. We were still full from the Tea Party, so we didn’t have dinner. After Emilie was done packing, we read a bit and then went to sleep. It had been a magical day!

Cookies for everyone who read this far! *_* This post took sooo much time! I hope you enjoyed it!

Pictures are either taken by Emilie or by me.