Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Paris ‘15, Day 1 – Arrival, Shopping at Axes Femme and Pizza


Hi everyone! I am back from my trip to Paris, where I attended the La Vie en Rose Event and the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Tea Party! I’ve had an amazing time and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! I am working really hard on editing all my pictures, but also selecting video material. Please wait a little until I’ve finished everything! ^^

On Friday the 20th of February, my mom and I woke up suuuper early! >_< We needed to catch the train at 6:17 am, so we woke up at 4:30 am to get our last things ready. I was super nervous, but very excited! The days before I had been preparing like crazy: not only with packing, but also finishing my handmade items (more about that later). The packing was super stressful, I nearly forgot my petticoat. Of all things! But in the end I got everything.
My dad was super sweet to wake up together with us to drive us to the station. It was still super dark and quiet outside, so the drive to Amsterdam was quite relaxing. When we arrived there, my mom and I jumped out of the car (since we were just on the side of the road because of constructions around the station) and said bye to my dad. We grabbed our things and started walking, when suddenly I realised I had forgotten my camera in the car! I was so incredibly grateful my dad had his cell phone with him and managed to turn around immediately. Camera retrieved! Pfew…
When my mom and I arrived at our platform, the Thalys train arrived and we could immediately get in. So great. *_*
Ready for Paris! Excuse our tired faces. ^^

Our train ride went super smoothly! I was very happy we had no delays at all, especially since there had been train problems just the week before. We had a nice pre-made breakfast and talked a lot. I had also brought a pair of scissors to cut my freshly made business cards~! I think they came out quite cute. ^^
Things I do in the Thalys: cutting cards and having breakfast.

The train ride flew by like that and just before 10 am, we were in Paris, France! ♥ We bought some metro tickets and dragged our suitcases and bags to our hotel. I had promised several people (including my mom and my French teacher) that I would speak more French during this trip. I was a bit nervous, but when we entered the hotel I did start out slowly in French to the desk lady. Well, she must have thought: ‘Ah, you speak French!? Let me explain everything to you at 200km/h!’ She talked so fast, haha! But I did understand everything actually and I could even answer. I was quite proud and it boosted my confidence through the roof. :3
Lucky us, our room was already cleaned and ready for us! We took our stuff upstairs, I took my clothes out of my suitcase and we enjoyed the view.
My two Lolita outfits ready to go! ✧

My mom suggested to go and visit Axes Femme. During our previous trip together (that I never documented on my blog since it was a private birthday gift to my mom) we visited this originally Japanese clothing store for the first and we both fell in love. The clothes they sell there are just amazing and so cute! So we went on our way!
My mom and I share a love for the Parisian metro. ^^

We arrived at Le Marais, where it had started to rain. You could really tell there have been things going on lately: we saw a lot of military men and women carrying big weapons. It was quite scary…
My mom and I started walking, passed Princess Crêpe (which was closed at that moment) and soon found the Axes Femme store, where a lot of Lolitas were already shopping. I immediately recognised some of them, including my friend May from Germany! ♥
As you can see, we were not the only ones at the shop!

I was very happy to talk to May and meet some of the other Germany Lolitas. They were all dressed up in Lolita, such dedication! Together with May, I browsed the store, filmed a bit and admired all the beautiful clothing. *o*
The Axes Femme store is absolutely gorgeous. If you’re in
Paris and you have time, really recommend to go visit it!

Unfortunately, the lower floor was nothing to be found, so I didn’t take pictures of the famous dressing room with the swing in it this time. Luckily, the main floor was gorgeous enough to count for two…
Some pictures of the beautiful Axes Femme shop!

After a while, May and her friends left and my mom and I had the store to ourselves, which gave me the opportunity to talk a bit with the shop girl Rehem who happens to be a
friend of mine. ^^
I had tried on a pair of absolutely gorgeous white shoes, but unfortunately the L size was too big for me and the M size too small. :( But my mom adored them as well and they fit her perfectly, so she decided to buy them! So if I put some tissue paper in there, I can totally borrow them too. Double win. :3
I found some lovely dresses and a jacket and ended up falling head over heels in love with the first dress I had found: a dark blue with white lace details dress. It’s just so super cute!
The dress of my life! Bolero, tights and boots not included of course. :3
Also, you can see my mom’s shoes next to me!

Last time I was at Axes Femme, I bought a dress as well! This shop is cursed with pretty dresses. *o* I saw so many things I would have loved to take with me, but I had told myself: only one thing…
Thanks to my personal Axes Femme card, both my mom and I got 10% off our purchases as well, woohoo!
Some details of my personal favourite items at Axes Femme. ♥

It was time to leave the shop. It was still raining, but it didn’t bother us. We were too happy with our purchases. ^^
Happy with our purchases!

We went back to the metro and went on our way to Opéra. My mom wanted to check one shop out there, so we didn’t stay for very long. But long enough to have a quick look at the beautiful building.
Beautiful opéra… in the rain. XD

We had gotten quite hungry, but luckily we stumbled upon a Paul bakery, where we both had some tasty lunch. ^^
Lunch at Paul.

After we felt more reenergized, we decided to check the shopping center Les Halles out again. We had only been there once before and we didn’t like it so much, so why not? Getting there was a bit of a problem though. -_- Some problems with stations and metros and stuff. But I did get to ask for directions in French again to some people and shortly met a reeeaaallly cute guy wo (according to my mom) liked me a lot as well. :3 Hihi. ♥
We arrived at Les Halles, where we walked around for a bit, checked out a Claire’s where I bought some cute earrings and ate our macarons that we had kept from bakery Paul. At this point, we were really tired, so we went back to the hotel. There, we rested for a while until we went to have dinner at the Italian restaurant just across the street.
We had both chosen a different pizza, so we could share.

Back at the hotel we went to bed early and took some silly selfies.
It had been a wonderful day. ^^
Purchases of the day


Monday, February 02, 2015

La Vie en Rose Announcement!

Art by the wonderful Marie Tuonetar.

Even though there is only a small chance you hadn’t heard about this before, I still wanted to post a little announcement for an event I am very excited about:

La Vie en Rose

This incredibly promising event will be held on the 21st of February in Paris and is organised by Street Fashion Europe and French Café. The line-up of guests is quite amazing:

Masumi Kanoh, designer for Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. She designed some of Baby’s most iconic dresses!
Babi & Kaie, designers and founders of the brand Triple Fortune. It is their very first European appearance, how exciting is that!?
Gothic & Lolita Bible, the wonderful magazine. They will make a big report about the whole event!
Ayumi Watanabe, the creator of the cute brand Syrup.
♥ And last but not least, Hitomi Nomura from the well-known shop Grimoire.

There are also many exciting vendors coming, the list is endless! Some of my personal favourites are Baroque, Cloudberry Lady, Moon Bunny, Sweet & Tiny and Summer Tales Boutique!

Also, on February 22nd, there will be a grand Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Tea Party.

And I will be there on both days!
I am incredibly excited (and also ridiculously nervous) for this event! I am so much looking forward to going back to Paris, dressing up prettily, meeting the special guests, seeing my friends again and meeting new people! I will of course write extensive reports for you filled with loads of pictures, but I am also planning on making a special video. What that means?
You’ll see… ^^

So are any of my readers going? I would love to meet you if I haven’t already! ♥
Hopefully, see you at La Vie en Rose!