I am going back to Paris next week

  Eiffel Tower, all sparkly 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

...at the invitation of a cosmetics and skincare company, which is also picking up the tab for everything. All will be revealed here very soon.

I was just in Paris on New Year's Eve Day, though not for long. I didn't get to do any shopping, which tells you how brief my stop was. But, as with New York, soaking up the vibe of the city is better than anything one can purchase in a boutique. Seriously, it's better than anything.

I can't help but think of what Hillary wrote here in 2005, about her time in Paris:

In 1982 I was a starving student and sold my camera to pay for another night in a fleabag hotel where I had an attic room that had been painted with a floral-patterned roller to look like wallpaper. I remember riot police even then, hoisting Lexan shields against students who were taking to the streets over affirmative action.

The other Paris, the France of the Mind, is the place where my inner Coco Chanel, an unattractive little guttersnipe with a viciously stylish personality, made it to the top.  The real Coco lived a heartbreakingly stylish, unsatisfying and compelling life.  Her achievements were the result of brilliant decisions (clothing the exiled rich in beachy mufti) that weren’t any different from her poor decisions (sleeping with a Nazi).

Coco came out of it all smelling like No. 5.  Nazi-lover or not, she was fired by a conviction that taste was the ultimate morality, which France and the world eventually accepted, albeit mutely. It’s a conviction that still exists, and that I, in fits and starts, when I'm not paying attention, subscribe to.

Comments

[Fashion A La Mode]

I hope that you have a fabulous time in Paris! You are a great contributor to the beauty industry and I hope you keep going as far as your eyes can see!

[Armine Abrahamyan]

I hope you have a safe and nice vacation. Best of luck and thanks for the news.

-armine

[Jacq]

Have a wonderful time, my most glam friend! I adore Paris as well.