Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [282]
Over the years I’ve purchased a great number of journals, a few of which have had features I’ve liked and many of which have not. So a few years ago, I created one of my own: En Route: A Journal and Touring Companion for Inspired Travelers (Potter Style, 2007), which includes general travel tips and recommendations, wonderful travel quotations, lined pages for your own notes, sketching pages, address and emergency information pages, and a clear sleeve at the back that zips closed. Additionally, I asked several noted travelers to share the titles of books that inspired them to hit the road, and the replies—from Colman Andrews, Melissa Biggs Bradley, Dana Cowin, Ina Garten, Frances Mayes, Peter Mayle, Barbara Ohrbach, Fred Plotkin, and Ruth Reichl—are sprinkled throughout.
Kids like journals, too, and without doubt the best one I’ve seen is The Children’s Travel Journal by Ann Banks and with illustrations by Adrienne Hartman (Little Bookroom, 2004), which is spiral-bound and has lined and blank pages and a pocket in the back. There are sections for the destination, first impressions, food and restaurants, landmarks and monuments, museums and galleries, people, best and worst days, and “I’ll never forget …” This is just so creative and so much fun, a real opportunity for younger globe-trotters to create a masterpiece of memories. My daughter already has two of these, each stuffed to the gills with her drawings, notes, photos, dozens of entry tickets, postcards, maps, stamps, and even some restaurant menus (it’s remarkable how waiters will let you keep one when a child is asking).
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Un Jour Un Sac
Translated loosely as “one day, one bag” (sac refers to a handbag), the concept of the store Un Jour Un Sac by François Rénier is one that I love: it’s mixing and matching handbags with different handles that clip on and off—or “it’s all the bags you can imagine,” to borrow from the Web site. The possibilities are practically endless, and it’s like having a bag custom made just for you. There are six stores in Paris (unjourunsac.com) and each bag is made entirely in northern France.
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La Vaissellerie
La Vaissellerie (lavaissellerie.fr) is a chain of five stores—“les petites boutiques chic de Paris”—with inexpensive tabletop wares and kitchen items you didn’t know you needed. I have bought a number of useful and attractive items here over the years, and it’s a good shop to know about for gifts. My favorite find is a cylindrical plastic container meant to store Camembert cheese in: there’s an upright piece of plastic on the bottom half that acts as a knife, so when you put a round of unwrapped cheese inside, the “knife” actually cuts it, and each time you lift up the round and move it, the cheese is sliced in a new place. You can find sets of white porcelain platters and plates at great prices, plus linen towels, silverware, ceramics, place mats, glassware, utensils, and more. When you make a purchase, you automatically receive a carte de fidélité that entitles you to future discounts.
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WC
Le WC (vay-say, or double vay-say), is how you refer to a restroom in a public place in France (as opposed to a bathroom in a private home, which is often composed of two rooms, the toilettes and the salle de bain). Some visitors may be surprised to find that many bathrooms in older bars, cafés, and restaurants are chronically short of toilet