Quite a few days have passed since I took my first stroll down the streets of Paris and despite the consistent cold and dreary rain I am loving this city. Since my fashion business class has started, each day is filled with adventures to stylish destinations, and each evening overly filled with assignments. On the rainiest of days since I have been here, we headed out to the heart of the city to the haute couture House of Lesage. Owned by Chanel, Lesage is France’s oldest embroiderer where Chanel, Dior, and Lanvin, just to name a few, have pieces of their couture made. After climbing five flights of stairs in that gorgeous building of the 2nd arrondissement, we toured though Lesage, amazed. We admired vintage embroidered couture samples from the 1920s, Dior patterns being drawn, Chanel belts and a Chanel top being hand sewn, and Karl Lagerfeld’s designs tacked on the wall. I was absolutely blown away. It was beautiful, it was amazing, it was unreal. I thought shopping in Paris was heaven… Nope, seeing couture happen at the House of Lesage was heaven.

The next few days followed with a trip to the Louvre to see the Hussein Chalayan exhibit, a trip to the Rodin Museum, a walk along the Champs Elysées, and many stops at cafés for espressos and croissants. I am starting to feel like a true Parisienne. I think I’ve eaten enough croissants and pain au chocolat to last me a lifetime.