Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Paris: Shopping for Ribbon

Buttons & Ribbons & Trims, oh my! I love to shop for ribbon and fabric in what I call the "sewing district" of Paris - a shopping area at the foot of the stairs to Basilique Sacré-Cœur. You'll find store after store of all the things I love, but bring your French. These lovely shopkeepers are specialists in fabric, ribbon and trims and simply don't get a lot of tourist traffic. Just be patient and kind and you'll have no trouble. I have always found that they will bend over backwards to help you - as long as you are willing to muddle through in French.

I decided that I only had time for a "condensed version" of ribbons & baubles on this trip, so I headed straight for the famous department store Le Bon Marche on Rue de Sèvres. They have an incredible "mercerie" filled with all kinds of trims, buttons and yarns. I stayed for almost two hours and took my time considering everything...what a delight!

3 comments:

MmeBenaut said...

Ah, so true Anne. We're a bit the same here, if people try to speak English!
I love this photo - what girl doesn't love ribbons! And I'm amazed that you found the time to visit shops like these in between all of your cooking.

For colour, I'd choose the purple one on the right of the photo and then the lavender a bit further down. As much as I love yellow, it doesn't suit my skin colour very well. Now the orange one is rather glorious.
Can you tell that I'm having fun here?

Patricia said...

I can emagine that you are "in heaven" in those stores... =)

I studied French for 3 years in highschool but to day I don´t think I could speak and make my self clear in that language (sorry my spelling is not OK) but I love French, it´s a beautiful language.

Hope you found what you vere looking for.

Have a nice day!
/Patricia

Anne Reeves said...

There is an entire wall like this! I practically need oxygen when I am there. :-)