Paris: Another Kind Of Pilgrimage

Paris in the Spring brings lots of warm weather. Paris during Easter season also brings pilgrims from around the world to visit its iconic churches, the Sacré Cœur and Notre Dame.

And then there’s another kind of pilgrimage that’s taken by many fashionistas, myself included, who hold Mademoiselle C close to their hearts (or maybe just Chanel handbags clutched to their sides).

So in today’s blog entry I’ll let the photos tell the story of how many CHANEL boutiques a devotee like me can visit to pay homage to a “simple” girl’s idea that became a fashion powerhouse.

First there’s the fine jewelry boutique at Place Vendôme. Then a sprawling (and apparently still expanding) complex on the tony Avenue Montaigne… And yet a few more locations throughout Paris, including the one on rue Royale and those inside the large department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps.

But no pilgrimage is complete until one reaches the mothership on rue Cambon, where fantasies begin in the window and don’t stop especially after you enter its landmark front door... or exit its sprawling space because as you stroll past the boutique, you wonder if perhaps you’re not also walking in the footsteps of Mademoiselle C who once walked down this same path, with visions of the next season’s collection percolating in her mind.

April 25, 2011