A PARIS BUCKET LIST

This time next month, I will be checking off one of my bucket list items ....

being in Paris during the Christmas season.

As you all know, Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world but I hear that at Christmas, the city is utterly magic. I have always dreamed of being under it's spell at this special time of the year and luckily for the first week, a very good friend will be joining me to share in this experience.

Now, the weather will be a little cooler than I have experienced in Paris previously as this is the first time I will be there in the winter. This lovely illustration is from the Vogue Magazine archives. I still wish Vogue had more cover illustrations like this as opposed to all the Hollywood starlets, don't you?

This little scooter is also on my bucket list. I have wanted one of these little modes of transportation since I first laid eyes on them on the streets of Paris. Could you not cover more territory in this fair city if you had wheels on your feet?

"You're too old", my son says. "You'll kill yourself."

How could I kill myself? I'm only 2 inches off the ground!?! I will get one of these.

You just watch me.

Also on my wish list is to eat at the famous little Café des Deux Moulins on 15 rue Lepic. This is the café where Amelie worked in one of the quirkiest little movies ever and a "must see" if you love Paris. I hear the café is touristy but once during any trip to Paris, you must allow yourself one moment of pure kitschy delight.

Another little must-do is to buy some beautiful flowers for my apartment from one of the many flower shops in Paris. This little gem along rue du Bac is another of my favorite stops. Don't you love how they scatter the rose petals on the sidewalk outside their shop? I have seen some shops with sod outside the doors so you feel like you are entering a garden.

I wonder how they decorate at Christmas time?

Of course, window shopping is always a "must do" in Paris and if you are carrying a animal print tote and wearing Repetto flats, you are fashionable as well. The bucket list item in this case will be seeing all the windows and retail stores decorated to the nines for Christmas.

The Parisians phrase for window shopping is translated to "licking the windows". Isn't that wonderful? In my country it's called drooling. Whatever you call it, there will be lots of time spent gazing through the glass of all the retail emporiums.

Okay .... this is one of my all-time favorite activities in Paris and will always remain on my bucket list until I get café sitting down to an art.

Les Deux Magots is an expensive place to have a cup of coffee or a glass of champagne but when you sit for hours watching all the stylish Parisian women and the handsome French men stroll by, it is less pricey than going to a movie. I love the waiters and the ambience of this very special Parisian institution. It's just such a great place to watch the world go by.

If you haven't been to Monoprix in Paris, it's a must go. It's a department store like "Target" in the North America but way better. When I was in Paris last May, they were just getting ready to open an upscale Monoprix on rue du Bac. The press was everywhere covering a preliminary "look-see" of the new store and the grand opening was scheduled the day I would be on the plane heading back to Toronto.

These are a few of my Parisian "bucket list" items. I'm forever adding new experiences to my list, both big and small. I don't want to miss anything.

If there are special places or things to do in Paris that you have loved or would like to see, let me know in your comments.

I crave new ideas and will gladly share your recommendations

with pictures in my blog when I'm in Paris.

That way .... you can come along!