My niece, my sister, my mom and my grandmother are currently enjoying a four-generations holiday in Paris. I have one word: Jelly!
While they are strutting their stuff down the Champs-Élysées, all I can do while sitting at my desk is browse pictures of the beautiful city on my
Pinterest boards. Le sigh.
Cheska in fact lived in Paris a few years ago, and, as it happens when you live somewhere, she experienced the city in ways that visitors and tourists can't. Here's what she wrote during her first few weeks after moving there...
"
Apparently I am moving in the right circles … Today I shopped with Karl Lagerfeld. Perhaps the word “shopped” is an exaggeration, I more stood next to him or actually, I am trying to be honest here, I saw him in the corner of the shop that I was in and we were within about two meters of each other. I think that any closer I would have looked like a stalker and although photos, autographs, etc. etc. did enter my mind I decided to take the approach of “I know who he is, but really so what, I see these sorts of people and mix in these circles all the time”. Realistically though, I don’t.
BUT at 18.00 on Wednesday in Paris he and I were in the same shop. His designs are sold in it and I ogle over the things in it, which I can’t afford. He wore his black too tight suit (I saw more him than one would have expected in this situation, yes the suit is that tight), his grey hair tied back in a ponytail and his sunglasses on, I wore H&M jeans and a Woolies T-shirt. He has the security guards looking out for him and as I pull out my cell phone to excitedly text my family members the same security guards checked I was not taking a photo! I didn’t want to leave and seriously contemplated staying … perhaps he would come up to me and say, “You, you normal sized, H&M wearing, no make up girl, you will be my next model and my inspiration and have any fashion job you would like”. But once again I decided to be realistic (way more boring) and headed out, after taking one more glance … (to give him a second chance!).
Suddenly I feel an excitement about this city, as I strolled home through the Jardin des Tuileries, I feel that this is what Paris is suppose to be and after all Karl Lagerfeld, wearing his signature attire, is in Paris … how can one not find it fabulous? Although it does bother me somewhat that I have gotten so excited about a 69 year old man in too tight pants!"
Some say this may have been a defining moment in Cheska's life and she twirled into the fashion industries of London and South Africa. (Ps. Next to her bed, amongst framed photos of her family, there is a picture of Karl himself!)
