Let's see, how do I show two 18 year olds another side of the fashions of Paris? We have been to Galeries LaFayette and Printemps, walked down Blvd. Haussmann and the Champs Elysee, and they went to several boutiques, H&M, Jennyfer, and even the clothing stalls at the local market, so now what? When Grandma was here we were treated to a fashion show, but it is not the season apparently. But where can I find a living fashion show?

How about Angelina's Tea Room on the Place de Concorde. Grandma and I went in January and had a great lunch there, and it is a great place to watch people. It is such an elegant tea house and truly feels like Paris when you are inside. The murals are amazing, the quiche and omelets are really good and affordable, and this time we tried one of their famous desserts. It is a snowball made of hazelnut cream, covered in some kind of chocolate-cinnamon mix that can only be described as having a cookie dough texture. And it is not nearly as sweet as it looks. The first bite was interesting, the next bites were excellent! Apparently, they also have a hot chocolate, where they basically serve a melted chocolate bar in a cup, a pitcher of cream and a ramekin of whipped cream on the side. It looked heavenly, but I bet it is sweet. I had their coffee and cream and it was really good.

So, back to fashion...Well we thought we were on our way to the Musee de la Mode et du Textile, which is across the street from Angelina, but we instead followed the building numbers all the way back to Hotel de Ville (several blocks away). Why? Because all the even number are on one side of the street, (not so strange - right?) and run in one direction - good so far... but the odd numbers on the other side of the street --- run IN THE OTHER DIRECTION! We were following the even numbers up - while the odd numbers were going DOWN and we needed to be going UP in the ODD direction. Makes perfect sense right? Mais oui. Bien sur.

So we were too late to see the Musee de la Mode et du Textile, which closes at 6:00, but that's okay because we really wanted to see Musee de la Mode et du Costume which is across town anyway. So many French words and they are all so similar -- and add to that there are so many museums!!! It can get a little confusing at times. So instead, we went to the Centre Pompidou -Center of Modern Art in Paris, which is open until 9:00. How convenient.

You really must check out at the photo of this building, the website opening page does a great job of showing you how complicated it is. Inside the art is moyenne, as my 5-year-old neighbor Tristan would say - that means average, but he means he doesn't really like it! I always struggle with appreciating modern art, I guess I just don't have the art gene like my Mom and my sister Kelly. But the building is really interesting and I was really happy to get a good excuse to explore it. By 8 p.m. we were ready to head back the RER A and soak our feet after a long day.

And what about the hunt for fashion? Never fear, fashion will be searched for and found. Today, while I am here writing this blog, Des and Ash are off to explore the fashion museums of Paris, and I will save that adventure for another time.