True story.
I ended up in Paris a couple of years ago with three of my best friends, and it was all Megabus’ fault. Say, what?
The four of us celebrate our friendship at the holidays by traveling together. Typically we go to NYC for a long weekend. In 2017 we had a whirlwind one-day trip planned.
The itinerary typically consists of eating great food, shopping, art, music, sometimes touristy things, other times we have tea with Alec Baldwin and his family. Okay, we didn’t plan on having tea with Alec and Hilaria and the kids, they just happened to sit down at our table. And yes, I know you are supposed to ignore stars in NYC when you see them, but I could not help myself. I had just watched him on SNL the night before and I wanted to acknowledge his brilliance in portraying the former President in the opening skit. So, we talked. Alec knows all about the DMV, he went to school at George Washington. It was a New York moment. We’ve had a ton of them.
Anyhow, back to this particular trip and our last trip on Megabus. Forever.
As I said, we were just going for 16 hours. A long day, but a day. We got up early and got on the bus at o-dark-thirty and hit the ground in NYC at about 7:30 am. We should have known that the trip was cursed from the moment we hit the deer with our car on the way to catch the bus, and then the fight that almost broke out on the bus at 4:3o am.
Despite the rough start we had a great day. It included a long lunch at Gramercy Tavern, Christmas markets, and a carriage ride through Central Park, remember I said we did touristy things sometimes. This happened to be one of those years. We headed back to catch our bus at 8:30 pm. However, the line to catch the bus was stretching over four blocks, people were knee-deep and it was clear that the previous bus didn’t show up. It may have been two bus cycles behind. Clearly we were not getting home that night. Or if we did get home it was going to be some crazy time in the wee early hours of the morning, and what were we going to do for the next four to six hours? Sit on the sidewalk and wait? Nope. Not happening.
With some quick help of technology, and some luck, our day trip now became an overnight getaway. Thankfully the hotel we managed to book (with points – SCORE) was a couple of blocks away from the MASS of Megabus riders waiting. The next day we caught the train back home with a vow never to ride on Megabus again. That meant only one thing – we would be heading somewhere else the following year, and logically, in our minds, that meant Paris. There were some milestone birthdays to celebrate and it just made sense that we should explore across the pond.
On the list of must do’s in the group – exploring a Paris flea market. We wanted a flea with lots of vendors, a great selection of eras, goods and an easy commute to get to. The Marche Vernaison was a perfect fit. It’s access on the No. 4 Métro line to the Porte de Clignancourt is simple and easy to navigate.
Everyone had something they were looking for, except me. I hadn’t really thought about what I wanted. I was pretty mesmerized by the vintage costume shop with historical theater costumes hanging everywhere. Phantom of the Opera may have been playing in the background. Then there was the fancy vintage clothes stall filled with top hats, can-can dresses, ball gowns… my imagination was brimming with what stories those clothes had been party to. I’m guessing they had gone to a few operas, or maybe been someone’s first date of a sordid love affair. Like I said, my imagination was having a GOOD time.
Stall after stall, each one more marvelous than the next. Buttons, lace, dishes, toys, jewelry. About an hour in, I knew what I wanted to search for, a vintage Chanel scarf, at least I thought it was going to be Chanel. That was until I spotted the colors and the pattern on the Christian Dior. The sweet little flowers, with tones of plum and burnt orange all on a neutral gray background. It was perfect. I managed to negotiate (in French, I might add) a deal on the scarf and that was it, I was hooked on vintage accessories. For me they are an easy add to an outfit. Added bonus, they are super easy to pack to bring home. Not like the paintings I bought several trips later. That story will have to wait for another day.
Have I ever dipped my toe into bigger purchases like clothes? I guess you might have to join me at my next shopping trip to Paris.