I Prefer Paris: SundaysFridays with Polly & Richard: Printemps

I cannot tell a lie (except about my age): we had our outing this month on Friday instead of Sunday. I am booked with tours the next three Sundays in June.

I read that Printemps was having a special event this month called Beaute Rare and had a rooftop spa that was giving free 15-minute massages. As you know, I am never one to pass up an opportunity for a free massage, so I called Polly and before I even finished the sentence “ They’re giving free, …” she resoundingly said “YES! Let’s do it! It’s just what I need”.

We decided to meet right at 12PM when they opened, so we could be the first ones and not have to wait. I called Polly from my cell at 12:05 to tell her I was in front of the store and would be up in 5 minutes. I climbed 9 escalators only to find out I was in the wrong building and after much running, cursing, and panting to find the right rooftop, I found Polly 20 minutes later patiently waiting.

The Terrake spa, set in a makeshift bamboo garden with luscious ferns, and potted palms, looked so inviting and serene. We told the woman at the desk we were there for the free massage and with a look of “ you are so naïve, you and about another 5,000 suckers want one too”, said they were fully booked for all massages including the ones you pay for until June 21, when the spa closed. We were crushed. What a bust. My massage hungry body, which was screaming to be rubbed after my running, cursing, and panting experience, was trés disappointed. We pouted like five-year-old children being told they were out of their favorite ice cream flavor. Just to be polite, she asked if we wanted to put our names and phone numbers on the waiting list and they would call if they had cancellations. Yeah, right! Like someone would give up a free massage. Between you and me, the odds of us winning the 30
million euro lottery are much greater.

We regrouped and decided to have an early lunch. It was a beautiful, crisp day with dramatic clouds and sun covering the sky. The big secret about Printemps rooftop is it has one of the best 360-degree views of Paris and the Opera, Madeleine, Eiffel Tower, and Sacre Coeur looked majestic from the expansive view. It was also great to see the detailing of the turrets and towers of Printemps and Galeries Lafayette close up. We snapped away our cameras for a few minutes and decided on lunch at the le Deli-cieux, a white modern self serve style restaurant. The menu looked promising and I ordered chicken with Mascarpone whipped potatoes and Polly, grilled salmon with haricot verts. Once we were served, we realized it was a dressed up school cafeteria and the food had all the taste of hospital food. On top of it, it was way overpriced. My 14-euro chicken was plain and the Mascarpone nowhere to be tasted and Polly’s salmon was greasy and the haricot verts drowned in butter. Thank god the great view and engaging conversation distracted us. Bust # 2!

After trying to digest the poor excuse of a meal, Polly said she immediately needed a coffee to cut the grease. She asked if I had ever been to the Brasserie on the sixth floor and I said I hadn’t. Polly whisked me downstairs and said I had to experience it once in this lifetime. Before me was a sprawling, dramatic multi-colored dome ceiling with a huge pink ball suspended from it. We sat on some cool, Jetson-style gray leather lounge chairs and sipped our coffee, taking in the colors and décor of this fabulous room. I found out another well kept secret about Printemps: they serve Angelina’s hot chocolate. Now you have a much chicer place to indulge in the world’s most decadent hot chocolate with a great view to boot.

We were still itching to do one more thing that would give us some sense of fulfillment and both agreed browsing the shoe department would do that. I used to sell ladies shoes at Bergdorf Goodman in the early 80’s and still have an appreciation for gorgeous shoes. We oo’ed and ahh’ed at latest Barbara Bui, Ferragamo, Fratelli Rosetti, and Chanel summer styles and Polly tried to justify buying an expensive pair of handsome, luggage colored sling-backs. Alas, reason took over, which rarely does when you put women in the shoe department, and she decided to wait a few weeks till they went on sale. Boy, talk about willpower! I was just about to take a picture of an outrageous short black boot decorated with hundreds of glass beads, when a cute, young but haughty salesman said it was forbidden take a photo of these limited-edition (only 97 pairs in the entire world) babies at 1790 euros a pop. That’s a mortgage/rent payment for most of us plain folk but then again some of us have been known to buy shoes instead of paying rent.

Our last moments were spent taking photos of the windows with innovative sculptures showing off the store’s beauty products. . We keep on forgetting to take pictures of us on our outings, although I think Polly forgets on purpose because she doesn’t love the way she photographs. Polly found a clever way to get our picture without taking a full on one. Let us know how you like it.

Even though our attempts at massage and lunch were a failure, spending the afternoon with Polly is still one of the most fun things I can do. Now read what Polly had to say about our Friday at Printemps.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com