on the road again: plans, packing and zero-sum shopping

Remember Mr. Creosote?

This is the immortal Fernand Point,
who started it all

so, we leave a week from today. Once again, Brussels (2 dinners), train, Paris (5 dinners, some lunches as well, including Spring, about time!), on the road, Mionnay (1 dinner), Lyon (2 dinners), on the road, Nice (2 dinners), Monte Carlo (1 dinner). Think that's it. Some more lunches while on the road, possibly. Um, naturally. October is game season, you never know what you'll find.

Hmm, just realized that Mr. Creosote and Fernand Point may have been separated at birth! How appropriate for trip planning!

Checking weather forecasts obsessively, and it seems that at this time of year, France is like New York, in that nowhere on this expedition south does it look like one day will have remotely the same climate as the next. I feel like I'm packing for a Girl Scout sleep-out - what if it's cold? rainy? pouring? warm? hot? humid? dry? Be prepared! - only with what I hope are cooler outfits. So far have decided to bring the famous Donna Karan cashmere wrap coat and a raincoat. Which raincoat is where indecision and neurosis have a party.  A short raincoat packs better, is better in cars; a long raincoat is heavier, but better on city streets, where there are splashes from thoughtless cars and busses, and nicer over a dress.

Restaurant dress: for hot weather, the blue silk print from last spring's trip plus that green lace vest. The vest works really well with the undertones in the blue print and that vee neck in real life needs a little cover. For cooler nights, have had an old dark red paisley wool challis dress updated; reset the shoulders - have decided I won't live long enough to welcome the return of pouffy shoulders and if I do I'll want new stuff anyway. Re-cut the neck - don't like turtlenecks in restos, now it's a high vee, good for necklaces. Or a little chain. Hemmed to mid-calf. I love it. Bought it a dark blue sparkly belt that picks up some of the blue bits in the paisley. I could hear it saying Merci!



On the road: jeans, tees, jacket as needed. City daywear: dark jeans or black slacks, silk shirts, blazer (ahem, a blazer is a jacket that has lapels, a collar, sleeves, and buttons and buttonholes). And my gorgeous Chie Mihara shoes, which - guess what? are comfortable!

the Chies I'm
thinking about

the Chies I have -
black, brown, taupe

Thinking of getting a second pair of Chie lace-ups (different colors, different pattern). I know they cost a bomb, but not having a pained expression on my face from aching feet will make me look years younger and more energetic, much more so than, say, a jacket whose partial lining gives rise to worry. My mom used to say that nothing makes your face look old like aching feet, and nothing makes you sound old like talking about how your feet hurt, so enough of the shoe/foot conversation.  Update: bought the Chies - they were marked down by 30% while I dithered - and am taking some other merch back to stores ! Zero-sum shopping?

A thought: at the end of October, Nice will be winding down for the winter but still warm, so I might finally get to wear my "flame" orange-red paisley skirt. And not a moment too soon! After thumping self on back in triumph for snagging this beauty before it sold out, there wasn't one occasion all summer for which it was suitable. OK, that skirt is coming along to earn its keep. Hah. Have made Some Progress. Now it is time for a rest. Oops, just realized I never finished the posts about the lovely meals we had in Seattle and San Francisco week before last. Bad blogger. Back to work.