Trip to Paris 3/7

Wooooooow, the last post was long! 8_8

I'm sorryyy ㅠㅠ I didn't mean to steal your time.. it was just... so much happened!

But fear not! Today's post will be much shorter! 

For our 3rd day in Paris we had decided to go shopping. Yesterday had been hard on our legs and Maria had long been talking about the big malls with tons of famous make-up and clothing brands.

First we went to Sephora and I swear they had everything! They were really nice at helping costumers and there were several booths where you could have your eyebrows, nails, or eye make-up fixed.

At first the stand with "Les Merveilleuses LADURÉE" written on it caught my eyes and as I looked closer I fell in love with these blushes. They looked so delicate and princess'y and the more I look at my pictures, the more I regret not buying myself one while I was there. 

"What Les Merveilleuses Ladurée values the most is the whole expression of the face and believe that the most important part for expression is the cheek area.
In 18th century France, cheek colors that determine the whole expression of the face were the only representational art noble women were allowed to use on their faces to make them look more attractive .
Les Merveilleuses Ladurée’s makeup line is designed to create natural and luxurious makeup for a variety of beautiful expressions in perfect harmony with cheek makeup."

Maria bought a couple of things but I was unfamiliar with all the brands as I tend to use more Korean and Japanese brands and, honestly, they all seemed really pricey. I don't mind paying a little extra for my make-up products if I know they're good. I'd love to try and get one of these blushes some day but I'd want to have read some review on them first to make sure I won't be just paying for the name. 

Sephora was really just an extra stop. Our real mission was to go to a GIGANTIC department store called Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement.

So many things to look at *0* 

Whatever large clothing or make-up brand you could think of was here and there were soooo many people it was almost overwhelming. I believe we went to every floor but there wasn't much cute clothes. In fact, it was all very plain. I found one dress hat I liked and tried on but the colour was too plain. It was mostly white, black, gray, and nude colours without prints or anything. Too mature for us.

But it sure was interesting to walk around in there! Maria also tried on a bunch of concealers but they all were a bit too orangy and dark. I suppose the skintone of many French people is different from ours?

For lunch we went to the floor with food courts and braced ourselves because it'd probably be expensive but no, it wasn't that bad. While Maria had lasagna, I had some mixed salad and a strawberry juice = 11.2 €

(Bad picture quality due to weird lighting)

The salad was okay (I have absolutely no idea what the stuff above the pasta was) and the juice was really great! Yum, exotic juice~

Maria had heard about macarons and was determined to get some. I'd had macarons once, in America, and they were definitely different. Since she had no idea how to order them she was a little nervous. The conversation went sort of like..

Maria: Uhm.. hel-

Worker: Hello and welcome!

Hello, uhm, I'd like to-

These are the infamous macarons made by Pierre Hermé!

Yes, and I'd like to- 

My name is [insert French name here] and I will be serving you today! *bows formally*

Oh.... okay. I'd like to buy some- 
May I take your order?

Yes please, I'd like [...]  

And then he finally let her order. I couldn't help but chuckle at her awkwardness and the worker being so formal. It was great really!

Our last stop before going back to the hotel was H&M. We weren't in there for long though. H&M is Swedish and they are everywhere in Denmark so if we liked something there we could always buy it when we came home. Actually, it was much more expensive here in Paris than back home!

When we came back, Maria google'd this Pierre Hermé guy and read aloud that he is a French pastry chef  famous for his unusual flavor combinations in macarons. He is also dubbed "The Picasso of Pastry" by the French Vogue. 

With our orders we both got a little folder with the different tastes. Maria's bag was the one to the left and mine to the right. 

Maria's:                                                                  Mine:

Pistachio and raspberry                                                               Yogurt and grapefruit

   Rose and rose petals                                                                Rose and rose petals

Yogurt, rose, litchi, and raspberry                                                                Milk chocolate and passion fruit

Uuuuuugh they were so gross! I didn't like the confusion and who would eat flowers?! Nooope, not my thing. Maria on the other hand was pretty impressed except for the one with litchi in because there was a whole berry in the middle.

We were too tired to go to a fancy place for dinner and it hit me "OH MY GAWD I MISS POPCORN CHICKEN FROM KFC!!" so we looked up the nearest KFC on the iPad and went. On our way we discovered a lot of neat-looking restaurants around the Moulin Rouge area. When we passed by, several heads turned so I don't think it was a very tourist'y quarter which also means the food is not overpriced, yay!

Our trashy looking dinner. Need I describe fastfood? I'd actually say the McDonald's we had was much better but I love their fried chicken. They didn't have popcorn chicken though, which was kind of a let down.

Ever since the first day of our stay I had wanted to take a picture of the tiny tiny elevator that we could barely stand in. If we hadn't been intimate before we sure were now. Here you are!

Actually.. the wall was a mirror and is making it look bigger than it actually was. Can you see where it looks like the tiles part? That's where the mirror started .__.

We decided to end today "early" and go home to eat snacks that we bought from a local supermarket. We needed all our energy for the day after!

Here are some goofy pictures we took because who doesn't love some good vacation memories?

 The last thing we did was to apply face masks. I've realized that my skin tends to break out more after flying and the warm weather made our pores clog. You can never be too safe ^0^

Stiff faces! My mask was already dry at the moment so I couldn't smile..

Tips and things to know:

Don't be afraid if it takes some time for the money to go through when you pay with your card (like Mastercard). It should work (at least with Mastercard. I would guess other cards should work too?)

If you do happen to pay with your card, wait for the screen to say "Retirez carte" before removing your card or the transaction won't go through.

H&M is expensive in Paris </3 

You never know how the new environment will affect your skin. Bringing a face mask or two is a great idea to both maintain your looks and relax after a long day.