It’s only Wednesday night and I already feel like this week has passed me by. I finally had a chance to review my notes from our trip—they’re all just random observations from our travels abroad. I made sure to document what I was seeing fashion and beauty wise too, because I always notice what people wear, their hair and makeup no matter where I am!
Before we left for our trip, my H’s awesome mom and dad gave us this cute “Paris” box. Right now it’s full of ticket stubs, tour books and other little things from our trip:
…and my messy, barely-legible notes
(I have the worst writing ever, I should have been a doctor
because I can scribble awesomely like docs do on prescription pads):
My observations of Paris:
- I saw a lot of UGGS, black leather (flat) boots, and ankle booties
- Everything decor-wise is over the top and luxurious—store windows, streets, displays—it’s all beautiful and lavish
- People have a more simple approach to fashion—it was cold so I was obviously seeing people in outerwear, but most of the time people dressed very basically, which surprised me
- The shopping is wonderful—pricey (not as pricey as London) but like I said in my previous entry, I was more of a window shopper abroad
- I didn’t notice gyms anywhere—people walk everywhere and take the subway—so people there look pretty fit
- Families dined out together, even later at night, even with young children
- People helped each other park their cars—there is so little parking on the teeny streets that people would actually get out of their cars and help direct someone in a parallel park—it was lovely!
- Most women there don’t wear a lot of makeup (if any at all) the girls who did wear makeup favored black liner just on the top lid…I also didn’t see a lot of women there who appeared to be wearing a base (foundation)
- I didn’t see a lot of women with noticeably styled hair—but like I said, it was winter so a lot of people were wearing hats
- Monoprix is a great little Walgreens type store (but they have clothes too) I bought a lot of candy there!
- Versailles is beautiful—but nothing like the Sofia-Coopola produced film (I mean that the rooms aren’t all set up like the sets used for the film) but the outdoor and some indoor shots of Versailles were filmed there so those are accurate
- We walked everywhere—and it was such a great workout and helped me burn tons of calories since I was eating yummy calorie-full foods all day
- Flameful—we ate at McDonalds—yep! So did everyone else. It was sometimes the cheapest and most convenient options between all of the touristy stuff we were doing. McDonalds are everywhere and they are always PACKED (and not just with tourists!)
- Services takes forever at restaurants. Forever.
My Observations of London:
- Everything is really expensive—like really expensive. I don’t get how people afford to buy things there! Even TopShop prices surprised me!
- People are VERY stylish—especially the women. It was like a walking fashion parade on every street. It was awesome.
- The women in London pay a lot of attention to appearance—styled hair, nails always done, makeup, and a great outfit (for the most part)
- A lot of women carry designer bags—I’m used to seeing designer bags here in Houston, but in London it seemed like everyone was carrying one. It was all about designer labels.
- The women there have the longest lashes. Everywhere I went it was like lash fest 2010. I don’t know if they have magical mascaras there or if the lash extension craze is happening—but they were LONG.
- I saw a lot of girls wearing dresses (or even shorts) with tights
- Tons of UGG boots, Hunter boots and heels/booties and other flat boots
- Westminister Abbey is a must-see—I was taken aback and blown away by the entire experience of being there. It was by far the best part of my trip.
- Lots of girls wore hair accessories—headbands with big flowers, bows or sequins and hats
- Some girls, despite the cold wore lightweight blazers over loose tees with leggings or skinny jeans and long necklaces
- People wore scarves—from chunky ones to light ones
- The streets are always busy—especially in the shopping areas, you’d never know the country was in a recession!
- Some girls had noticeable tans—which makes me think spray tans are common there
- The Only Way is Essex (“The Hills” of the UK) is awesomely addicting
- All of the girls I saw were wearing earrings—2 piercings in the ears are still popular there (2 holes in each ear)
- Overall, the women weren’t afraid to be bold with their fashion and accessory choices and it made for some awesome people-watching
- Services takes forever at restaurants. Forever.
As you can probably tell—although we absolutely LOVED Paris, we loved London more. It’s just got this vibe and atmosphere to it that I can’t quite define. My H and I both want to move there! There’s just something about it.
We would love to go back to London since we didn’t spend a lot of time there so we can see all of the attractions we missed. We would definitely aim for a summertime vacation to enjoy the city in the warmer weather.
I know my notes were kind of all over the place but I hope they were a fun read! I LOVE to people-watch, so London was especially awesome because there was style everywhere you looked.
xoxo,
Veronika.
We did a similar trip in 2007, almost a week in Paris and only a day or two in London. I loved London and thought it was so incredibly clean but I loved Paris so so much more. It was my fave place, and still is. I'd move there if I could.
I also noticed none of the women in Paris wearing much make up or doing their hair. Rome was the exact same way. Everybody was very natural (and this was in September when it was still nice).
I also share your love for London. It was our favorite European city and I cried like a baby when we left. And yes, everybody looked FAB there!
Glad you had a safe trip!
My husband and I spent a lot of time in Europe, and we also enjoyed London more than Paris. Personally, I think Paris is a bit overrated (not that there aren't beautiful things to see there, but I just preferred London).
Wow, thank you for the observations V! As someone who dreams of visiting Europe, your notes have allowed me to vicariously live through your eyes. Although I still want to go to Paris one day, London is now on that list too!
how fun!! i'm dying to go also. love your notes 🙂
Thanks for the report. I have to say though that when we were in London this summer I didn't think things were that expensive at all. The only place where prices shocked me was Liberty of London. I couldn't see spending $600+ for a scarf there. I guess that explains the popularity of the Target line.
Ahhh your recap and pics make me want to go to Europe so bad! Glad you enjoyed your trip!
I've been reading your blog for quite some time and you should know that you inspire an awful lot of shopping for me! I've been known to run to F21 or Charlotte Russe to pick up some of the fab pieces that you find on your shopping excursions. My husband even asks now "are we going to the mall because you read those blogs again?" HAHA!
I just started my own blog, so any advice would be much appreciated! 🙂
The same happened to me, I liked Paris a lot, but fell in love with London
We loved both London and Paris when we went… Paris in Dec '09 and London earlier this year. There's definitely a certain "look" that European gals tends to follow. They don't wash their hair as often, extensions are all the rage, the long lashes you saw were probably fake (everyone wears them, and I mean everyone and sometimes even several layers at a time a la Katie Price!). Tights are a must – even in the summer and they wear them with shorts. Spray tanning is all the rage and it's terrible, I've never seen so many orange people in my life! They don't get enough sun to tan and there's no huge tanning salons like we have here so they opt for sprays and lotions. London's pub scene and tourist attractions are so much fun, but very different from Paris. I think London's a bit more casual. Can't tell you how many Mickey D's and Burger Kings we ate at while traveling! It truly is the easiest option sometimes and you're right, they are ALWAYS crowded. We waited in line for about 20 min at a McDonald's directly across from the Pantheon in ROME!!!! So glad that you guys made it over there sans too terrible weather!
Thanks for sharing! That story about Parisians helping each other park is so cute.
I've only been to London but I absolutely loved it. I remember how costly it was – breakfast for our family of four was around $200 every morning! But it was gorgeous. I can't wait to go back.
Great notes – I love concrete examples! I haven't been to Paris, but I have relatives in London that I see occasionally. 😉
LOL im glad you liked it and yes service takes FOREVER here. Its like 20 min before you even get asked if you want a drink or menu!!!
I agree with what you said.. but I have a rather bitchy observation. I think the reason we wear a lot of make-up here in london compared to Paris is because the people are uglier and NEED more!!! I feel like the Paris women are naturally more beautiful and groomed. In the UK the fake lashes, 10kg make-up, fake tan is needed so they dont scare you! 😉
I have heard that French women aren't all into getting so dolled up like Americans are , or maybe I should say NYers. London sounds like NYC, though.
I just came back from a business trip in Paris and noticed a lot of these things too. It's so fascinating to me how differently people live in different countries than in America. The parisian women I worked with also informed me that most of them consider Americans to be overweight and overworked! Nice to know, haha.
https://mardenfamily.blogspot.com
Thanks so much for the recap, Veronika!! I am glad you guys had a great time. It was nice to hear about your experience and what you liked/didn't like. My H and I have not been to Europe yet, but hearing your feedback will help us decide where to visit when we do travel over there. Welcome back!
Super fun to read! Thanks for sharing!
Great post V! I love people watching 🙂 Can't wait to go back to Europe, soon hopefully.
Thanks so much for this post!! My fiance and I are going to Paris and London this summer for our honeymoom and now I'm looking forward to it even more. Honestly, I was nervouse about what I should take with me because I figured all the women in Paris would be beautifully dressed. It's great to hear that it's a little bit more relaxed than I expected. Oh, and just FYI…I know a couple of months back you were looking for the Urban Decay Naked Palette. It's currently in stock at sephora.com…I just placed my order because I also missed out on it when it first came out. Hope you are able to grab it if you haven't already! 🙂
london is my fave int'l city but i hate it's the 2nd most expensive city.
i didn't even think ab the lack of gyms!
and i love the memory box!!
I don't know why the person above said London is the 2nd most expensive city in the world…I don't think it's even in the top 10. However, I will agree it is expensive overall, but CAN be done on the budget.
Like other posters mentioned, the French are known for the non fussy beauty. I actually like it.
It seems like you disliked the "slow" service. I personally love it! I've lived in Europe 3x and that's one of the things I miss about the lifestyle. Here, some restaurants bring you the bill before you've even ate half your meal. If you linger too long, the waiters keep coming back over and over "anything else? anything else?" But in Europe? There's no rush. Just enjoy life. Love it.
LOVE london!! soo glad you two had fun!
i loved this review!!! thank you for sharing.
I'm with you…London is amazing! Next time you're there, try to make time to visit Bath. It's a couple of hours from London and it is a beautiful little city with wonderful people. I studied there for a semester in college and loved every minute of it.
@anon- i think you are right i did a quick internet search and looks like both London and Paris are higher than 15th ranking in most expensive cities- that's really scary then! must be really hard to leave in the other 15 cities.
@Veronika i just read your new year's goals posts and one is to be more patient . . . so i'm thinking your impatience might have biased a bit your opinion about service taking forever in french restaurants. i think it's because the french (okay making broad generalization here) seem to appreciate an enjoyably long meal but if you are in a french restaurant and need to go you just have to speak up because they most likely won't bring you the bill you need to take charge and ask- and be a little patient :p.
It's so interesting to see what others think of London when they come to visit. I actually always think of us as being relatively casual, so it is really refreshing to see it from the other side!
Thanks so much for this post! I was supposed to go to London over Christmas with my husband but our trip had to be cancelled due to weather. We are going in the Spring now and I'm glad to have your take on what you were seeing everyone wear over there. Also, I've been to London twice myself and if you need any suggestions I would love to help you out. I think its the best city in the world and was also surprised when I liked it better than Paris too.
I've been following your blog for awhile and you inspired me to start my own. Have a look if you get a chance. ~Crystal
We felt the same way about London. It is just an amazing place to visit. I told my husband I'd love to live there. We didn't have a lot of time there so I would love to visit again soon! The fashion there amazed me. People were dressed to the nines just to eat dinner.
Don't get me wrong, Paris was great, but London has my heart!