Four more weeks until our
mother/daughter trip to Paris!

My daughter and I travel well together. We both like to do the same sort of things (generally), we love to try new restaurants, we tend to pace our days of wandering at about the same speed, we enjoy just hanging out either in a cafe or in a rented apartment. We’ve been to Paris together twice, so why not go again? Yes, it was supposed to be Rome in September but since that didn’t work out we immediately started planning a trip back to our favorite city. Lest you think we have totally ignored my husband: not so. He chose not to come and encouraged us to go!

But I’ve never been in the cool weather! All my trips to France have been in September or May (well, one in July and never again…) so, of course, wardrobe planning became essential. Last week you read about my boot story.
Here I’ve put together a quickie collage of some of my choices for this upcoming trip:

Paris Wardrobe_wm

I won’t go through the entire list of everything shown above, but I’ll highlight some of my purchases and identify by # number.

  • Let’s start with the coat. It could be rainy. It could be chilly. Or both. And, it might even be warm(ish)….My first thought was to take a lightweight quilted down coat.
    These from Uniqlo (below) were at the top of my list.
    But then, no, they just might be too warm. Uniqlo Coats

While walking through Nordstrom I spotted the black raincoat (#1.) It’s medium weight, fitted, A-line (I don’t like belts), has a detachable hood, and folds up nicely. Bingo! That was it for me.

  • A poncho. I’m very on the fence about this item. It seems SO trendy to me. The ones I like are generally so expensive and the others well….. they either have a fringe (no, for me) or a Southwest or a hippy vibe (again, no for me.) Until I found this one, #4 at Pure Collection.  Please note that it is on sale now for $148 instead of $198: so get your mouse moving and order one! It arrives in about a week and I can’t wait. It does seem so versatile, not too heavy, perfect for travel and I like this basic color feel.
  • A comfortable top. This one, #1. from Garnet Hill, is wonderful. I bought it last year and love it. Comfy. Great with leggings and boots. Any scarf or necklace. I have it in the Graphite.
  • The boots you read about last week in Talking About Boots.
  • Shoes. I just cannot go and not take at least one pair of shoes. But, due to the “orthotic issue” (read…comfortable feet!) this has become a problem. A simple trip out in Paris involves so much more walking than I (and my feet) are accustomed to. I have searched high and low and tried on so many flats. I ordered these, #8. from Vionic and so far, so good. I’m wearing them around the house endlessly and I think they are keepers. For those of you with orthotics, these shoes will allow you to wear them and not have your foot come out. Be sure to order down one size!
  • Leggings. In addition to black jeans, these are essential. I have several pairs in black but might get these in indigo from J.Jill.
  • Camisole. Do you wear camisoles? I wear one every.single.day. Most, of course, have spaghetti straps. But this brand, Shimera, is a one-piece, reversible front to back, seamless stretch camisole. It is, by far, my favorite. And the colors are fun and fabulous!

We would all love to know your choices for cool weather travel to Europe: what works and what doesn’t. Do you have any tips and tricks we should know about?

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