Hidden Arc de Triomphe and more adventures in shopping

Yesterday on my day off durng the week, I met up with Monica and Mariel for some more bargain hunting!

• In case I haven't mentioned it before, the goal is to stock up on as much Paris fashion as possible (and within budget) before going back home!

We went to this area about 10 minutes away from my place (by metro) called Strasbourg St. Denis, where there are a ton of shops that sell clothes wholesale, and a few out of those also sell retail for awesome prices (if you go at the right time).

We went at the right time, and here's a good demonstration of how great the shopping was: Monica bought both a winter coat AND a cocktail dress for...can you guess?

22 euros. That's right. The coat alone would have been quadruple that price in a normal store.

And I ended up with a beautiful scarf for myself and a lovely souvenir for my mom! :D

In that same district, I found some interesting things that you can't read about in any brochure about Paris...


First of all, there's another Arc de Triomphe! It's called the Arc de Triomphe de la
PORTE SAINT-DENIS, and it's older than the more famous one at the end of the Champs-Élysées (it actually was a source of inspiration behind the famous one too!). It was commissioned by King Louis XIV to commemorate his military victories, and it symbolically marked one of the entrances to 17th-century Paris. There's also another arch in the same area, but the Saint-Denis one is prettier. :)


And the other interesting thing I learned: that shopping district is also a kind of red-light district! I saw a few ladies hanging out on various corners as we were hunting for more stores. I can't say I was expecting to find women like that at 11am, but what really struck me as odd was how obvious they were. I know they have to promote their business (so to speak), but I thought the point was to be discreet at the same time. Maybe there's a policy of tolerance in Paris. Who knows.


On an unrelated note, Sciences-Po had a little bit of a scare yesterday morning because of a bomb threat at one of the main buildings. But there's no need to worry because it's already been taken care of and classes were back to normal by the early afternoon. In fact, when the police came to check it out, they even brought in dogs and found nothing on campus. I haven't heard where the threat originated from, but the good thing is that nothing happened, and things were back to normal today.

As for me, I'm coming to the end of my work at Sciences-Po! I have one more exposé to present and one final exam and then I'm done. YESSSSSS!!!

Bisous XOXO