Visit to Chanel at 31, Rue Cambon
Anyone who knows me will know that Chanel has been my fantasy for a very long time. I can probably blame my mum for this one and her love of Chanel No.5 as her evening fragrance. I always wanted to keep the shiny box it came it. I’ve not changed, even now, with my own bottles of scent, I keep the packaging. Why would you want to throw something away made for Chanel?!
So, one of our my major objectives of our sejour en Paris the weekend of Paris Fashion Week was to take a trip to Rue Cambon, the home of Chanel since 1910. It is also home to the atelier, right at the very top of this magnificent building, where those incredible seamstresses busy themselves with needles and threads and beads and buttons and lacemaking all day long. If you haven’t yet seen it, try to watch Signe Chanel, a documentary all about the modern day workings of the Chanel atelier, right here on Rue Cambon. It’s truly fascinating and I’d love to watch it over and over….(but I can’t because I loaned my DVD to a friend and they haven’t returned it, even after prompting and quite frankly, I am upset that I no longer have this beautiful film to watch. I’m moving on.)
If this Chanel boutique didn’t have the history associated with it, it’s likely we wouldn’t have stopped by. I’ve been into Chanel before, and of course, its beautiful and an experience but there is something about the memories and the history of Chanel that makes it so much more magical. I was anxious about walking into the shop. It was busy, there were so many ladies trying on jewellery, shoes and bags, but the staff were so friendly and kind and attentive, of course! Looking at and touching the most beautiful garments of clothes was like a dream come true (besides owning them but that’s in a different life, I expect). It was like being in an art gallery. And since watching the Signe Chanel DVD, whilst wandering around, all I could think about were the seamstresses upstairs finalising the Autumn/Winter Collection to be shown today….if I could have been a fly on the wall.
My lovely husband said it wouldn’t have been right to have come all this way and not to have made a purchase (I know. He actually said those words) so after suggesting a bag and being duly refused and told to get a grip (he didn’t say that but it would have been comical if he had) I spent 10 minutes picking out some cosmetics and perfume. Even purchasing these smaller goods, you receive the best customer service from beautifully groomed Chanel assistants wearing navy and cream boucle suits. Handing me a white bag, with a little white ribbon and a white Camelia attached gracefully to the bag, shining like a beacon made me the happiest little girl in Paris. Little did I know what was about to happen next…..
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Hey! I know this is quite old now but, What happened next? I really enjoyed reading about your visit to Rue Cambon and I’m feeling really curious 😀 (couldn’t find another post on the issue)