Hermes Cafe Bon Temps~Good Times Cafe

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#22,351
I popped into H boutique today in Aix-en-Provence. Even though it's tiny they had a nice selection of new stuff which i played with. I asked the SA how long she had been working there, and she said 4 days. i laughed and said I could tell because it took her SO LONG to refold everything to put back, LOL. She was pretty good on the names of everything, though, which even the experienced SAs at my home stores don't often know.
 
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#22,354
Hi everyone! [emoji1327]. I have a question about the Birkin/Kelly tax. It seems every time I make a small purchase, I get offered a bag, but each time it's not quite what I'm looking for and I turn it down. Then there's radio silence. Am I expected to keep buying small items to keep getting offers? I'm not really financially ready to purchase until the end of the year anyway, so should I just maintain radio silence for now? I'm waiting for the perfect Kelly! I will be sad if etain is truly rested as that's what I really want...
Maybe what I really should have done is not gone crazy at the chanel sale and I'd have enough $$ for a Kelly now [emoji13]
 
#22,355
ailoveresale said:
Hi everyone! [emoji1327]. I have a question about the Birkin/Kelly tax. It seems every time I make a small purchase, I get offered a bag, but each time it's not quite what I'm looking for and I turn it down. Then there's radio silence. Am I expected to keep buying small items to keep getting offers? I'm not really financially ready to purchase until the end of the year anyway, so should I just maintain radio silence for now? I'm waiting for the perfect Kelly! I will be sad if etain is truly rested as that's what I really want...
Maybe what I really should have done is not gone crazy at the chanel sale and I'd have enough $$ for a Kelly now [emoji13]
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Go in less frequently but still go in. Just so they know that you are still interested. Even if you don't see anything that you want to buy. And be honest with your SA about what you want and your timing. Although timing is tough with Hermes. If they have what you want you should take it whenever it appears.

My SA at FSH did tell me that etain is slowly being rested so I can't think of a more reliable source than that. There are a lot of new etain bags coming out right now so I think he means soon. Maybe for the fall or next spring. So definitely get your etain Kelly when it's offered. You are good to wait and turn down other things in the meantime.

I'm in the same boat. I like too many pretty thing and they all seem to be limited production and coming at the same time. Im prioritizing the things that are most important to me and not stressing about the other things. If they sell out, I'll live without them. I decided that Chanel was lower priority for me this season especially since most of the pieces aren't a good fit for me.
 
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#22,359
Genie27 said:
No market pics here, but I did visit a cafe/bakery where they made custard tarts right in front of you. They were also the most delicious ones I've ever eaten - crisp flaky pastry and cremel brûlée sweet custard.
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Genie, this looks yummy. Have you been to Portugal before? I have never been. Next summer DD and I are planning a special trip before she goes to college. I would like to go to Spain and Portugal or Italy but her vote is for Japan.
I'm an obsessive planner so I want to get our flights and dates settled by this fall.
I would like Japan too but I'm worried about the flight. I dislike flying so much, but I don't want it to stop me from having an amazing experience. I would love to hear opinions from everyone in the Cafe regarding either location for a late June/ early July trip. We'll have about three weeks.
 
#22,360
I did Rome/Florence last year, and Lisbon/Porto this year. Never been to Spain or Japan, but have done SG/HK/Malaysia/Thailand etc.

My vote is for Portugal - it's beautiful, inexpensive, the food is truly delicious - I would compare it to basic French in quality and taste, and the people are so very warm and friendly. I *loved* it. You could cover Lisbon/Porto and then on to Spain. Or if you/DD are into beaches then the South of Portugal is a great place to start or end up. I'd recommend flying in to one end of your itinerary and then taking trains to your exit point. They are frequent, fast and inexpensive.
 
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#22,361
dharma said:
Genie, this looks yummy. Have you been to Portugal before? I have never been. Next summer DD and I are planning a special trip before she goes to college. I would like to go to Spain and Portugal or Italy but her vote is for Japan.
I'm an obsessive planner so I want to get our flights and dates settled by this fall.
I would like Japan too but I'm worried about the flight. I dislike flying so much, but I don't want it to stop me from having an amazing experience. I would love to hear opinions from everyone in the Cafe regarding either location for a late June/ early July trip. We'll have about three weeks.
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DH and I went to Spain in about 1994. Hit Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Seville, and Valencia. I do wish we had gone to Granda and seen the Alhambra, but we didn't. All the cities had very different vibes in the way that different American cities have different personalities. I especially liked Seville because it had the most interesting architecture. The Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona is amazing. The Prado in Madrid is an excellent art museum. I liked it better than the Louvre. If you go to the Prado, get an English speaking guide. Driving in Spain was very easy. In retrospect, Spain seemed less foreign that some other places. It is like the US except they eat tons of ham; have dinner at 10PM, no breakfast and not much lunch; and they speak Spanish. At the time I had no Spanish, but now I have a couple hundred word Spanish vocabulary and am not freaked out by people speaking Spanish to me. So for me it would be a less stressful destination. If you chose Spain, check out the paradores. The are mostly state owned castles converted to hotels. The Barcelona airport is new and really nice. We flew in there last summer to visit friends.

I think Japan might feel very foreign based on my reading of travel guides and the experiences of my husbands daughter who lived there for a summer. Very dense cities with unreadable street signs. Food that you don't know what you are eating. I think today, there is always someone around who speaks English so maybe it would not be as confusing as I imagine. But all and all, I think Japan would be more stressful on a self guided vacation. The part of Japan I would be most interested in is Kyoto to see the temples and the gardens. Kyokei who used to post on this forum lived in Japan for a while, so you might direct message her and ask for her opinion.

Are you sure that flying to Japan would be worse than flying to Europe? I like over night flights in which I wake up in my destination. I would think you could get a direct flight to Japan.
 
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#22,362
I love Japan and I don't even speak Japanese except for the very basic like hello and thank you. I've been there twice and it will be my third time this August. I've been to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Highly recommended, especially Kyoto.

Japan's big cities are very tourist friendly you will have very little interaction with the locals, aside from cashiers, waiters and hotel staff. Important signs have their English equivalents and if not, you could always use the camera feature of Google Translate to translate texts in pictures for you in real time. You can rent pocket wifi in Tokyo and Osaka, and Google Maps is very helpful in showing what trains to take.

You guys should give Japan a go. It's a very different world. I call Tokyo 'organized chaos' because it's very peopled, very busy, and yet you don't get mugged, you don't see trash anywhere, and there's no heavy traffic.
 
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