Back home... Here is my lengthy tale (no B/K/C involved!):
My 10-year old and I spent the 5 days in Paris (Mon-Fri). This trip was mainly to show my boy some major pieces of art as well as to walk around and sample different quartiers of the city. I did zero shopping with the exception of trying for appointments at Hermes on Tues, Wed, and Thurs - with no luck. I also sent an e-mail to the lovely SA who assisted me in March but didn't get an answer. Not being deterred by these rejections, my boy and I went to FSH around 11 a.m. on Thursday. The SA I had tried to contact was there serving another customer. Once she noticed me, she came over almost immediately and explained that it was her first day back at work after a brief vacation (hence no answer to my mail). She sent a young SA over to me who turned out to be truly wonderful. First of all, I looked at various leather bracelets. Only slim pickings, the drawers were practically empty. I settled on a Behapi (rouge de coeur/ bleu indigo, gold hardware), we then turned to twillies and silk scarves. The young SA had a real knack at picking colours that suited me. After some deliberation, I picked one of each as well as a silver scarf ring and a small silk pocket square for my boy. All this took more than an hour, and we were offered drinks. The scarf section was busy but not overly so.
On to SLGs (and a new SA) where I looked for a Calvi (available colours: ebene, gold, rouge de coeur, lime, cactus). I was tempted and torn between cactus in evercolor and gold in epsom (chose gold in the end). This part of the store was much busier (with less SA) and there were a couple of customers lining up/ waiting. I had explained that to my initial SA that I had not been able to secure an appointment at the leather department. She took me over to the leather hostesses who checked the system whether I indeed had tried repeatedly as claimed (which, of course, I had). I did mention that I was not after a Birkin or Kelly. I was asked to wait for half an hour for a SA to see me. #happydance My boy and I took the opportunity to browse the display cases and discretely observe other customers (numerous French followed by Americans, Japanese, and Chinese). The leather hostesses were approached by quite a few customers without appointments. All of them were politely but firmly turned away and asked to try Sevre and/or George V.
After about 20 minutes I received a text message and was allocated yet another SA, a beautiful young lady. I asked for an Evelyne PM or GM in etoupe, bleu nuit or raisin and/ or a Double Sense 45 preferably one side bright, one side neutral, no reds/pinks. We were served another drink, and then the SA went away for several minutes. She came back with three large boxes: Eve PM in etoupe, Eve GM in blue nuit, and Double Sense in etoupe/ bleu nuit. First, she opened the box with the Eve PM in etoupe, and I tried it on. Prior to Thursday I had been convinced that I wanted an Eve in etoupe. However, then the lid of the box with the Eve GM was lifted, and what can I say - bleu nuit really took my breath away. I was able to try on both bags and preferred the GM for that little bit of extra room. The SA then proceeded to suggest multiple different colours in that size to choose from (among them noir, rouge tomate, etain, gold, vert sage). I asked to see etain but, ultimately, really, REALLY preferred bleu nuit. On to the Double Sense - again, multiple color combinations were offered (at least 5 including bambou/ vert fonce which tempted me). While modelling the bags and pondering which to buy (both would have been possible and also affordable, but IMO still excessive, which I try to avoid), I animatedly chatted with my SA seemingly about everything under the sun. She turned out to have majored in art history, and we compared notes on some of the fabulous museums in Paris. All in all I almost spent an hour (!) with her and finally settled on the Eve (although I also very much liked the double sense which is now on top of my "future purchase" list). #veryhappydance So after three hours, we left FSH with one large and one medium orange bag (and three business cards).
To cut a very long story short: All SA were a joy to work with that day, they took a keen interest in what I wanted, and at no point was I rushed. True luxury experience. I am very much looking forward to going back maybe in summer or autumn.
Thank you so much for letting me share this endless post! (Photos to follow in a day or so....)
