I am late in posting, but we were in Paris from July 16 to July 20, 4 nights total. Getting there was really rough due to delays and cancellations (not due to the IT meltdown that occured while we were in Paris). All in all, we arrived in Paris 9 hours later than our original schedule.
Between my husband and I, though, we were extremely lucky to get a 10:30 am leather appointment at George V. Since this was only our second time in Paris, and we had only been to FSH, as we were entering lottery, we visited Serve and George V to get the feel of the boutiques. We didn’t feel good at Serve although beautiful. No SAs approached us and none felt available to us either. The cafe wasn’t serving much of anything when we were there early afternoon. We were hoping for a lobster salad for lunch! (For those who love lobster salad, I thought the one served at Hotel Plaza Athénée was amazing!) We did purchase Leila Menchari’s book we were looking for, so that was a success.
When we went to George V, we really felt good there. SAs were kind and proactive trying to engage with us. We were delighted when we found out that’s where we ended up getting an appointment. On the day of the appointment, we arrived and waited in line shortly after 10:00 am. Paris was a bit difficult to navigate in car due to road closures, but we realized Taxi had its dedicated lane shared with City Bus so for the most part it was manageable. Still, we didn’t want to be late! We were the second in line. When the store opened, we said to the person who greeted us at the door that we had a leather appointment at 10:30 am. The associate noticed us from the day before and she welcomed us back with warm smile and walked us to the leather desk. We were assisted by a nice SA who welcomed us to the store, but she went relatively quickly to ask what she could help us with. I said I would really love a B25 with GHW in Noir or any warm neutral color (she was Asian and had the same skin tone as I did so it made it easier for me to describe what tone I was looking for in neutral colors) and I did express we really loved Sienna. She then asked if she couldn’t fulfill my wish for B25, if I was open for something else. I then thought about nonQBs, but I said B30 would be wonderful as well and didn’t provide any nonQB alternatives. She then smiled and said she would be back. We waited for no more than 15 min. I was bracing for the possibility that she returned empty handed and questioned if not offering a nonQB alternative was a good move. To our delight, she returned with a box, and she said “I think I have a bag you will really love.” She opened it and it was a B30 with GHW in Noir! We were so so happy and felt extremely lucky!!
A few things-
- The leather appointment was under my name, and I only had a single purchase from last year at FSH which was a belt. I didn’t buy anything else before the appointment or after the appointment during this trip as I didn’t see anything I wanted that I had to get it there. I am speaking as a tourist from US who doesn’t visit Paris often enough and not intending to make Paris boutique(s) my home store.
- Initially I was worried that 10:30 am being store opening time, they wouldn’t have much in stock thinking they sold everything they had by the end of day before, and they were yet to receive the delivery for the day. I think even at Hermes, it operates like most luxury retail store in that what they receive today is inspected, counted, logged, then prepared in the system to be offered the next day. It’s just my opinion and can be wrong, but that’s what I felt walking Avenue Montaigne and Rue Saint-Honoré after hours and peaking inside of boutiques.
When we left France from CDG to Venice on Saturday, July 20, we stopped at Hermes. It was shortly before noon. I ended up purchasing a Single Tour Watch Strap for my Cut since I saw the color I was looking for on display. The SA who assisted us asked if there was anything else as I was pulling out my CC and Passport. I asked if she had any Picotin 18 available thinking there was no chance. She said no Picotin 18 but she had In The Loop in 18 available that she could show us. I asked to look and she brought it out. It was in Gris Perle with GHW and was really cute. It looked to us such a perfect summer casual bag, and we ended up purchasing it as well. We were probably very lucky that they had bags in stock and offered it to us. The SA also brought out 5 boxes of kelly belt to choose from! We enjoyed our shopping experience there as well.
Here are the photos of the bags. When I first touched and felt the Retourne Birkin in Togo, I was honestly very surprised and delighted how soft it was.. very different from my Sellier Kelly in Epsom for sure! The veining on it is beautiful as well, and we are absolutely in love with it!
so heads up if you are leaving the EU!
