D'amour Paris

Paris is lovely.

There is Disneyland in Paris so that's the excuse to make a trip with the kids. This is also a holiday for the adults where we can see, eat and shop.

Paris is best explored on foot so we walked, and walked, and walked. By Day 1, we had walked along Avenue Charles de Gaulle, all the way from La Defense to the Arc du Triomphe. That's a spectacular 4 km. I'm so proud of my kids.

In an interesting twist, we spent 2 days in Paris with two Japanese classmates of mine from the Helsinki Summer School.

Memi is partly based in Paris where she is taking a year off work to tour Europe. Yuta is taking a 3-day break in Paris before going home to Sendai in Japan.

Many Asians visit Paris for the luxury shops. Louis Vuitton along Champs-Élysee feels more like a market than a high-end boutique. Conversations in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean were exchanged along crowded counters. Handbags filled the display shelves and counters on the ground floor of the boutique, which basically means that these are the cash cows of the brand.

Looking at the H12009 results of LVMH, Louis Vuitton's parent company, revenue fell across all categories (wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, watches and jewellery, and others) except fashion and leather goods. Thus, the outlook for this sector is brightly positive. Double-digit revenue growth was registered for the first half of the year, with strong momentum in Asia, Europe and Middle East. LV thanks its Japanese clients who have been purchasing abroad (like Paris) due to the strengthening yen and not to mention, what it calls "exceptional" support from its Chinese clientele.

As for us, we thank LV for letting us use their washrooms.

I resisted buying a designer bag. Since this is my second visit to Paris, the temptation has weakened.

The most fashionable item I bought from Paris is the French edition of Vogue. The delicious jambon (ham) baguettes have been digested. The beautiful sights are captured in our minds and camera.

More show-and-tell will come in the next few days.