Mama on the Town

Today was the BIG day -- my trip to the French salon! I also have a big shopping day on Friday, but I've been growing my hair out for the past six months. It's been driving me crazy, so I couldn't wait "changer de coiffure."

I hired Heather Price (fashion consultant and stylist originally from Virginia) to hook me up and translate. She set up an 11 a.m. appointment with Benjamin and Sara at the tres chic Alexandre Zouari salon.

This was going to be the first time I went out on the town by myself. I did my homework to find that the best route was to leave from the Hotel De Ville metro station across the river, take the #1 line to Franklin D. Roosevelt and transfer to the the #9 line to get off at Alma-Marceau.

I left an hour early with the street map in my purse, because I still had to find my way to the salon once I left the metro. No problems getting there, except the metro was stopped at the Hotel De Ville for quite a while before we left. They said something in French, probably about the delay, but obviously I didn't have a clue.

I jumped off the metro at Alma-Marceau (and this is the tricky part for me) I had to pick an exit. I chose the Pont de l'Alma exit and VOILA! I exited right there at Zouari about 20 minutes early.

Heather was going to meet me at the salon, so I didn't want to show up without my personal stylist/interpreter. I walked the neighborhood (mostly residential and business) and went inside a pharmacy. I bought a pumice stone and left.

Finally it was about 10:55 so I headed back to the salon. Heather was nowhere to be found, so I walked up to the desk. They spoke a little English, so we were able to find my appointment under the name "Price" naturalment.

They sent me to the dressing room where the salon worker spoke no English. She spoke a lot of French with the word "colour" in it. I said, "Oui, color." She gave me a robe and (in French) said that they weren't responsible for color getting on my clothes.

I went in to the dressing room and took off my shirt, because that's what I do at the salon at home and that's what it seemed like she wanted me to do. BUT there was no tie on the robe, so maybe I should just put the robe on over my shirt? But she said something about "nous ne sommes pas responsable" so I decided to leave the shirt off and leave the dressing room clutching my robe around me.

No worries! As soon as I stepped through the curtain the salon worker whipped a sash around my waist and tied it. Must be the extra service that I'm paying for ...

Still no Heather, so I wandered back to the reception area. They called my colorist Sara who thankfully spoke more English than anyone else I'd encountered. She took me to a seat and called Benjamin over. They discussed my hair saying it was very ashy and heavy, which made me feel more confident despite the language barrier, because both those things are true.

Sara said she wanted to go more golden blonde, while Benjamin said I needed more volume and layers and layers. They still seemed on the right track. Sara left and Benjamin began to do some major razor cutting. Then he cut bangs. Then he framed my face, and thinned it all out some more. He tossled it around and it looked great already. The odd part was that he worked mostly while sitting on a stool, because the chairs didn't raise and lower. Maybe all hair stylists should work from a seated position -- it seems like it would save their legs and feet.

Still no Heather, so Sara took me upstairs. Heather arrived while Sara was busy talking to her Japanese assitant. Heather said that she'd had taxi problems, but was happy to see that I had forged ahead. She discussed the color with Heather and they were in agreement about a two-color process of golden blonde.

Heather and I chatted while Sara did her thing. No foils here! She hand-painted the entire head, using some cotton to separate a few of the areas. Heather left to get us a couple of Cocas while I waited for the color to process. I was reading frommy Kindle when she returned, and she definitely had Kindle-envy. So did Sara, but the Japanese assistant thought it was old hat!

Color complete, so we headed to the sinks. They must have shampooed my hair for about 20 minutes. They seriously used about 5 different products on it. For the last one, the Japanese assistant came and massaged my scalp.

Then it was back downstairs to Benjamin for the final cut. They sat me in a different chair, because here, the stylist moves from station to station instead of having a home-base that's their own. You might wonder how they can do this with all the hairstyling products and irons that they need and prefer? Well ...

... they don't use them!! Benjamin had a small Louis Vuitton pencil bag that held his scissors and razors. And they all carry this tote full of brushes of all different sizes. They ONLY use a hairbrush and dryer to do all of the sculpting. He made a few more snips, then added a small amount of pomade (also in his LV bag) and that was it! Oh and by the way, he had another assistant do most of the drying, he just came in for the end.

So far, I love my hair. It's not too far removed from how I usually wear it. I always reserve my final assessment for after I wash it and do it myself. But it looked good when Benjamin tousseled it (before the styling), so I'm pretty sure it's a good cut.

Now back to the neighborhood, right on schedule since I told Eric I'd probably be back around 3 p.m. But I jumped out of the Hotel De Ville station and saw that BHV department store we'd passed yesterday. I just had to go in and explore ...

Seven floors of almost everything imaginable. I bought a pair of tights on Level 0, because I didn't pack any and, yes, it's cool enough to wear tights in June. Then I headed up to Level 6 to the Mode Enfant department. Lots of cute clothes for Ella, but I was on a different mission.

Ella came to Paris with her Nintendo DS, computer, a couple of coloring books and some stuffed animals. I wanted to buy her some new/novel toys while we were here. Last week I gave her my first Barbie, which was also my moms -- a 1960-something redhead who resembles Lucille Ball. So I wanted to get Lucy a friend, and fortuately the BHV toy section had Barbies.

I came back to the flat just a few minutes late, with a new blonde Barbie who washes dogs and a new Barbie outfit and accessories. So Ella's happy; I'm happy; Eric's happy.

I'd have to say that my first day on the town was a fabulous success!