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Friday, February 4, 2011

K is for Karl.











Lagerfeld that is.

Many activities in Paris over the past week have been about experiencing the things I can't experience in the states. So today we started off a little late because I was up super late the night before. So a little drowsy and with sore feet, Meesh and I took off to explore Paris on our second to last day. Everything that we have experienced thus far have been truly Parisian, and today we were hoping it wouldn't be any different.

One place I wanted to visit while in town was recommended to me by my friend Kathryn L. She said a must see is 7L, Karl Lagerfeld's bookstore. I didn't know he had a bookstore, but excited to explore since I love KL and anything Chanel. Strolling down Rue de Lille across from the Musee de Orsay wasn't anything out of the ordinary. At the end of the street to the right was the small bookstore. Of course I had Meesh take a photo of me in front of the shop. She leaned against a Rolls Royce(without realizing it) to get the whole store front in the photo for me. Haha.

We entered the book store, looked around, and there were two young Italian girls browsing the books, 3 workers, and Meesh and I looking lost in the midst of the thousands of pages of fashion and art. Even though the store was small, there seemed to be a hallway leading into the back area with more books, so I headed back there and called out to Meesh to come along. In the hallway hung a portrait of KL, and I quickly tried to take a photo of it. When a gentleman there saw me, he said I couldn't take a photo and that the back room was for private use.

So I walked back to the front and was extremely disappointed that I couldn't take a photo of Karl on the wall. So back to browsing the fashion books I went, intrigued by all the cool coffee table books they had and pondering wether or not I can fit one more souvenir into my carry-on. Meesh turned to me and whispered "OMG it's him!" Which caught me completely off-guard. As I turned, I saw a wax like figure at the corner of my eye. Dressed in a black tuxedo, white shirt, black tie, and sunglasses. I gasped! OMG it was KARL LAGERFELD himself!

Mind you the book store was tiny, and he was two feet away from me. I could smell his scent, and heard his intriguing voice (which was the reason why Meesh turned to see who was speaking in the first place). Mouth dropped and eyes wide open, I was completely star struck and in utter shock. All I could think to do was to hide myself in the nook of books. While Meesh was widely smiling at him. I had my hand over my mouth, stared at the 4 bodyguards and was dying of shock. The bodyguards looked at me in awe themselves. While the two Italian girls acted like God didn't just appear in front of them.

Even as I am writing this I cannot put my mind around what occurred today. Never in my life did I imagine ever being that up close and personal with the most well known designer in the world. He waved at us as he walked to the private back room. I was still in complete shock and couldn't get out of my nook. I stood there for another two minutes frozen in time, thinking I could possibly be daydreaming, or drunk, or delusional from the long days and late nights we've had.

But no! I was in the same room breathing the same air as Karl Lagerfeld, and Meesh was there to be my witness. Of course you don't ask to take a picture with God, but you know he exists, and today I was blessed. Blessed to be there at the right moment, at the right time, took the right metro, and didn't get lost.

He looked like a statue, I just can't explain it. He looked exactly like he does in magazines and photographs. For 77, he looked prim, proper, and elegantly sophisticated. I guess you can't ask for any less of a man who has reinvented fashion and is a world ICON.

I doubt I will ever get to be that close to him again in my whole life, so today was an EPIC day. The ultimate icing on the cake of an awesome trip to Paris. Tomorrow is our last day, so we're going to try and take it all in, the nuisances, the surprises, the unexpected twists and turns.

C'est la vie!

4 comments:

  1. Love it - what an amazing experience! Have a safe journey back. :)

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  2. the pics of Karl are not from my camera, they're from google....in case some people out there don't know what he looks like.

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