daily dispatches from Paris! mon: bonjour, peeps! paris postcard from fredflare.com's Keith and Chris Bonjour, peeps! We just arrived in Paris a couple of hours ago and already we are having a dream of a time, because we are kinda only half awake from the flight. But who needs sleep, right? We've got exploring to do... We are in Paris! Oh, it's lovely. Definitely a bit chilly today, though. It was full-on summer back in NYC but I just keep joking to Chris how "refreshing" this feels, i.e. cold. But it's nice so far, surprisingly relaxing. The city in the afternoon, at least where we find ourselves today, has an almost sleepy feel. Sure, a motorcycle or a teeny tiny Smart car speed by every so often but mostly the mood is sooooooo chill. I know it's cliche but we totes saw people walking down the street carrying baguettes, so cute. We're immediately reminded that we're in a different culture. And to illustrate how different you need look no farther than the local cafe, where we stopped in for a sandwich. The place was full and the man behind the bar and the waitress were quite friendly and I just looked around and sorta marveled at all the people. Like there's this girl with two guys. I imagined they were co-workers. I always kinda dream up the lives of strangers... Anyway, they're like having three-course meals - this is no fancy place, mind you - and everyone is drinking wine. Drinking wine on your lunch hour! And then they smoke cigarettes and then have dessert and coffee. Chris took one bite of his sandwiche au jambon, closed his eyes and said simply, "Genius." monday's item du jour: limited edition umbrella tee umbrellas of cherbourg Have you ever seen "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg?" We watched the DVD on the plane! This was one of Catherine Deneuve's early films and it is so super pretty. You know we totes love musicals here at FF. And you know the name "Fred Flare" is derived from dream date Fred Astaire, yeah? There's just something about Technicolor movies with people dancing around declaring their love that puts ya in a real good mood. We hope the items we sell have a similar effect... Maybe one day I'll write a lil' series here on the site talking about some of our fave musicals. That would be so fun! I love everything from "Funny Face" to "Flashdance". Seriously, I believe we NEED more musicals. Anyway, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" is a special one, though rather hard to categorize. It's maybe not exactly a musical even because there aren't really any dance numbers. I guess you could almost call it an opera as every word, every conversation, every "Bonjour!" is sung. It's kinda a riot at first. The film opens with our hero named Guy who is just finishing his shift at the local gas station. Just seeing a customer pop in and talk about car trouble in song is quite hi-larious! Guy can't be bothered though cuz he's punching out and going to see his girl Genevieve, played by the lovely Catherine Deneuve, in one of her very early roles. She runs out in the street to meet him, braves the rain even though she works in her mother's umbrella shop. She rushes into Guy's arms and sings, "I love you I love you I love you" but there's something about it that's so sad you know the relationship is doomed. So yeah the movies is quite sad actually. I won't tell ya much more other than the colors of the film are incredible! If this is an opera it's aesthetically like the cutest, most fashionable, most Batman and Robin type opera you've ever seen! It's an explosion of wacky color combos, very pop, so pretty. Tons of amazing wallpaper in every room: lush pink and green stripes or purple with blue and green flowers or a gorgeous magenta and burgundy combo. I think the movie is kinda secretly all about wallpaper. At one point Genevieve's mom tells here that she was hanging wallpaper the day before she gave birth. Ha ha ha! check out our paris playlist just added to fred's boombox Send your pal on a mini-vacation to Paris... Forward this to a friend!