This walk took me by some French
government buildings, foreign embassies, and around the Place de la
Concorde. The Elysee Palace is where the
French president lives and also the offices of the French Republic. It is the equivalent of the American White
House. It was highly guarded with
security watching the perimeter. The
architecture reflected French culture and some of the similar elements of other
architecture found in Paris. The round
arch entrance with the ceiling decorated reminded me of the Arc de Triomphe. The carved RF symbol, representing Republique
Francaise, was sculpted at the top of the arch.
This symbol can be seen all over Paris on tons of other pieces of
architecture. The back metal bars and
gate are a typical sight on all buildings.
The walk down rue Faubourg
Saint-Honore was interesting. The street
was lined with expensive boutiques selling designer clothing. There were even side courtyards with multiple
high-end boutiques. The Paris Walk book
said that these stores don’t allow people to come in to just look around, they
only want people ready to spend money.
This seems to be a French cultural thing. Most stores are very intimate here and
whenever someone enters it is important to say bonjour to the owner. It is almost like someone is
entering a
person’s home when they enter into their store. In France's history and still today, there are very small privately owned boutiques. There aren't very many large department stores but lots of small businesses because it is in France's history to have small stores that end up being like homes of the owners.
In addition, the French have a “look but don’t touch” policy with store
items. It doesn’t surprise me that those
designer boutiques only want people willing to spend money to come in because
they don’t want to waste their time with the browsers. And if the browsers come in and just mess up
the arrangement of items and don’t buy anything, they seem to get annoyed. This is very different from America
stores. Most aren’t small and they don’t
mind people coming in to just browse.
The shoppers hardly ever say hello to any store owner as they enter and
usually touch whatever they want. This is a cultural difference between America and France.
 |
| American Embassy |
The walk down rue Faubourg
Saint-Honore was interesting. The street
was lined with expensive boutiques selling designer clothing. There were even side courtyards with multiple
high-end boutiques. The Paris Walk book
said that these stores don’t allow people to come in to just look around, they
only want people ready to spend money.
This seems to be a French cultural thing. Most stores are very intimate here and
whenever someone enters it is important to say bonjour to the owner. It is almost like someone is 
entering a
person’s home when they enter into their store. In France's history and still today, there are very small privately owned boutiques. There aren't very many large department stores but lots of small businesses because it is in France's history to have small stores that end up being like homes of the owners.
In addition, the French have a “look but don’t touch” policy with store
items. It doesn’t surprise me that those
designer boutiques only want people willing to spend money to come in because
they don’t want to waste their time with the browsers. And if the browsers come in and just mess up
the arrangement of items and don’t buy anything, they seem to get annoyed. This is very different from America
stores. Most aren’t small and they don’t
mind people coming in to just browse.
The shoppers hardly ever say hello to any store owner as they enter and
usually touch whatever they want. This is a cultural difference between America and France.
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