change your shoes, change your life!




it is currently vacances here in France - a time when the majority of the population takes 2-3 weeks off of work or school in favour of some much needed down time. this just happens to coincide with the time when the first major influx of tourists invade the city of Paris. let me tell you one thing about tourists - they are lovely but you can spot them a mile away. especially anglophone tourists. and especially, especially if you have had the experience of being one and then not one.

there are two kinds of tourists - the ones who try to disguise themselves as locals and the ones who don't try to disguise themselves at all. i have a special respect for those who don't disguise themselves - i like to imagine that they have chosen comfort over style, rationalizing that they will be spending the majority of their parisian vacation in the touristy areas with other touristy types or at least those accustomed to touristy types. trodding around in 26 degree heat as we have these past few weeks, i can completely understand their choice.

i also have a special affection for those who make such a great effort to disguise themselves - in particular those who have chosen a comfortable, sensible shoe in the colour black (a.k.a. runners or walking shoes) thinking they could pass it off as something stylish. they seem to imagine that no one will know that they're not european (even though their kids are dressed head to toe in nike or lululemon). however, i know. how do i know? because i was one of those people when i first traveled to Paris in september. within one week i rid myself of the shoes i'd brought when i realized how ridiculous they looked and that i wasn't going to fool anyone with those things on my feet no matter what i wore on my body. a pair of Clarks! slip ons no less! like, neoprene runner types with no laces. i would never be caught dead in them at home but somehow i fooled myself into thinking they would be passable in the fashion mecca that is paris. as if i'd just picked them up at a jaunty little boutique somewhere in Montmartre. having spent a bit of time here i now know that no one (at least no woman) wears comfortable shoes in this city (except perhaps birkenstocks when it's really hot).

as much as i'd like to be one of those people who chooses comfort over style, i just can't be. particularly when it comes to footwear. this is not to say that i in any way try to consider myself a local, i like to think that i've just adopted a craftier disguise.