Sometimes a travel souvenir is small and other times it’s…special. 😉 Really special. I’ve written about my favourite souvenirs and tips for shopping them in the past, so today is just a quick post about my latest travel souvenir – the Rive Gauche shopping tote from Saint Laurent. There’s a historical connection between the Rive Gauche, French for left bank, and Saint Laurent that this bag honors.

Here’s the scoop…

As you know, we went to Paris for our 15th anniversary last month. My sweet husband thought I would enjoy a little designer bag shopping while we were there. While I was committed to bringing home my usual souvenirs of a christmas ornament and some bookmarks, I thought Paul’s offer was incredibly thoughtful (he knows all about my love for my bag collection).

At first, I had images of strolling down the Champs-Élysées and popping into a few stores (we had a fun time shopping at Longchamp here a couple years ago), but I decided to follow my own advice and narrow it down to a brand. I decided on Saint Laurent but we didn’t even shop on the Champs-Élysées. Incidentally there’s not even a Saint Laurent store directly on the Champs-Élysées. 

After driving down the Champs-Elysees in our car tour and seeing it again, it felt really touristy. More touristy than it has in the past, which is odd considering how few tourists were actually in Paris at this time. It didn’t really have the 5th Avenue feel that I remembered. 

But, it didn’t matter because Paul found the Saint Laurent boutique near Saint-Sulpice. This location is one of the oldest Saint Laurent boutiques. It sits a stone’s throw from The Church of Saint-Sulpice on the left bank, or Rive Gauche. The left bank is a big part of the heart of Saint Laurent’s history. The fashion house, or maison, was founded on the left bank in 1961 and the brand has since moved back to its roots by transitioning its headquarters there. The left bank is the oldest part of Paris and was host and home to many artists, writers, and other creatives. Think people like Henry Miller, Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Henri Matisse and many more. The Rive Gauche is an area that embraces counterculture, bohemianism, and creativity of all kinds. It’s my favorite side of the Seine.

So I knew this particular boutique was going to be a fun shopping experience. And it was!

Because of this history between Saint Laurent and Rive Gauche, and because I just love this bag, I chose the Rive Gauche shopping tote. A lovely associate named Julie helped me select the shopper over the tote (I felt the shopper was a better size and shape for daily use), and she brought out all kinds of accessories and wallets to go with it. I added the bandana print scarf  (Julie thought it was très Texas, oui?)and a YSL card case. Julie was the sweetest and even complimented me on my French pronunciations! She mentioned that she hadn’t spoken much English since the pandemic and was enjoying seeing English speaking tourists again so that she could practice. I told her that I was enjoying practicing my French with her. 

We spent a couple of hours in the shop and had such a good time. The funniest part of the whole thing was carrying this giant Saint Laurent bag through the streets of Paris! I removed the box from the bag and was able to get it into the overhead bin of the airplane, so I can say that I hand carried my new Saint Laurent all the way from Paris to San Antonio. LOL

Thanks for reading about my little trip to Saint Laurent! What do you think of my bag? 🙂

I made a little unboxing video. You can watch it here!

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xo – Erin

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Saint Laurent and Rive Gauche: My Latest Travel Souvenir appeared first on CathedralsandCafes.com. If you see this content published anywhere else, please email cathedralsandcafes@gmail.com.

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