A Paris Do

As I was preparing for my Europe travels I read through "the french series" on the French Essence blog.  One particular article settled into my head.  This one: The French Hairdresser.  The author moved to France from Australia, and discovered how very much the French care about their tresses.  She wrote of her first French hair "experience," noting in part:

Jean-Michel taught me the importance of hair grooming and he was so right - French women do have fabulous hair and they do spend time and money on it. I often think hair is a kind of security blanket for many women - we get attached to the familiar and are frightened to change for fear of losing our confidence. Instead of our personalities determining our hair we often let our hair determine our personalities. It took an unknown person in an unfamiliar country to enlighten me, literally.

I read and I listened and I absorbed.  The French know hair.  Parisians are stylish.  And weekly coiffing appointments is what a French woman does.  And so, what was I to do but follow suit?  I searched the Internet, looking for just the right salon.  Within a day I was arriving, nervous but determined.  Her English was limited (she did not know the word "trim' or "blow dry," and we all know the state of my French.  But with excessive pantomiming and an even greater amount of trust I was placed into the bowl, deep conditioned, snipped, sheared, and dried.  She spun my chair to face my husband... voila!

This is the "before" hair:

And the new Parisian tresses after:

So! A new woman! It's been about 20 years since I've had bangs (well, in 7th grade I had a version of bangs, but they were a disaster and I've wiped them from my memory) and I am adjusting to seeing a new face in the mirror.  A fun Paris experience, and quite simply, just a nice change from the norm.

Oh, I can't forget! Husband had the Parisian hair experience as well!

This is us before (in a London pub watching U.S. vs. England World Cup):

And after, being silly in our chic Paris hotel:

That is that.

xox