One Perfect Day - Picking Up a Birkin in Paris
You’re at dinner when the email arrives from Hermès. You got a bag appointment for the next morning at the Hermès store on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. You won the lottery—literally. Hermès requires anyone who wants a bag to apply for an appointment the next day. If you get a spot, you can get a bag. If you know you’re about to get something as hallowed as a Birkin for the relative steal of the list price, how do you spend the rest of the day celebrating?
8:00 a.m.
Start the day at Les Deux Magots, the Left Bank café that was a favorite of Jane Birkin, just to pay homage. Sit outside, have a fresh-pressed jus d’orange and a croissant with a lot of jam, and strategize about your preferred color, size, and leather. 6 Pl. Saint-Germain-des-Pres
10:00 a.m.
From there, walk leisurely across the Seine to Hermès Faubourg, the most sacred of the Hermès locations. Sit down, drink the free glass of champagne (so what if it’s only 11 a.m. by now?), and secure the bag. Pro tip: Ask for an unmarked white shopping bag—or have it messengered to your hotel. 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
12:00 p.m.
Celebrate your luck by walking down Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré to the perfectly louche Hôtel Costes for lunch in the courtyard. Order the crab and avocado salad and a side of fries, and the house rosé served à la piscine, with a side of ice cubes. Maybe a cheeky cigarette at the table while you play “Is that his daughter or his girlfriend?” with the diners around you. 7 Rue de Castiglione
2:00 p.m.
You spent $10,000 or so before noon, so why stop now? Walk over the Pont du Carrousel to La Galerie Parisienne in Saint-Germain-des-Prés for a rare two-tone Cartier tank, or maybe a set of Claude Lalanne serving spoons that look like crustaceans. 26 Rue de Seine
3:30 p.m.
Grande Mosquée de Paris is a working mosque on the Left Bank that also has a leafy courtyard filled with groups of university students. Flag down a waiter for mint tea and get a few of the pistachio house pastries. 2 bis Place du Puits-de-l’Ermite
5:00 p.m.
Take a car over to the club La Société, which is most fun for apéro (French happy hour), before the crowds arrive. The extremely flirtatious bartenders will custom-make something for you, but a negroni never disappoints. 4 Pl. Saint-Germain-des-Pres
8:00 p.m.
Comice in the 16th is a Michelin-starred restaurant owned by Canadian expats that serves the least fussy fine dining in Paris. It’s prix fixe, so you don’t have to make any decisions, but definitely save room for whatever soufflé is the dessert du jour. 31 Avenue de Versailles
10:30 p.m.
Are you full? Are you tired? Push through it! Sipping a glass of natural wine with bourgeois creative types wearing Lemaire at Le Collier de la Reine is the best way to reinvigorate yourself. 57 Rue Charlot
1:00 a.m.
Sure, you could go to bed, or you could make one last play and show up at Hôtel Amour in Pigalle and crash a party. If you’re lucky, someone will have bought out the hotel and will be throwing a bash with an open bar, vats of chocolate mousse, and a celebrity or two on the dance floor. Stagger home at dawn and go to sleep with your Birkin on the pillow next to you. 8 Rue de Navarin
This story appears in the Summer 2024 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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