I%26#39;m going to Paris on February 20th, after 6 days I will be going to Nice, Venice, Florence, Rome, Barcelona. Total trip will be about 26 days.
I am trying to decide which shoes to take.
I am planning on these shoes as my primary walking shoes:
surfanddirt.com/nofear/…PAAAAABAAOOMANEC.jpg
But I am planning on going to some fancy restaurants, such as Le Jules Verne, Laperouse, la tour d%26#39;argent and I%26#39;d like to know if those shoes (see picture above) are appropriate for restaurants.
Do I have to pack one of these:
zappos.com/images/…3034-169693-d.jpg
2) Jacket
I%26#39;m from California, so I suppose paris will be somewhat cold. I%26#39;m thinking of taking a waterproof jacket, like this:
…imageg.net/graphics/…p2501393dt.jpg
Will I stand out as a tourist ?
Thanks!
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Trust me...It doesn%26#39;t matter what you take, after the first day you will only wear the most comfortable pair.
Just make sure they are shoes that yu have already walked miles in - preferably on cobbled streets :)
I%26#39;m from San Francisco and we just got back from a month in Paris ( mid Dec-Jan). Though it was %26#39;nippy%26#39;, we spent 75% of our time outdoors - even at cafes. A waterproof jacket (we only had light rain twice) is fine, but you need warmth underneath - the wind can cut like a knife. A warm scarf, gloves and hat wouldn%26#39;t go amiss. I found wearing %26#39;leggings%26#39; under my pants kept me toasty no matter how many hours we spent roaming.
They are going to know you are a tourist no matter what you wear - so don%26#39;t sweat that too much. Just don%26#39;t look like you%26#39;re dressed for a sporting event ;)
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surfanddirt.com/nofear/…PAAAAABAAOOMANEC.jpg
These are the Crocs All Terrain model. I have been wearing Crocs brand for a year now, and have gotten really used to it. I wore the All Terrain a few times, and it seems to be just as comfortable as the sandals. These are the lightest shoes I have worm, but I generally don%26#39;t walk much (california), so I don%26#39;t know what happens if I walk 5 hours. I%26#39;m mainly wondering if these shoes could be considered too casual in fancy Paris restaurants. Because if I don%26#39;t have to take my dress shoes, it%26#39;ll save much space in the luggage for me.
Today went out and bought a nice black jacket which is both warm and seems to be water repellent. Also got leather gloves and a scarf and I guess I%26#39;ll wear my paperboy hat to keep the head warm.
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Hi Limez
I would give your shoes a test run this weekend and go on a 5 hour walk to see if they are still comfortable. No-one is likely to look at your shoes but if they do, they are unlikely to tell you you can%26#39;t wear those into their restaurant.
Do you have a picture of the jacket you bought?
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Wear them with panache and confidence and don%26#39;t let anyone tell you different.
I started out with 5 pairs of shoes for the month. I ended up sending 3 pair home with our daughter at New Year%26#39;s. I wore these little guys everywhere:
www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp…
I could walk from dawn to midnight in these and then do it again the next day. Sadly, I wore them so much they are pretty much done. So I have just ordered 2 more pair (one black, one brown) and will put them away until our next trip later this year.
So, if you%26#39;ve got a pair that work, wear %26#39;em!
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Hi Limez,
I think the Crocs shoes look absolutely great - the b*stard child of a pair of rubber boots and a pair of Rockports - and I would probably buy them if I saw them somewhere! But: they do stand out and look definitely un-French. I read an online comment from a French woman on Crocs: %26quot;Je crois que meme ma grand-mere, pour aller au jardin, ne mettrait pas des horreurs pareilles.%26quot; (%26quot;I believe that even my grandmother wouldn%26#39;t wear something horrible like that to go into the garden%26quot;). She was talking about the bright-coloured plastic ones (%26quot;mulles en plastoque%26quot;), not your relatively demure brown and black ones, but still... if you don%26#39;t want to %26quot;stand out as a tourist%26quot;, the Crocs are maybe not a safe choice - at least not for %26quot;fancy%26quot; establishments like the Jules Verne or la Tour d%26#39;Argent. In my experience, Parisians tend to dress conservatively.
But it also depends HOW you wear them - how do you combine them, are they relatively new, and - do you feel confident wearing them?
Personally, I always take 2 pair of shoes, even for a one-week trip. Shoes last longer if you give them a %26#39;rest%26#39; every other day...
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If this post is for real, ( and I have my doubts) then all I have to say is that wearing those Crocs All Terrain models are as appropriate for wearing in Le Jules Verne or La Tour D%26#39;argent as they would be to wear in any very nice restaurant in the States,,
In other words, in my opinion, as comfy and warm and dry as those shoes may be, they are hardly vaguely even appropriate for a nice evening out .
Frankly if you are going for 26 days you would need to bring at least one other pair of shoes. You can find some very comfortable yet attractive slip on type shoes that would be a bit dressier then those crocs, which do in fact appear to be a garden shoe.
Bring and wear the Croc by all means, but in what world do you think they are suitable for fine dining experience. ?
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I totally agree with Joan. You can%26#39;t get any more casual than those Crocs. I wouldn%26#39;t even wear them to a restaurant that%26#39;s less fancy than JV.
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janesatelier:
I love those shoes! I may have to invest in a pair like that before my trip. Right now I have this pair to try out as well:
http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/11086836.html
I%26#39;ll give them a spin around Chicago in the summer and see how they fare.
~Anna
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You are all aware that the OP is a male - right?
My husband doesn%26#39;t do dress shoes. He has a foot problem and cannot walk in them. After forcing him to be excrutiatingly uncomfortable for the first few months we were together, now after 20 years of marriage he wears what he wants. At first Iwanted to hand out cards that read %26#39;I did not dress this man%26#39; but I soon got over it.
His footwear of choice in Paris was a pair of brown suede New Balance (actually 2 identical pair). He wore them everywhere. Had he not, we would have been condemned to shuffling around a 1000 yard radius of our apartment.
Actually limez, run the question by your future bride. If she%26#39;s cool with your footwear, who are we to judge.
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Hi Willow!
Funny enough, the other pair that I kept was a pair of Skechers bronze suede bike shoes - so light and very, very comfy. The only reason they got worn less was I brought mostly black pants.
Oddly, the shoes that got sent home were the much more expensive Arche and Mephisto ones. They were just not as comfortable as the other two.
Love the Mary Jane styling!
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