Louis Vuittonless in Paris

The Carnavalet Museum

We finally managed to go see the Louis Vuitton and Paris exhibit at the Carnavalet Museum on one of my days off this week. (I’m now working about 3-4 days a week and taking French classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My Canadian accent is a big hit with my teacher.) Our visit turned out to be surprisingly educational, and my other half was far more engrossed than we both had assumed he would be.

This looks suspiciously like a children’s brochure…because, it is.

The exhibit was a retrospective of the brand and its evolution over the last 150 years or so. (The first knock-offs appeared in the 1860s!) It turns out that the popularity of the beautiful, amazing old trunks (and the brand obviously) was largely attributed to Europeans’ travels to the colonies. There were wardrobes, toiletry kits, tool sets, doctor’s bags, picnic sets and even trunks that contained fold out beds, desks and shelves. Trunks for dolls, baby teeth, jewelry, hats, the Red Cross… the list goes on. Turns out that photos were interdit (whoops – cough). But it was quite something to see. “Don’t you think one of these would be practical for our trip to South Africa?” I turned and said to N, who laughed, and then walked to the opposite end of the exhibit space. I guess that’s a no.