In which we go to the department store

When my mom came last weekend, she brought with her a kumihimo disk and various yarns and ribbons for Sapphire. Sapphire loved it, and has made many beautiful cords in a rainbow of colors with it. Then, of course, she decided that she wanted to learn how to knit. Now, Sapphire has decided that she wants to learn how to knit on many different occasions, and each time she has given up in frustration after 10 or 15 minutes, but my mom thought that Sapphire was working so well with the kumihimo disk that perhaps she actually was ready to learn how to knit. Unfortunately, my mom didn't bring supplies for teaching her how to knit with her, so we needed to track down knitting supplies.

In Manhattan, finding knitting supplies would be fairly easy. If you want inexpensive stuff you go to JoAnn's, or Walmart, or Hobby Lobby. If you want classier stuff, you go to Wildflower Yarns. In any case, the needles and yarn are easy to find. In Paris there were more obstacles. The first, obviously, was that we had to figure out what yarn was called in French. Evidently, it's fil, but that's also the word for thread, string, and wire. So doing a google search for fil might lead to a yarn store, or it might lead to a store that specialized in barbed wire (probably not a great thing to learn to knit with). Eventually some English language searches for yarn and Paris suggested that there were some Phidar boutiques in Paris, including one in the BHV, a big department store. Also, the store was said to have a sizable craft section, and it was certain to have toys and books, since all the department stores here seem to have those.

Unfortunately, various illnesses and other issues interfered with actually going to the BHV until Tuesday. We set out through the Auchan mall so that I could stop at the ATM on the way to the train station, but we were sidetracked when I saw a winter coat that I thought Ezio might like. Trying to get him to the store to try on clothes is a bit like pulling teeth, so I took the opportunity to have him try it on. He liked it, so we bought it, then headed back to our apartment to drop off the jacket he had been wearing. Back through the mall we went, to the ATM, and finally to the train station, where we hopped the train into Paris.

Once we arrived at the proper metro stop, we discovered that we could go directly from the station into the store, which meant that we didn't have to get wet, or lost. We started on the craft supplies floor, where we were able to find lots of colored pencils (for Sapphire), but no yarn. So we stopped in the book section to pick up the newest Asterix book (in French) for Ezio. (He learned to read English from Spiderman comics. I think he's going to master French from Asterix comics. My opinion of comics has changed dramatically.)

Then we headed up a few more floors to find something for Cherry. She's not quite old enough for crafts, and she's not ready to read Asterix, so it was the toy department for her. My mom picked out a Polly Pocket set for her, and then we headed over to the restaurant for lunch. According to my mom, the view out the window was amazing. According to me, the view of the white wall behind her was, well, white. The apple tart was pretty good though.

On the way back down, we managed to find the tiny yarn department tucked away in the home decor floor. While my mom and Sapphire picked yarn and needles, Ezio, Cherry, and I examined doorknobs (which come in an amazing array of shapes) and looked at lights. (Did you know that you can buy fluorescent light bulbs in every color of the rainbow? I've always wanted purple lights in my kitchen.) Then we headed back down to pick up a second Asterix book for Ezio (because you have to spend the same amount on each grandkid, you know).

We headed back home afterward, and Sapphire learned how to knit from my mom. Ezio started reading his Asterix books. Cherry played with her Polly Pockets. And I snuck Nutella.