Lloyd and I discovered the windows of the Hermès store on the rue de Rivoli early in our travels together and made a pilgrimage there every time we were in Paris ever after. When we took all the family to the Loire and discovered that the husband of the châtelaine at the Château des Réaux had given her a Hermès scarf every year at Christmas, we realized what a romantic gift something from Hermès has always been.
There is something about the windows of the Hermès store that flaunts wealth but does so tongue-in-cheek. The first one Lloyd and I discovered featured a racing bicycle with all of the struts and handlebars covered in tangerine leather. And scattered on the ground were small gardening tools (of the type used for pots and window boxes) with handles covered in a complementary sky blue. Outrageous! Ridiculous! Utterly seductive!
The coy windows of Hermès remind me of what it means to be a flâneur, someone who walks without purpose, finding in the obvious the hidden reality, the secret temptations, the jokes and absurdities of the cities he loves. I started this blog talking about being a flâneur (I suppose the female version must be flâneuse) and so it was with utter delight that I discovered that the title of the Hermès exhibit on the banks of the Seine was Dans L'oeil du Flâneur (In the Eye of a Stroller).
I"ve honestly never seen anything quite like this exhibit -- full of memorabilia, jokes, tricks and a passion for Paris and its eccentricities. The walls were white, the rooms not square, and all beautifully and variably lit. There was a room featuring a few of the canes collected by the founder of Hermès. There was a Café des Objets Oubliés (the Cafe of Forgotten Objects) in which, instead of pastries, one found items that had never sold well under glass on the counter and shelves -- ugly bracelets, pieces of fruit fashioned in leather, and so on. There was a giant elephant in a shop window sporting a blue china tea set on its head, knees and the end of its trunk and a football helmet covered in fur. There were passages with subtle light shows, tea tables and dress forms that spun at odd moments, a chandelier made of wine glasses and a celebration of graffiti in which, tucked behind a wall, one could see a bunch of empty spray cans and a Hermès briefcase -- it was utterly humorous and mad. And perfect to see on La Nuit Blanche!
Here are some of the photos.
