Sunday, March 11, 2007 Beyond Puka in Belle Paris By Julia Barba
THE City of Lights blinds and sparkles a tad more radiant during the winter. I suppose it is the value of warmth that a tropical girl like me cherishes during this chilly season which causes Paris’ luminescence to dazzle stronger, radiate with a cause.
Traveling for work isn’t one of the top reasons why I love my travel agent. Wouldn’t it be divine to hop aboard, alight, soak in local color, cultivate that cultural tendency you know you have somewhere inside of you?
Yes, it would be utterly celestial. Alas, this isn’t my story to tell, not today at least. Rather, this trip, as all business trips are, was about a balancing act, an act which perfection waves to you from a distance.
Our jewelry industry has a contingent of staunch Cebuanos who aim towards perfecting this act, participating in Paris’ Eclat de Mode by Bijorhca exhibition twice a year. Organized by the European Chamber of Commerce Philippines (ECCP), headed by the vice-president for business development for Fairs & More Philippines Inc., Roselu Paloma, this esoteric trade show is not one to be missed.
My pair of feet was not marching solo to the beat of commerce, trying to keep warm. The February exhibition was joined by ABS International Corp., All Naturals Export Corporation, Avatar Accessories Inc., Earth Works Fashion Accessories Corp., Touchwood, Ferimar Import Export, Futura Group Corporation, Jimcastler International, G Designare Mfg. Phils., Nature’s Beauty Export/Import Corp., Pan Arts Corp., Tambuli Fashion and Home Accessories Inc., Unijel International Inc., and Vanya Creations Inc.
Together we were presented with the L’ Etoile De Mode au Pavillon Philippin attribuee par Le jury du plus beau stand (Best Collective Stand Presentation), not an easy trophy to snag. The jury consisted of industry heavyweights, Hélène Maury and Danielle Muller.
Let me tell you how close my friends and I have come to perfecting this balancing act.
The booth set up is brutal. Our ever-capable contractor, Cerioni, from Bologna, Italy, truck in days before the Cebuanos do to build our pre-designed and pre-approved spaces. A day before the show opens; we bring in our goods; display them, achieving what look like open and tricked out boutiques. No doors, no ceilings, please come in.
Follow 10-hour, four working days of negotiations, trade, smiles and grunts. In between all of this wheedling and dealing, there is so much bonding that goes on between the Pinoys; we need to come up with a new word for it.
Contrary to human nature under stress, we are much nicer to each other when exposed to all this pressure. Eager, genuinely, to lend a hand, a pen, an analgesic, and the list goes on for almost anything your staff (whom you will all fire when you get home) forgot to pack.
Then there’s the food. Yes, when there is a will there is a way, the saying goes. A Filipino must have come up with that, because this group has come up with a way to eat boiled rice, humba, kare-kare with bagoong and bam-i in the middle of Earth’s fashion ground zero. Although foie gras and bubbly are not offensive to my palate, why oh why is bahug-bahug just utterly delectable when you are miles away from home?
On the final day of the show, the sun sets over the exhibition hall with much glee. This business trip ceases to be just business. The tree-lined streets and the antique-post lit up avenues become playgrounds. The endless gastronomic selections can be dizzying. But trip after trip, this group, like a military unit, has strategically found its stride and has come upon favorite haunts for lounging and feasting.
An establishment known for their delectable macaroons and special blend teas, Ladurée, 16 rue Royale, is a constant. The Louvre, Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay 62 rue de Lille, are stupendous museums which will be better appreciated with constant immersion. If you don’t have that much reality to spare, pay tribute to the Musée Rodin, 79 rue de Varenne. Also called the Hôtel Biron, this is where the sculptor rented the ground floor before converting it into a museum that houses his stellar works as well as his personal collections of other wunderkinds such as Renoir, Monet and Manet. If you are lucky enough to visit Paris in the spring, seek out the Rodin Rose.
Lastly, although at times firstly, shopping. Twirling around Rue du Marché St-Honoré can put your budget on a good workout, but if you are an astute shopper, such as moi, you’ll be able to stay friends with your bank. But if one were to push me to choose a single basic French buy, it would be a blanc chemise from Petit Bateau.
Nothing like a French classic to don on the CX260 flight out of Charles de Gaulle en route to chez-soi.
