Parlez vous Internet shopping? I may not be able to get to the Louvre this spring, but that won’t stop me from browsing its gift shop.
The dollar is down, or so they keep telling me. With a sour expression, the newscasters give me this information nightly. Okay, I get it! Cancel that trip to Belgium. Clearly my money won’t even buy me a waffle on the streets. Even the peso has become stronger compared to us, so that formerly cheap trip to Mexico has promptly become not-so-cheap. (Ay, caramba!) But just because I’m staying at home this spring doesn’t mean I can’t indulge in my favorite vacation pastime—international shopping—thanks to the miracle that is the World Wide Web. Hey, I get all the global goodies without the jet lag.
Shopping with a Je Ne Sais Quoi
One of the things I love about shopping in France is that it’s built for browsing. I don’t really shop in the hectic way I do at home (a.k.a diving into a store, buying a black skirt in my size, and then rushing back to work). No, in France it’s all about the stroll: wandering past the patisserie windows to marvel at the confections, lingering over the tulips at the corner florist, admiring the tiny dangling earrings at the little jewelry shop—it all feels restorative rather than exhausting. It’s hard for a Web site to deliver that, but the site Basic French is a good substitute. There’s an element of discovery still: Oh, look, tiny French licorice! Pressed bars of soap! And the categories are broad enough that you find yourself entering each tab as if it was a new boutique all along the same chic street. Now if only they had a corner bistro with a good café au lait.
Total Immersion Shopping
One of my favorite things to do when I’m abroad is completely pedestrian: I love to go into a typical grocery store. The food always stands apart from what you’d find in an American grocery store—what do the British have against salad dressing? And why do the Argentines love mayonnaise so much? Plus, you get a peek into the everyday lives of the locals. But the best thing is the packaging! Tins of almonds with bright red Japanese characters or jars of honey with looping French script: this is the stuff of really great souvenirs and it says so much more about the culture than a miniature Eiffel Tower. That’s why I love the Web site KIOSK. Every few weeks they sell daily goods from another country. Right now, they’re selling goods from Hong Kong. (In the past, they’ve featured Japan, Germany, Mexico, etc.) I have my eye on a square tin of bright yellow Almond Cakes that couldn’t be any more iconic and would make a cheerful knickknack in my kitchen next to the wooden spoons.
