One of my greatest pleasures is to go shopping in the souks in Morocco. The souks are messy and busy, but you never know what treasures you’ll find along the way. Morocco, by the way, is one of my favorite countries because it’s a cacophony of sights, sounds and smells.

One day in the ancient city of Fes, we woke up bright and early for a traditional Moroccan breakfast on a rooftop of the Palais Amani.

This is one of my favorite riads in Fes, and we had an amazing view of the green rooftops of Fes from our breakfast table. We were in the city for a few days on a leisurely schedule, and that day we were set to walk the souk on a shopping trip with a local chef.

We had signed up for a tagine cooking class that morning, you see. So our trip to the souk involved buying a live chicken, stopping by a spices store to get some ground spices, and picking up some vegetables. The souk sells everything, you see, so there is a dry area with all kinds of exotic goods. And there is also a wet area for food.

THE SOUKS OF MOROCCO

In the afternoon, we wandered around the dry area of the souk of Fes, looking for souvenirs and curios. During our walk, we stumbled upon a crafts workshop in the outskirts of town. Here, local craftsmen worked all day painting pottery and attaching intricate wiring on these items as decor.

As soon as I entered, a bright red ceramic pitcher caught my eye. It was just the kind of souvenir I wanted to remind me of this wonderful trip to Morocco.

Again, I have so many things all over my house from my travels, which is kind of nice because it makes for endless dinner conversations. But it also means space is running out so I’ve been pretty careful about adding to my “collection,” especially on my last few trips.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

This red ceramic pitcher caught my eye stood out among a plethora of colorful patterns on tiles, tabletops, plates and just about anything and everything.   Since it was a tourist store, they quoted me a rather high price at first.

Upon hearing the price, I was ready to give up. I’m sure you know the feeling. No matter how attractive or beautiful, some things are just not worth having at too high a price.

A MATTER OF FATE

Then the Travel Companion came up to me and said: “You’re not getting it?” He’d seen me eyeing this red pitcher, you see, and now I was about to walk away.

I shrugged. I really believe in fate, you see, and how some things will happen or some will not happen. Things that are meant to be will just come to you effortlessly. Or else they are not meant to be. So I generally don’t spend much time over-thinking anything.

So I replied: “I’m going to walk away. If the man goes after me, quoting a good price, that means it’s meant to be mine. But if he lets me walk away, it just means that pitcher is never going to be mine.“

SECOND CHANCES IN LIFE

So we left the showroom and were already walking down the road back to the main area of the souk. I’d already half-forgotten about the pitcher, when the man came running after me, shouting out a price that at the outskirts of my budget.

So the pitcher is really meant to be mine after all, I thought.

READ MORE : TAGINE COOKING LESSONS IN MOROCCO

ONE MORE MEMORY

And with just a little more haggling, the price came down to a comfortable level within my budget. 

This was when I took out my credit card. In my mind, I wasn’t really buying a red pitcher. I was purchasing another memory to remind me of this wonderful trip to Morocco, living a never-ending Travelife.

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The summer sales in Paris are all about shopping to the max, a little exercise and a lot of competition. You’ll find women in their comfortable walking shoes walking all over Paris hunting for bargains and discounts. They’ll be busy with strategic plans and lining up outside the best stores in the city.

In some cases, the summer sales involve secret destinations and that’s part of the fun.

LUNCH AT BRASSERIE VIRON

I’m writing this out from Tokyo and not from Paris unfortunately. But today, for lunch, I met my Japanese friend Keiko at the Brasserie Viron in Shibuya. 

This is one of the most authentic French brasseries in Japan. It only uses French flour, French butter and French salt to make bread and pastries. 

SHOPPING TRIPS AROUND THE WORLD

Meeting Keiko today after a very long time reminded me of the many trips we have taken together all over the world. Most of these trips have involved some amount of shopping because Keiko and I both cannot resist good discounts.

THE SUMMER SALES IN PARIS

So, for about ten years, I would meet up with her for a week in Paris right about the last week of June to catch the first few days of the annual summer sales in Paris.

Actually, I met Keiko on a trip, and this is probably why we became very good travel friends.

SERENDIPITY IN FLORENCE

After a family holiday in Austria, I spent a week in Florence on my own before meeting up with someone in London. This was going to be my “me time” and I planned to visit museums and galleries in Florence.

I flew in from Vienna, and my first stop that evening was dinner at a delicious local trattoria. The place was full and I was on my own, so I guess that’s why the restaurant seated me next to the only other lone diner. This diner turned out to be Keiko.

EATING IN FLORENCE

We exchanged pleasantries in Japanese and by the second course we were comparing notes on museums and outlet stores. And by the end of the evening, we’d made plans to meet up every night for dinner together.

Anyway, this was long before Travelife came along and took the time (but not the fun!) out of traveling.

THE SCHEDULE OF THE PARIS SUMMER SALES

The annual summer sales kick off on the same day for all stores. Quite a lot of avid shoppers travel from all over the world to unabashedly indulge themselves in a sea of 50% or 60% discounts. There is absolutely nothing high-brow about these June trips, although we did manage an afternoon at the Louvre on one year.

In general, however, we reserved the museums, the historical walks and the opera for visits to Paris at other times of the year. It’s too frantic in Paris during sale season. There are too many women in slacks and flats, roaming the streets with their credit cards in hand and the determined look of hunters searching for current season items at half-price.

THE SALES STRATEGY

Keiko and I had our routine down to pat. We always arrived five days or so before the sale proper and booked a hotel within walking distance to the Fabourg St. Honore. This area is also near the department stores around the Place de l’Opera, and also the Left Bank.

For the sales, I usually liked staying at the Park Hyatt Place Vendome or the Meurice.

SCHEDULES & PLANS

We always arrived earlier than the first day of the sale. The summer sales in Paris start on the same day each year and the date is announced in Le Figaro and other French newspapers. This way, we could check the shops, choose the items and plan our respective first-day routes.

At stores where we became regulars, the shop girls would keep highly coveted items for us.

Then, on the first day of the sale, after an early and big breakfast, Keiko and I would part ways for the day and wish each other luck. She always joined the crowds at Printemps and Galleries Lafayette.  

Meanwhile I usually stopped first at the off-site Hermes sale, where the line is always long. Then I headed on to Chloe and Missoni.

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN ON SALE

Years ago, Christian Louboutin was not world famous yet so his tiny workshop and store on a very narrow street just on the way to the Marais was not crowded at all. I love his shoes so I always ended up here even if it was far away. I bought most of my Louboutins during the sales.

After two days, our hotel room looked like a war zone, with bags everywhere. And way too soon, it would be time to pack up and return to Tokyo with overweight bags and overused credit cards. But with big smiles on our faces.

Read more about shopping in Paris in Travelife Magazine.

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Champagne & chocolates with fashion designer Fely Campo in Salamanca, Spain

My friend Carmen, who lives in Salamanca, first told me about Fely Campo, who is the top fashion designer in Salamanca. Carmen said to me: “Fely Campo designs beautiful clothes. And she designs for real women.”

That sounded perfect for me, especially as I am on airplanes and in hotels every week, living a #Travelife. Most of it involves nice restaurants and wonderful events like evenings at the Bolshoi in Moscow or at the La Scala in Milan — so I need clothes that I can crush into a suitcase and then take out at my destination, put on, and feel fabulous in.

The Don Gregorio Hotel in Salamanca, Spain

Carmen and I walked from my hotel, the Don Gregorio, which happens to be the best hotel in Salamanca, in my opinion. Since I’m a hotel junkie, I looked at the other hotels in the top category, and nothing really came close to the Don Gregorio hotel in terms of style, service and privacy.

It was a 20-minute walk, which was perfect as it enabled me to clock more steps with my Fitbit Alta HR and feel better about myself just before walking into the boutique of Fely Campo, filled with beautiful and slender young women wearing Fely Campo dresses.

Shopping with Fely Campo at the Fely Campo Boutique in Salamanca

I looked around for a bit and then finally Fely Campo arrived. It was pretty cool to be trying on clothes and to go shopping in the Fely Campo store together with the famous fashion designer herself. She picked out a red autumn coat for me and I loved it. 

Shopping with Fely Campo at the Fely Campo Boutique in Salamanca

Then we sat down in her private lounge for pink champagne, chocolates and a chat. Fely Campo is now constructing a massive atelier and store just outside Salamanca, and the city of Salamanca is preparing an exhibit of her works to honor her as an artist of Salamanca.

Fashion designer Fely Campo

“Where do you get your inspirations for your clothes?” I asked her. She is so energetic, by the way. I could feel her positive energy just by sitting next to her.

“Basically from around the region where I live,” she replied, “but mostly from Salamanca, which is such a beautiful and elegant city.”

I certainly couldn’t agree more.

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This morning, someone took me shopping into the city with his helicopter.

I have to admit that this was a pretty decadent way of going shopping. We just went to town, which is an hour away, and there I was going by helicopter, literally door to door.

We took off from just outside the safari lodge where I’m staying, and in 18 minutes we were landing in the center of the city of Kimberley, just outside The Big Hole.

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The Big Hole is the famous diamond mine of Kimberley, owned by De Beers.

And this guy has his own helipad right in the city center. I think he’s the only one in Kimberley with such a private helipad.

As we were landing, I asked him: “Why do you have your own helipad in town?“

He replied: “It’s convenient for shopping and errands, or for picking up people.”

And for taking me shopping for curios to bring back home.

The view over the desert

Meanwhile, the ride over was very scenic and nice.

We passed over desert and farms before reaching the city.

That’s Northern Cape’s second largest river over there

When we got to Kimberley, we flew over the Big Hole so we had a good view of it from right on top.

CHEAP SHOPPING AFTER A HELICOPTER RIDE

As for my shopping, I ended up skipping the taxidermist shop I’d intended to visit.

Instead I just went to a pretty touristy shop that sold nice things.

I came out with 2 sets of barbecue skewers — the kinds with animals at the end, to remind me of Africa — and shot glasses with pewter African animal figurines on them.

The city of Kimberley,  Northern Cape right ahead

Obviously, I’m planning to replicate the African experience when I entertain back home.

So, yes, it was a helicopter ride across the dessert to pick up some barbecue skewers for 200 rand (about 800 pesos) and shot glasses for 100 rand (400 pesos).

The Big Hole of Kimberley

Relatively cheap shopping.

But it was certainly a priceless experience for the books, in my never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

Notice the giraffe in the background. He almost ran into me, as I was so busy looking at all the other giraffe on the other side…

PS: Here’s a photo of me on a quad bike this afternoon. I actually went on a game drive by quad bike and this was absolutely amazing.

I saw so many beautiful wild animals, and it was such a wonderful and unique experience to see the animals up close and personal, by myself, on a quad bike.

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