PARIS, Jan 19, 2004/ FW/ --- Today is the first day of the Haute Couture Show and it has already reminded me why I love Paris – it’s a city for walking!

Living in Dallas, we drive everywhere merely because everything is so spread out and most places are too far to walk. But Paris different, it is compact and everything revolves around The Louvre, which is technically the center of the city.

Kicking off the haute couture season was the House of Torrente, which held its show at the Palais Brongniart, a mere 15-minute walk from my hotel.

It was a cold winter day, but there was no precipitation, so it was actually a very nice walk.

As it turned out, today was a day of walking for me. In between the shows I had to go to the offices of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, which again, is a 15-minute walk from my hotel.

Located at the rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré, it’s in my neighborhood! As I’ve said before, I always think of rue Saint Honoré area as my Paris neighborhood. And the walk from my hotel to the offices of the Chambre Syndicale is a shopper’s heaven.

Versace, Chanel, Christian Lacroix, John Galliano, Gucci, Feraud, Roberto Cavalli – you name it, and chances are you will see the designer’s boutique in the area.

But, though it might be a shopper’s heaven, it can also be hell, because it is the sale season in Paris! Almost everything is 50% off!

With a very weak dollar against the euro, it is more expensive here than back home. So, I ended the day with window shopping and coming back to my hotel empty-handed.