Chapter 154 Paris Fashion Week

Frost Moon eleventh day, 5 pm.

In the Tuileries Palace, which is decorated with countless ribbons, paintings and billboards, Paris Fashion Week, which is attracting attention across Europe, is about to begin.

The Tuileries Palace is a castle-like building surrounded by towering palaces on all sides and surrounded by a huge square in the middle. The original design purpose of this place was to serve as the king's last fortress in times of emergency. The square was the school ground where he mobilized his troops.

But at this time, the campus was filled with thousands of tourists from all over the world who came to participate in the fashion week.

There are also a large number of tourists who do not want to buy expensive seats, standing in the gap between the square and the building, curiously stretching their necks to look at the giant T stage on the east side. Of course, even with a standing position, an admission ticket costs 6 livres.

Because Joseph had people carry out overwhelming publicity in various countries in advance, such as "Paris Fashion Week, only for you who know the most about fashion", "The most romantic Paris with the person you love most", "The wind that misses you still blows in Paris" Advertising slogans such as "Fashion Week" have already scratched the ears of nobles from all over the world.

Under such a huge gimmick, Paris Fashion Week has suddenly become the focus of heated discussions among aristocratic circles throughout Europe. As long as they really can't afford to go to Paris, no one wants to miss this event - that will make him look down in front of people who have seen Paris Fashion Week in the future.

This resulted in at least 100,000 tourists coming to Paris Fashion Week this time!

Tickets for the opening ceremony, although valuable, had been sold out a month ago. After that, if any nobles want to buy tickets for the opening ceremony, they will have to pay four or five times the price and endure the exploitation of "scalpers".

At this time, on the luxurious seats on the east side of the Tuileries Square - this is the "prime" position very close to the T stage, the official ticket price is 80 livres - a man wearing black silk The middle-aged British man wearing a velvet jacket, baggy eyes, and protruding ears was looking around at the magnificent Tuileries Palace with his eyes widened, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"When I saw the newspaper saying, 'Experience your royal life at the Tuileries Palace,' I just thought it was a French guy bragging. I didn't expect that they did a really good job."

The young man next to him who had been holding a notebook and pen nodded and smiled:

"Mr. Walsh, in fact, the Tuileries Palace was formerly the royal palace of the French."

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Alvin." Walsh nodded in surprise, "No wonder it's so luxurious! It seems that my money was not wasted this time."

His wife smiled and said:

"My dear, I remember you said on the ship that the French are only good at fancy things like food and clothes."

"Well, I have to admit, their palace is not bad."

At this moment, melodious music sounded everywhere, and the gorgeously dressed Baronden, the Chancellor of the Palace of Versailles, took the lead on the stage and gave a very lengthy opening speech with an aria.

Then, Queen Mary, dressed in white and with her hair in a bun that was one and a half feet high, walked out from the backstage surrounded by attendants and maids. Then bright fireworks burst out in the sky.

The surrounding French guards and officials immediately bowed their heads and saluted. The tourists did not expect that the Queen of France, a representative of European fashion and luxury, would come to the scene in person. They stood up and nodded politely to the Queen.

The atmosphere at the venue suddenly reached its peak.

Queen Mary smiled and gestured to everyone, and then began to deliver a speech according to the script written by her son:

"Welcome to Paris, the city of fashion and romance, to attend the largest fashion festival in Europe..."

Walsh didn't understand French, and he only hoped that the "fashion shows five times a day, with hundreds of beauties showing off their talents" mentioned in the newspaper would start early.

Fortunately, Queen Mary did not keep him waiting too long. After saying "Please enjoy this wonderful week," she turned and returned to the room on the third floor of the Tuileries Palace, facing the T stage.

Then a famous singer performed a song, and then the main event of the fashion week officially began.

With the brisk accompaniment of music, three tall and beautiful models, wearing the latest gorgeous dresses of the season, walked out from the end of the T stage with cat steps.

All the spectators present were stunned.

It was completely different from any fashion show they had ever seen!

It’s not just a rack of clothes, nor is it just showing off their looks to attract attention. The movements of several models are full of elegance and noble temperament, and their expressions are cold and natural, just like three confident aristocratic ladies who happened to be passing by.

This also reflects the fact that their fashions are very elegant and full of personality.

At the same time, on two four-meter-high display boards on both sides of the T stage, information such as the designer, design concept, features and price of the long skirt on the model appeared.

There are fashion week staff who shuttle among the guests, politely reminding everyone that if you like the fashions on display, you can place an order with them at any time.

This fashion display and sales method that was taken for granted in later generations was the most creative and trendy model in the 18th century.

Mrs. Walsh immediately noticed the light green dress worn by the model on the left, and then looked at the price on the display board - 220 livres.

She lowered her head and silently converted the price into pounds, confirming that her husband would have no objection. When she raised her head again, she put on a charming smile, took Mr. Walsh's arm, and whispered: "Dear, what do you think? How about that green dress?”

Walsh was busy looking at the plump "White Rabbit", glanced at the price, and nodded absently: "If you like it, buy it."

"Thank you, dear!" The wife immediately summoned the staff.

But she soon regretted it, because the model who came out later wore a purple tutu skirt that made her more excited than the green skirt just now.

The fashions that followed were more fashionable and beautiful than the last. Mrs. Walsh was already dazzled, and the only thought left in her mind was to "pack them all and buy them all."

An hour later, the first catwalk ended.

Mrs. Walsh, in a desperate effort to restrain herself, bought only three sets of fashions. At the same time, she also bought a dark blue dress for her husband.

Mr. Walsh, on the other hand, had his fill of slim waists and "white rabbits", and only when he checked out did he realize that he had to pay nearly 40 pounds!

This is a gold pound, and one pound can be exchanged for about 25 livres.

However, the wealthy British businessman in the wool business paid the bill calmly.

There are countless guests from various countries in similar situations to him. Only the 23 employees responsible for pre-sales at the fashion week were busy until 4 a.m., and their hands began to cramp, before they were able to finally sort out all the orders.

The British journalist Alvin who came with Mr. Walsh immediately rushed back to the reserved room, sorted out more than ten pages of fashion week press releases, and sent them back to the UK overnight.

That night, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh tasted authentic French palace delicacies in the "Royal Restaurant" on the first floor of the Tuileries Palace - beet-baked snails, dauphin oysters, pan-fried foie gras with cherry sauce, roasted pigeon with red wine and truffles...

A table of sumptuous delicacies made the two people from the food desert linger on the food, their mouths were full of oil, and they finally walked out of the restaurant while holding on to the wall.

Although this meal made them queue for more than 40 minutes and cost 1 pound and 12 shillings, they only felt that it was worth their money.

Returning to the Tuileries Palace, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh planned to go for a drink, but midway they saw a hall with shining lights and all kinds of strange machines. It was full of laughter and laughter. The two were immediately attracted.

The translator and guide who accompanied them pointed to the hall and said to them: "This is the amusement hall. There are many interesting games to play in it."

Mr. Walsh walked in with interest and immediately saw a Hispanic young man pulling a handle in front of a machine that was as tall as a person. The rollers in the machine immediately started spinning rapidly.

The Spaniard stared at the roller and muttered: "Stop! Stop!"

For a moment, the front of the roller stopped, and there was a yellow fleur-de-lis pattern of the French royal family.

Then, the roller stopped in the middle, and there was an iris.

The Spaniard's breathing began to quicken.

Soon, the speed of the roller had slowed down to a very slow speed, and the last part slowly turned from a long sword to an apple, and gradually stopped on the iris.

The Spanish boy cheered crazily, pumping his fists and jumping up.

The machine made a series of "ding-dong" sounds, and the Spaniard hurriedly bent down and took out a wooden box from the lower part of the machine. It was full of silver coins, at least seventy or eighty.

"What is this?" Mr. Walsh turned to the guide in surprise.

The latter gestured towards the machine: "Mr. Walsh, this thing is called a 'slot'. If you invest one livre, you can pull the handle once. The roller inside will rotate. If it stops on three identical patterns, , you can get several times or even dozens of times the silver coins in return.

"The young gentleman just now won the highest return multiplier - one hundred times."

Walsh's interest was immediately aroused. He looked around and found that dozens of machines in the hall were being played by people.

In the end, he took over a slot machine from a middle-aged man for 10 livres, couldn't wait to throw a livre in from the coin slot, and then pulled the handle hard.

After the roller rotated rapidly, it stopped on a cat, a shield and a cross.

Obviously didn't win.

He curled his lips and put in another one, but still got nothing.

Until he pulled it for the 15th time, finally, a pattern of three apples appeared on the drum, and the crisp sound of silver coins colliding was heard below the machine.

Walsh took out the wooden box and happily picked up the 5 silver coins inside. He was even happier than winning 5 pounds.

An hour later, Mrs. Walsh yawned and returned to the reserved guest room on the second floor alone.

Mr. Walsh saw that no one was playing with the machine next to him that used a lever to pop out marbles, so he curiously moved to that side.

Insert the coin, pull the lever, and the marble bounces around in the machine and falls into a small hole marked X3. Three silver coins immediately fell out from under the machine.

Walsh was so happy that he immediately "feeled in love" and began to play pinball with concentration.

The entertainment machine in this hall was specially prepared by Joseph for celebrations such as Fashion Week.

The internal structure of this thing is not complicated, just a spring, a flywheel, and some gears. It was made by craftsmen from more than a dozen watch shops in Paris and took several months. The complexity is much lower than that of clocks.

Although they are all very simple game consoles, people in this era have never seen these before. Every one of them seems to be possessed, pulling the handle or lever over and over again, unable to stop at all.

There are more than 70 such machines in the Tuileries Palace. Each one is devouring tourists' silver coins.

When Mrs. Walsh woke up from her sleep at around 3 o'clock in the morning and found that her husband had not returned to the room, she hurriedly got dressed and rushed to the entertainment hall. She saw Mr. Walsh with bloodshot eyes but high spirits. , still pulling the handle...

The next day.

There are no fashion shows in the morning and noon.

So after breakfast, Mrs. Walsh dragged her husband, who had dark circles under his eyes covering half of his face, towards the Eden Playground, which was widely rumored to be "very fun" and "you will regret it for the rest of your life if you don't go".

Outside the gate of the amusement park that looks like it was moved from a fairy tale world, several "big mice" dressed up by workers, with fluffy black round ears, big eyes, and pointed noses, are greeting tourists everywhere.

Well, these adorable figures are the Mickey Mouse of later generations.

But in the 18th century, there was no Disney to trouble Joseph, so he copied it without hesitation.

A large number of tourists were attracted by the adorable Mickey, and either followed them or carefully touched their heads, exclaiming "Wow" from time to time.

Mickey was very enthusiastic in pointing out the location of the ticket window.

The ticket price is not cheap at all - access to all rides, plus free tea and snacks, costs 30 livres per person. Choose from 4 steam-driven entertainment facilities for 18 livres per person, excluding drinks and desserts.

Mr. Walsh proudly handed over 2 pounds 10 shillings to the conductor - have fun - and then entered the amusement park with his wife.

His first wife, who was over thirty years old, immediately transformed into a teenage girl, jumping and laughing among the merry-go-rounds and coffee cups.

When Mrs. Walsh finally had enough fun, she asked her husband to go to the main store of Angel Store in Paris. Although there are also franchise stores in the UK, it is said that there is a new product called "Eye Cream" on the market here at the main store in Paris. , and there is a discount recently, how can you not buy it?

They originally wanted to call a carriage, but a bus happened to pull into the station. At the guide's suggestion, the two curiously got on this huge carriage that could accommodate 25 people.

Two horses pulled the bus carriage on the newly paved wooden track. The wheels have very little resistance, resulting in very fast travel speeds. And because the car is equipped with a new leaf spring shock absorption system and the wooden track is originally very flat, there is almost no bumpy feeling in the car.

Mrs. Walsh felt as comfortable as rafting in a stream.

She looked around in surprise: "This carriage is really nice."

The guide immediately introduced it in a timely manner: "You are really discerning! This is made with the technology of the royal carriage. Similar carriages are now the first choice of the upper class in Paris."

Mrs. Walsh hurriedly asked in a low voice: "How much does this kind of car cost? I mean the one for four people."

"Probably less than 600 livres."

Mrs. Walsh immediately looked at her husband with pleading eyes. The latter nodded proudly: "Let's go to the carriage shop tomorrow."