Splurges and scarves

What do we think about these sunglasses?

Photo credit: Les Opticiens du Bac, who have made me wish even more than usual that I had a spare 200 euros lying around. Plus a spare 59 for these, from Thierry 21:

Not that I have any intention of getting either. What with the bag and the hat, I'm about set for accessories for the next, oh, 259 years.

Luckily I spotted both on the ultimate everything-is-closed day - a Sunday in August that's also a Catholic holiday which for some reason religion-is-a-personal-matter France considers a national one as well. To any fellow grad students who may be reading this, I highly recommend visiting the 7th Arrondissement for shopping on Everything Is Closed Day. (Lest I seem to advocate excessive self-denial in a city where decadence is all but mandatory, I also suggest the occasional splurge in the form of steak frites for research-day lunch at Chez Lili et Marcel, near the BNF.)

While on the topic of accessories and secularism, on the metro today I saw a woman in a makeshift burqa composed of two scarves, the face-covering one of which had to be held up manually. At first, ignoramus that I am, I thought it was a germophobic choice made by a woman who happened to be wearing a headscarf. Given the germiness of the metro, I was intrigued. Then it struck me that the point was that this way, if the burqa police passed by, she could be a mere headscarf-wearer in no time.