Justwhen I thought I couldn't pedal anymore, we came around the corner fromthe side streets we had been biking and out onto Avenue Gambetta, PereLachaise Cemetery's mossy walls coming into view. The basket on myrickety bicycle was packed full of delightful comestibles we gatheredon our way— sweet brie, late summer figs, a little jar of clover honey,and a fresh baguette—an impromptu picnic-field trip for an Augustafternoon.

 

Allweek long we had been listening to the Edith Piaf records we had foundat the flea market, over and over again,her sparrow's voice filling ourlittle apartment with the dreams of a by gone era.  Rowdy or romantic,tragic or tawdry, it was her sound alone shaped the City of Lights forus.  When I awoke that morning, I knew we had to govisit her; we packedour bikes and a bottle of lemonade and set out across the city.

 

Wecruised the whole city in search of her memory: down the Champs Elyseesand past the place where she first performed at Le Gerny; through herchildhood haunts in the red-light district where the Moulin Rouge litup the night for the street acrobats and singers; to the Olympia MusicHall with its timeless facade; along the Seine to the old LatinQuarter, and finally here, to the cemetery. Parking our bikes andstraightening our dresses, we set off into the depths of the labyrinthof mausoleums in search of the black granite grave. 

 

Whenwe found it, tucked in among the others in a long corridor, we unpackedour spread and lunched in her shadow, singing"La Vie En Rose" and"Milord" to one another, toasting her legacy, the insouciant care ofyouth, life, flea market records, and the beauty of days past.   As theday faded and we ran out of songs to sing, we made one last toast tothe Sparrow, packed up and biked home, our Paris just a littlebrighter, a little younger.  Somewhere, from an open window, the soundof an accordionist practicing Hymne a l'amour drifted out into thenight…

 

Thisis the time of life for which the Triumph line was created. Thiscollection was inspired by Paris's undeniably fashionable women—likePiaf, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel and others—and the dresses embracetheir mischief and playfulness, their romantic souls, and theirshow-stopping starlet quality.  Whether you wear the Oh La La tosaturday brunch at a sidewalk cafe, or the Marais to the Opera, letyourself be inspired by the City of Light: find something spontaneousinside of you and embrace it.  Go ahead, buy the lilac pumps, try theescargot, tell that beautiful stranger at the table next to you thatyou love him.  In the end, it will all be worth it.