The following article comes from Jeremy Allen, a Seesaw contributor who is currently studying abroad in Paris, France. This article is syndicated from the blog “MÉNAGEÀTOURISM,” which documents three different experiences in three different countries this semester. This and additional blog posts can be read at http://menageatourism.weebly.com. Or, for any of Jeremy’s earlier work, check out this site for previous articles. Now please, enjoy Jeremy’s very unique tour of “the city of light.”

by Jeremy Allen

The dust has settled. The swarms of stiletto-clad individuals have vacated Paris as quickly as they came. It’s back to ballet flats and quotidian black-and-white reserve on the Parisian metro. And yet, the Carrousel du Louvre seemed just a tad too empty last week without the recent mass of fashionistas in perpetual mid-Tweet. Their frenzy and undeniable ferocity seemed so out of context in Parisian two-hour café society.

Needless to say, I was inspired: why not imagine a completely different way to relive the collections, sans Style.com (as comprehensive as it is)? The ticket, if I may, comes courtesy of the RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens): an 8.80 euro metro day pass. Consider the spring-summer 2010 shows as your unexpected, impeccably packaged program for rediscovering Paris in all its glory; with rust-colored leaves sprinkled on the streets and a festive nip in the air (plus a panoply of not-to-be-missed exhibitions), there’s no better time to fall in love with the City of L’Amour.

By now, your eyes are surely starved for more of Alexander McQueen’s kaleidoscopic, zoological prints; a prodigious parallel can be found at the Musée du Luxembourg, where Louis Comfort Tiffany’s eponymous art nouveau lamps and glass mosaics are sure to enchant a new generation of admirers.

Continue your nature kick with a late morning promenade around the Parc de Bagatelle; the profusion of roses will certainly conjure Valentino’s petal-soft cocktail dresses that practically bloomed on the runway. Continue to tickle your romantic fancy with a visit to Pierre Hermé’s legendary patisserie: their delicate macarons in a profusion of rosy reds, champagne pinks, and butter yellows bring to mind Peter Copping’s irresistible pastels at Nina Ricci.

Change gears with a visit to the sprawling Centre Georges Pompidou: its infamous inside-out architecture – a tangle of color-coded pipes and wiring – begs Balenciaga’s urban futurism this season. The Pompidou’s current showing of Surrealist photography and film is the perfect anecdote for those experiencing Galliano withdrawal (the designer’s feverish mélange of influences and fabrics smacked of Man Ray’s photographic collages).

If it was Celine’s brand of razor-sharp chic that most enchanted you, however, your best bet is the Musée d’Orsay, a museum that perfectly mirrors Pheobe Philo’s first collection for the house with its crisp lines and two-toned palette of khaki and lacquered black (be sure to grab tickets for d’Orsay’s upcoming James Ensor retrospective).

Finally, for a quintessential Parisian panorama, head to the top of the Eiffel Tower and relive the vertiginous, graphic drama of Givenchy. And just when you think you’ve paid appropriate homage to the best of the défiles, your eyes will catch the glint of the gilded dome of Les Invalides, home of the Musée d’Armée. Military severity topped with immoderate glitz? Nothing screams “Balmain” more.

A perfect proposition for printemps, non?