My day 1 started quite well after I headed straight from the airport to Parc des Expositions where Maison et Objet is held. With my associate Guilherme helping me gather items for the booth decor and setup, it seemed like a walk in the park until I realized around 6pm when we were about to leave, that my purse was stolen!
I had everything in there - passport, credit cards, cash and more and it was stolen from our booth when one of us wasn't looking! The nerve! Well, the world came crashing and after some formulaic search conducted by Maison security I was told, if I'm lucky the purse (my favorite red one too) might turn up in a garbage bin but the cash will be gone. Very comforting news after an 11 hr journey with barely any sleep and more than than 9 hrs without a meal! Apparently, I'm not the first vicim of theft at Maison during setup days and even during the show. Exhibitors have complained about having their samples stolen from their booths!
I had to file a police report where the lackadaisical policeman kept lecturing me in French on how we shouldn't carry purses around or backpacks. Guilherme translated the lecture in a quite disappointing manner as he knew exactly what I felt at that moment. Nice way of hiding the lack of law enforcement in these aspects, I would surmise. Anyway, the next morning the lovely lady at the Canadian Embassy helped me with filing for a temporary travel document/passport so that I can go HOME next week!
Maison is going well. Repeat clients coming to see us again to see what new things we're offering, new contacts being established, people who had seen us last time coming back to see us again, and loads of new eco-friendly boutiques showing strong interest in Rajboori. All good. Looking forward to the next 3 days.
Here are some images for our booth and new offerings:
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