A singular feeling envelops you the moment you walk into Bungalow 8—one of sheer hedonism. You want to possess everything there. And if you’ve ever wondered how on earth someone stocked up all that loot, a whiff of the peregrine ambience suggests it probably has something to do with the store’s CEO, Maithili Ahluwalia’s globetrotting ways. “Paris has an individualistic approach to aesthetics that is simply inspiring and seldom seen in other parts of the world. When things are ‘in’ elsewhere, they are already ‘out’ for Parisians,” she says.

Home to salons of the beau monde and flea markets of bohemians, this culture curry helps Maithili ‘satiate her fetishes’. While most in search of retail therapy make a beeline for Champs-Elysées or Avenue Montaigne, this aesthete suggests Puces Flea Market in Saint-Ouen, famous for its fairly pricey, vintage objets d’art. An avid collector of home décor and forever on the quest for inspiration for her store, she seems undeterred by the pocket crunch, identifying Vernaison as a personal favourite for everything from oriental rugs and baroque mirrors to 19th century dolls and old Chanel perfume decanters.

Her bags usually contain bold, ornate jewellery designed by her mother, a Burberry trench coat and metallic pashminas to help with the capricious weather. Paris is a great walking city but one where shorts and sneakers scream tourist! “I carry a pair of repettos in three or four colors because the city is best enjoyed on foot,” she reiterates. And she isn’t a photo junkie either, especially in a place that feels like home.

But frequenting Paris means she also knows its more off-beat haunts, so, she suggests grabbing a bite at her neighbourhood bistro La Rotonde, in the 16th Arrondisement. “It represents the charm of Catherine Deneuve’s Paris with fluffy velvet couches, art deco chandeliers, grand dames smoking cigars and petting pooches.” But when it comes to whiling away time, she does it amid the comfort of Café de Flore in St Germain, the former hangout of André Breton and the surrealists and Sartre and the existentialists. “It makes for very interesting people watching and Brigitte Bardot still stops in to slurp some café crème and exceptional hot chocolate.”

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