How To Be Chic and Un-Chic In Paris This Summer

It's almost Bastille Day and Paris has started the holiday shutdown so it's a good time for a few random tips on being cool in the French capital this summer. Here are some tips from an Ex-pat living in Paris (over 20 years) from his ‘hip’ children.
The style of the season is nouveau modeste
Le look for women: retro and slightly ethnic. The Sarouel (above)is the look again this year, along with white everything and creole loop earrings.
Footwear: espadrilles Castaner
Paris teenagers carry big hand-bags permanently on the crook of their elbows
Sunglasses (men and women). Persol only. Classic French marque. Never, of course, to be perched on top of the head
Men: Anything as long as it does not include sneakers/trainers, sandals, shorts, trousers with big appliqué pockets, t-shirts with logos or slogans, back-packs, shoulder bags, or, heaven forbid, man capris
Simple rule: Below
Paris is an elegant northern city not a Med package resort
Dog: English bulldog, known as le bouledogue anglais. The Jack Russell terrier is ending its reign as top four-legged Paris accessory.
Car: Toyota IQ. Replaced the Smart as chic Paris wheels. Do not be seen near any 4x4 (SUV).
Parking: give your keys to one of the hundreds of voituriers (valet parking attendants) who have multiplied around hip cafes and restaurants. You don't have to be a customer, just tip well.
Top transport: bicycle. Le Vélib, the city's self-service bikes; are great but very 2007.
Public transport: The municipal autobus is to be preferred to the smelly Métro, especially in light summer traffic. It's a more pleasant conveyance and you see the city.

Places to be seen: La Réserve (rare book collection) at the Bibliothèque Nationale. The terrace of Le Café de l'Alma on the avenue de la Bourdonnais [those two cited as top snob spots in Figaroscope] Sunday brunch at the Neuilly-sur-Seine market.
Places not to be seen: The Champs Elysées, the Eiffel tower, the Fifth arrondissement, Paris Plage or anywhere along the central Seine banks. Any cafés and brasseries that display English-language menus or claim to have English-speaking waiters.
Where Parisians holiday this year: Inland rural regions like Picardy, Lorraine, Ardèche and the Cévennes. Provence and the Mediterranean coast are to be avoided like la peste.
Parisian pastimes on holiday: Fishing, bicycling, jeux de société (board games), listening to vinyl records, barbecue.