Katie Holmes

Katie Holmes: Ooh La La!

UPDATED 10/23/2006 at 01:00 AM EDT • Originally published 10/23/2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

Paris is, no question, an ideal city for romance—particularly if you were proposed to atop the Eiffel Tower just over a year ago. But on Oct. 4 Katie Holmes, 27, left fiancé Tom Cruise, 44, and their 6-month-old daughter, Suri, in L.A. and hopped a private jet to the City of Light for a rendezvous with pal Victoria Beckham, 32.

The ex-Spice Girl "suggested a girls' break," says a friend. The two women hit three fashion week shows—including Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel—and did serious damage at the stores. "I've been shopping all day," an exhilarated Holmes told PEOPLE on Oct. 6. And no, her list didn't include a wedding gown. "I already have my dress," she said. But "they have beautiful things for babies here."

Indeed, she scooped up pink finery at Baby Tuileries—and for Mom, eight pairs of Roger Vivier shoes, which start at $650. She attended a party for Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld and also joined Beckham to visit the showroom of designer Giambattista Valli, where Holmes chose a dress to wear to his show. "She's so tall, but very thin," says a source at Valli. "She fit into the sample size perfectly."

Holmes bid Paris adieu on Oct. 7 and jetted to Lake Como, Italy, perhaps scoping out wedding destinations. Meanwhile, the Japan Anniversary Association declared Oct. 6 to be Tom Cruise Day, in appreciation of The Last Samurai star. That's at least one date already set in stone.