More on Paris

On Sunday we hopped the Metro...loved the Metro for its ease of use....and travelled north to St-Ouen to the Marche aux Puces . It was a nice change of pace from museums and it definetely was a change of sceneary. To get to the antiques...you have to walk through a gauntlet of men selling knock-off belts and purses. The big thing that day was Dolce and Gabanna belts. But once we got under the overpass we found the market. It is a network of streets and alleyways with stores and covered stalls. I wanted to find items that might be used in jewelry....particularly I was looking for things to embed in resin. I found an old French art book at one stall for 5 Euros. I was rather proud of myself that I was able to ask "how much" in French and understood the sellers answer. Lou stumbled on a stamp seller, so I bought a large packet of old stamps...mostly European. They are going to be great as pendants.



Lou in the background talking to a vendor about netsukes (miniature Japanese ivory carvings). Most of the alleys were like this.




What flea market is complete without a stuffed weazel.

And beads....there were tons of beads at this one stall. But most of them were plastic so I didn't stop to buy any. They made a nice picture in their boxes. I would have loved to spend the entire day there looking in the various stalls...but Lou has a short attention span.... and we had planned to go to Montmartre to see Sacre-Coeur.

This was our view as we looked up from the cafe where we had lunch. It doesn't get much better than this. It was beautiful and the sky was so blue that day. As picturesque as it was, I preferred St-Pierre de Montmartre for its stained glass. St-Pierre is just around the corner from Sacre-Coeur and is the oldest church in Paris, founded in 1133. The windows were destroyed in WWII by a stray bomb and replaced in the 20th century.

Montmartre sits on top a hill overlooking Paris. It has a country village charm. This is one of two reamining windmills in Montemartre.

Below is the house I am going to buy when I win the Mega Lottery. I am giong to run away to Paris and design jewelry. You are all invited to come and stay with me.

We made sure we strolled past the Moulin Rouge. Actually the neighborhood is really dicey. Sex shops all over the place. Reminded me of Amsterdam's red light district.

More to come...the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triomphe....