Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves

Whenever I go to a flea market or swap meet in LA, when people talk about having something old from the turn of the century, they usually mean 1999. Okay, I exaggerate. But what is old in LA, or really old on the more traditional east coast is nothing compared to what you find in the flea markets of Europe.

I always love to go to the famous Marché aux Puces in Saint-Ouen just on the outskirts of Paris. It is the most well-known of the flea markets and is a mix of stalls surrounded by high-end antique shops. So for a change of pace, I went to Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves, a weekend flea market in the south of Paris.

While the quality and selection is not as good as Saint-Ouen, there are still plenty of books, antiques, clothing and paintings, some of which date to the 19th century. For a souvenir, it beats the tourist shops on Rue Rivoli.

January 21, 2014 0

Le Hobbit

For the most part, it’s been pretty gray and rainy here in Paris. I’ve seen the sun for less than a day twice so far. So I decided to spend one of these rainy afternoons at the movies as I love to experience movie theaters in other countries. There’s a fairly new complex where I’m staying. In fact, it’s two complexes facing each other across the banks of the Canal St. Martin, called MK2 Quai de Loire / Quai de Seine. “Un billet pour Le Hobbie, s’il vous plait,” I said in my proud French. He looked at me and said, “For what movie?” Damn, was my “Le Hobbit” that bad, I thought as I was knocked down a peg or two. The theatre, despite its newness was no match for the Arclight, but it was pretty decent.

And the movie itself was better than the first one, but not even close to the LOTR trilogy. I found myself looking at the French subtitles to see how much I could translate. Which was a good thing because the Orcs and the Elves languages were translated into French subtitles. I got the gist of what they were saying, but who knew it would be a learning experience.

January 16, 2014 0

To Market, To Market

I’ve always enjoyed walking through local markets in Europe to look at all the fresh vegetables, cheeses, fish, meats. Somehow, the larger ones seem to be a study in chaos. With my basic French and inability to comprehend most Parisians (they talk fast!), I found it intimidating to be a participant. Do I pick the vegetables? What if I ask the wrong amount and end up spending a fortune? What are those things? So until now, I’ve only observed the chaos from a distance. Sunday, I decided to give it a try.

The Marché Richard Lenoir is the biggest market in Paris. So if I’m going to dig in, might as well be the biggest. The market is pretty crowded and some people don’t feel their carts are in anyone’s way in the tight walkways between the rows of stalls. But everything looks amazing, the produce, fresh fish, even wine.

I see ripe avocados and the sign says 3 for a euro. Perfect. Except the guy kept saying “quatre” (four). I replied back with “trios” (three). He was trying to tell me that they were now four for a euro, finally telling me in English. He picked them out and so far, only a euro spent. Nothing outrageous. I stopped at the next produce stall and bought some more vegetables.

Feeling a little more brave, I went to a cheese merchant. I had no ideas what all the cheeses were so I chickened out a little and bought one of the pre-cut packages with the price already marked (no mistakes that way!).

Lastly, I was determined to purchase some salmon. A found a fishmonger with some precut filets and bought one of them. Perfect in color and so fresh. I better stop here, I thought, as my first time had been a success. I had broken my European farmer’s market cherry. Little did I know at the time that this would be the last fish purchase. My apartment is about 150 square feet and let’s just say that cooking fish in that small a space in an oven with no ventilation does not leave a pleasant lingering odor. However, the fish was great!

January 14, 2014 0

Le “‘Hood”

Just a few shots of the Belleville/Buttes Chaumont area where my apartment is:

Parc au Buttes Chaumont

Parc Belleville

Panorama Parc Belleville

Belleville – “Beware of words”

Belleville street art

jumpboobs.com

January 12, 2014 0

Home for the Next Month

Mat showed me to the apartment and went through the basics. It’s pretty small but clean and quiet.

There were certain things to remember, such as placing the hose in the bathtub when using the washer. Otherwise, the water would drain all over the floor and flood below as happened to the last renter.

I realized there was no place to put clothes – no closet or anywhere to hang shirts and pants. Good thing I did travel light. I just placed things where the would be pretty much out of the way, then headed a block away to a local market to get groceries.

I was pretty tired and, with a month in Paris, didn’t feel any rush to go out and explore. So I pretty much stayed in the apartment and relaxed as I really can’t sleep well on planes. I decided to cook something up and use the hob, or stove top, that Mat said was easy to use. Cut to: Google search on what the buttons on this freaking thing do that have no wording. Turns out I used it correctly, just didn’t know that the letter “H” stays on until it cools off.

Next, I tried my hand at using the cool Nespresso machine. Cut to: Google search on how to use red Nespresso machine. Note, “red” is important as it helped me find the right model. And yes, there are YouTube videos on this:

Fortunately, I think I can handle everything else!

January 10, 2014 4

Ah, Paris

I arrived in Paris yesterday for the start of a 90-day European odyssey. The first 30 days will be based in Paris because, well, j’aime Paris! I don’t think I’m jaded or take Paris for granted. But, while I love being here I didn’t feel the sense of excitement of arriving in Paris like I did the first couple of times (this is my 7th visit). I think it’s more a having a comfortable feeling about the city. I don’t profess to be an expert on Paris but I know the city pretty well. So it’s a bit like coming home. Which makes me love Paris even more.

That’s not to say there weren’t some hitches along the way. It started immediately on the plane when I thought we were going to turn around from the runway because a passenger insisted on not wearing a seatbelt due to some medical issue. He had a note from his doctor, which caused a lot of back and forth with the flight staff. But it worked and we were off.

I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport around 7:15am. The airport offers a whopping 15 minutes free wifi so I quickly checked my email. Mat, the owner of the apartment where I’m staying, had emailed me asking if I could come there around 10am as he couldn’t meet me at 9, as we had planned. No problem as I hung out at the airport for a little bit, then headed to take the RER to central Paris. Big mistake.

Just as I was going to purchase a ticket, they announced the system had shut down due to electrical problems. That left taking the bus or a taxi. No way was I going to spend a hundred bucks or so on a taxi, so I looked for the Roissy bus. Air France has two buses that go to central Paris, but the Roissy bus would be more direct for the metro line. So back I went to find the pickup point. Which is easier said than done. The signage pretty much sucks. I followed the directions for the bus only to realize as I kept walking, the signs had stopped. So back the other way. Finally, I see a sign that is only visible from that direction, went down and back up and found the waiting area. Just to confirm I’m not an idiot who can’t follow signs, a woman got to the same spot and, to paraphrase, “Good god, I thought I’d never find this. I can’t find anything in this airport!”

Needless to say, with the trains down, the bus was crowded. It didn’t even make a scheduled stop at Terminal 1 (good luck, guys!). About an hour later, the bus arrived at Opera, and on to the metro. I had to make one transfer from line 7 to 7bis and ended at the Buttes Chaumont metro stop in the 19th arrondissement.

Not thinking there was a difference between the two exits, I took one and everyone else took the other. And it wasn’t long before I found out why. Seems the other is an elevator and the one I took had stairs. Okay, no big deal besides carrying my stuff, I can handle a few steps. 72 steps. I get to the top and turn to walk down the corridor where the exit sign showed…72 more steps. Oh crap! No sleep on the plane, my bag strapped to my back, here we go. Up the stairs.

Made it to the top. Took one more turn and…oh, come on this has to be a joke! About another 70 stairs to get to the top (which is where I realized that the other exit below was an elevator), followed by about 25 more to get to the street and sucking wind!

The apartment was about two blocks away and Mat was waiting there for me. I felt bad as it was now 11:30 and he had left work to let me in. Good thing I didn’t pass out on the stairs, although I was still feeling the effects of them. That’s when he told me that metro stop is the steepest in all of Paris. Really, you don’t say? But I had made it!

January 10, 2014 1

European Top 5

As I’ve mentioned before, I love Europe. In general terms, it will always be my favorite destination. I thought I would rank my top 5 cities I’ve visited in Europe (since I’m in the ranking mood). It wasn’t easy because there are so many places I’ve loved visiting (Stockholm, London, etc.). But without further ado:

Paris – nothing comes close. Still the best and still want to live here.
Barcelona – it’s not Paris but dare I say it comes pretty close
Salzburg, Austria – possibly the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited
Florence, Italy – great art, great architecture, great food, great city
York, England – I’ve always found the charm of England was outside London. I was totally charmed when I visited York and it still is my favorite town in England.

December 18, 2010 0