Two Gimps in the City

We were off to an early start this morning - onto La Marché Des Puces! (for those bargain hunters out there, you'll know this is the flea market) So off we went, going further and further out of the city, we definitely hit the urban area, and I believe the area where the riots were last year. We found la marché without any issues (we are definitely getting better at that!). Oh the wonderful things we found! Bought little gifts, and a few items some people have requested (Kath I found your souvenirs at a really good price - D'Eyn, I still haven't found your requested item)... the best was... I found some.... *cough* personal items for myself at a really great price (things I definitely could not get at home at those prices!). ka also found some really good things as well... The best was that we got to haggle for the prices... I managed to talk almost every purchase down except for 2... they were just stubborn! And when they accepted too readily, I realized maybe I didn't go down far enough... oh well.. we really did some great shopping... The best part, I know understand how the French women can afford all those shoes... They buy them at the flea market for 10€!!! Pointy shoes, all the latest shoes, some rip offs of the designer shoes... you'd never know they weren't the real thing.

After the flea market, I had a little lunch... ka had a cappucino (we are definitely going to miss that when we get home!) then off to Le Cimetaire Pierre Lachaise. Ok, I knew the cemetary was big, but oh my goodness, this cemetary was HUGE! Every square inch is used. so ka bought a map, and off we were to find the graves of certain people. First stop, Collette - famous writer. Then off to Frederic Chopin, Molière, Jim Morrison, Modigliani, Bugatti, and of course, Oscar Wilde. The thing to note about Oscar Wilde is that his tomb is covered by lipstick kisses (you'll see in the photos). When in Paris, do as Parisiennes do.. so I puckered up and kissed the tomb.. unfortunately, neither ka nor I had any lipstick on us, so my lip prints are there, just not visible. But the most poignant memorials we saw, was the memorial tombstones to the Holocaust survivors. There were about 5 for the victims of the concentration camps, 2 memorials to the French resistance fighters, and others, telling the world never to let this hapen again, do not let their deaths be in vain. I was really overwhelmed at this point.. seeing the number of victims, of the monuments, saying herein lies the ashes of 7000 people, buried with the soil of Auschwitz, just moves one to tears. At this point, we had been at the cemetary for over 3.5 hours, and did I mention that the streets were cobblestoned? Poor ka's feet, and my ankle were throbbing by the time we left. But on the way out, there was more memorials to the fighters of World War I, so we stopped to pay our respects.

On the way out fo the cemetary, it was WAY passed time for un café. So off the nearest café, where we had une café, and well, an expresso too. Off we were onto the next item on our list, L'Arc du Triomphe. It had been spitting rain on and off all day, but by the time we got there, a couple cracks of lighting, and there was a downpour. We took a couple of photos outside of the arc, went in to buy tickets.. and by that point, with my ankle throbbing, and memories of slipping on wet floors, I asked ka if it was ok that we skip the top of the arc. I really wanted to see it, but it had been a long day, and I didn't want either one of us to have an accident.... ka was most gracious, and agreed to head in for the night. If there's time to come back to it, we will, but just to see the majestic arc wa enough...

It's a rainy Saturday night in Paris... but it was a good day...