Shop 'til you drop...

Today was flea market day! All right, so in North America you picture a big barn like building, with dusty, cheap items that fall apart when you get home. This is not the case in Paris! In Paris, the flea market contains those cheap items, however, you can also purchase antiques, clothes, SHOES, cheap souvenirs, and almost everything else under the sun. The nice thing is that you can barter, or ask for the Canadian discount, and most owners are willing to oblige. (give them a nice smile, and usually they will....). Anyway, J1 & I had a good time going through all of the stalls, and the streets. (J2 has bad blisters on his feet, and wasn't able to make it) Last time, ka and I only did about 10% of the actual flea market... if you can picture about 3kms square of stuff, crammed into every nook and cranny possible. Oh the items we purchased... it was a very good day, but it's not over yet! We are off to do some more shopping!

Later that day...

so J1 & I headed out for a cappucino at the cafe around the corner from us. The best thing to do while in Paris is to sit and watch all the people go by while having une cafe. So many languages, styles of clothes, rattled tourists.... never a dull moment! Then off to the chocolaterie - the chocolate shop! Even just walking in, I'm sure you gain 5 pounds from the smell... heaven! Purchased a few items... ok, quite a few... then back to the grocery store. A lot of stores are closed on Sundays (including some cafes, grocery stores, stores, etc) so we had to stock up on certain items, like bottled water, to carry us through until Monday.

Back to the flat... J1 was tired from all of the activity as she had been up most of the night... it's hard getting used to a new time zone. J2 & I decided to head out for a bite to eat. Since it was prime time for the cafes... let me explain.. it was 7pm - people are getting ready to go out... however, the clubs don't open until midnight. So, the idea is that you meet up with your friends at a cafe, have a few drinks, then head to the club. J2 & I went out for a bite to eat around 7:30, and the cafes were packed, and were only serving sandwich fare... which is ok. We finally found a seat at a cafe not too far away, and sat and had a drink & a sandwich. (if anybody out there knows what goes into a "Martini Rouge" please let me know!) Headed back to the flat and called it a night.

All in all, a good day....