Saturday in Paris - my last day :-(

Well it's my last full day in Paris (boohoo) and I'm up bright and early. It's another coooold morning. As I peer down at people moving on the street below, I realize they're bundled up good - brrrr. More yummy coffee from my French press and a delicious croissant. Yum.

Today is the day I seek out all of the goodies and deals at the infamous Paris flea markets. First stop (actually the only planned stop) Marche aux Puces St-Ouen. I'm in search of leather goods and read several books recently that said I would find what I was looking for here. Fingers and toes crossed.

As I leave the apartment I see what equates to my very own neighborhood flea market, taking place right outside my front door. Huh. I check out a few stalls. They'll be here all day, so I'll hit them when I get back.

Before I leave the neighborhood I decide to take some photos around my apartment.

The front door to my apartment building.

This is my apartment building. My windows are on the top floor. The farthest left is my bathroom, to the right of it, my kitchen window. Around the corner are my living room windows (2) and farthest right is my bedroom window.

This is the clothing boutique across the street with the magical disappearing shutters.

This a children's boutique. I loved her window dressings.
I wish I would have snapped a photo of the one before this, it was darling too.  

I pass this building every day on my way to the Metro stop. It's the Secours Populaire Francais, which is a non-profit similar to Salvation Army or Goodwill. I zoom in on a poster they have posted across all of their front windows - because I thought it was cute and festive. It's requesting holiday donations for the less fortunate. I Googled the words on the poster and found this on their French speaking website - and saw this photo of people receiving holiday gifts. The caption above the photo on the website translated says: Celebrate for certain, Christmas is often a difficult period for the less fortunate. We need you!

I take the Metro north of Paris to the outskirts of the city, near the Sacre-Coeur area, which is an area up on a hill. I mention this because it is the coldest day of my trip and I'm certain there is a wind chill. Brrrr! I'm now regretting that I didn't buy a hat when I had the chance.

When I get to Marche Aux Puces I'm quickly greeted by street sellers trying to hock their wares on me. Faux Rolex watches, souvenirs, etc. I politely decline and quickly move toward the 'Pièce de résistance' of flea markets. Once inside - I begin my search for all things leather. Unfortunately, I'm not having much luck. There are some leather goods, but they're not finished / polished - more along the lines of 'raw leather', too rough - sadly not what I'm looking for. I do happen upon a nice Indian vendor who has a lot of really lovely cashmere scarves from India - Kashmir to be exact. :-) He's trying the hard sell, but I want to see what the other vendors have before I make a purchase. I tell him I'll be back, but I don't think he believes me. He then calls out a better price, I tell him I'll be back.

I peruse the remaining stalls quickly - one, because there weren't very many, two, did I mention it's FREAKING COLD! I find my way back to the Indian vendor. He seems surprised and smile and say 'see, I told you I'd be back'. I mull over several options and finally choose a lovely red scarf with really pretty black designs on it. It will be festive for the holidays. I ask the vendor why there aren't many stalls - he's says because it's so cold. I figured. I tell him I'm looking for leather bags - he directs me down the street to another larger section of flea market vendors. Wow - 17 acres of streets full of vendors selling their wares. Unfortunately, nothing I'm looking for. Bummer! And I'm now officially frozen. Today, it's not just my thighs, but my boo-tay AND my feet. I'm getting outta here.

I decide I need to go get souvenirs and the best place for that is down by Notre Dame. Which is, by the way, the second coldest place in Paris, along the Seine. When I ascend from the Metro station I'm greeted by gale force winds. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration - but it was SUPER windy. Brrrr! Glad my coat has enormous lapels which I hike up over my ears which are also wrapped in a scarf. I look fetching. LOL

I decide first to check out the souvenir stalls, where I had great luck on my last trip. For those of you who've never seen these - I found a picture on the web, as it didn't occur to me to snap photos - plus I was freezing.

Unfortunately, not many of these stalls were open and the ones that were mostly had antique books and artwork, not what I was looking for. So I crossed the street and made my way down blocks and blocks of actual souvenir stores with heat! I found just the right little trinket's for those I was shopping for. Miniature Eiffel Towers, Snow Globes, etc.

I was loaded down with bags and decided it was time to head back to the apartment to drop them off. Once back in my neighborhood I was happy to find the neighborhood flea market still going strong. I passed a friendly looking homeless man, with the cutest puppy - which gave me an idea. Up four flights to drop off the bags and freshen up. Then I decided to pack up all my leftovers: cheese, bread, tangerines, milk and juice. I double bagged the items, included extra paper towels, for the homeless guy and his dog. I also collected all my loose change to put in his cup. He had a thin mattress that he sat on and a paper cup for donations, with a cardboard sign simply reading 'S.V.P' Which is short for S'il vous plait or Please. I think I surprised him. He looked very thankful and we both smiled knowing that we didn't speak each others language - well at least for now. One of my goals for 2011 is to learn French.

I decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood to streets I hadn't visited to find someplace for dinner. While meandering, I stumbled on a train store which I thought was super cute. Rigel, the 5 year old little boy I nanny for LOVES trains - so I took a couple of photos to share with him.

Of course Rigel wanted to know why I didn't buy him a train. LOL I quickly replied that the store was closing, see the man coming out of the store? Wink, wink.

Back near the flea market vendors, on the main drag in my neighborhood, I passed lots of cool stuff. I was tempted by this really cool Japanese teapot, but my luggage was already SO heavy. I came across a baker who had tons of bread. The samples were YUMMY! I couldn't resist taking these photos.

The streets were packed with shoppers trying to make deals with the local vendors. My tummy began to growl, so the search for a place for dinner became the focus. There were lots of options: French, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, etc. I settled on Café du Marché des Enfants Rouges. In a word it was FABULOUS! 



Of course it didn't hurt that all of the waiters were super adorable and very flirty. I only wish now I would have discovered this place the first night I arrived. :-) The cafe was small, but very hip and trendy, filled with locals from the neighborhood. I took the only seat available inside, conveniently facing the bar, with a birds-eye view of the HOT bartender. There was a heated enclosed patio - mainly for the smokers who were just there for a drink and smoke. Everyone was extremely attractive - the patrons, the staff - wow! I arrived a little after 4pm - my waiter was very nice and helpful. I ordered a large bottle of vin - Cote du Rhone to be exact - delish.

When I was ready to order I asked my super friendly waiter what the cafe specialty was. He pointed to the blackboard with the specials and low and behold - bœuf bourguignon. Oh darn, I have to have it again?! LOL I mentioned that I wanted a starter, maybe a salad. He recommended the avocado and Roquefort salad. It was served warm, had tomatoes, currants and parsley. It was absolutely melt in your mouth delicious. If there was a way to recreate it I would - maybe I will.

Their boeuf bourguignon is served over penne pasta with mushrooms. It wasn't salty like the version at Procope - it was by far the best meal I'd enjoyed this trip. I savored every bite. I think my waiter must have thought I was nuts, eating so slowly, at one point he came over to ask if everything was okay. He was worried that my BB had gotten too cold. 

At about 5pm there was a shift change, my little cutie waiter was going home. A new guy would take over - I sat there like a 'crazy American' enjoying the view, sipping my vin and writing in my journal - occasionally giggling like a schoolgirl. heehee

The ambiance was amazing, I was groovin' to some hip retro-French music. How awesome it must be to live in this neighborhood and get to come here whenever you like. The new waiter came to take my dessert order - again I asked him what their specialty was - he brought me a super yummy warm chocolate cake like yumyum, along with a cafe au lait. Y-U-M!

I was there for about an hour and a half, and saw the tables turn three times, which for those of you who've been in the service industry you know that's not too shabby. Sadly it was time for me to go back to the apartment - I had a lot of packing to do.