La vie parisienne d'Alana

Le lundi 11 juin The rain visited Paris for the next few days, which set a nice ambience but also limited the options Claire and I had to tour around town.  We decided to have a late breakfast at an organic bagel sandwich shop with fresh pressed juice.  Everything was delicious until, I kid you not, Claire opened her bagel sandwich to show me a live tiny slug slithering through her arugula.  Both of our jaws dropped and I wondered for a moment if a live snail was part of the cuisine culture in France?  A sign of good luck?  Ehhh...I think not. I showed the woman behind the sandwich counter.  She gasped, said she would make another, and brought us a new sandwich with the amount it cost.  Thank you, kind lady!  We are not upset - we know l’escargot vivant was probably living in the fresh arugula you picked from your terrace garden, and for that we cannot fault you.  But it sure makes one heck of a story! With the rain falling steadily...

Le dimanche 10 juin Today would be my last Sunday in Paris. It wasn’t the first Sunday of the month, unfortunately, when all national museums in Paris are free.  Still, I was going to make the most of the morning and early afternoon before Claire’s arrival. I decided to visit the marché aux puces of Saint Ouen, as this is the most famous flea market in Paris. Even though I had researched this flea market and knew it was extremely large compared to Vanves, I was still shocked by the vastness of it upon arrival. Once again, I saw rows of the vendors’ boxy white vans lined up along the street parking.  I walked through crowds who were checking out the discounted sneakers and designer clothing in white pop-up tents that lined the outskirts of the market.  A crowd had gathered at one tent to grab the remaining 1 euro t-shirts out of a bin.  They seemed to be Lacoste knockoffs, folded and covered in plastic.  I was more interested in getting to the older...

Le 9 juin Today I would leave Citadines for an Airbnb in the 13th arrondissment and prepare for Claire’s arrival in Paris the following day. But first, I had plans to head to the marché aux puces de Vanves .  I have heard of the famous Paris flea markets many times and I even ventured to a semblance of one when I studied in France in 2007. From what I remember, my roommates and I arrived very late on a Sunday to the Saint Ouen flea market when most of the stalls had already closed, missing our chance at a thorough Paris flea market experience.  Even so, I was able to bargain with one vendor and I still have a beautiful over-sized ring with a faux white stone that I bought from the market that year. This year, I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to purvey all of the flea market stands and options.  I researched the marchés aux puces near me, and found the one in Vanves.  I jumped on the metro and knew I was getting closer when I saw other people ge...