More on Friday

 We went to the 12th arrondisment to have lunch with our friend, D. He took us to the market on Reuilly, which was a lot of fun, though we were mighty chilled by the time we headed back to the apartment. Look at the selection of olives, and dried fruit. There was a rug dealer with lots of cool canes, too. The striped fabric reminded us of the art work of Daniel Buren, who used them as his inspiration.

 Here's the view from one of D's windows up on the 5th floor. Down below is a small park with a gazebo for concerts.

 D. made us a quiche with carrots, broccoli and orange. Delicious.

And for dessert, he made Crèpes Suzette. I think this is the first time we've had them. We've had other Crèpes,  but not with flaming Grand Marnier! You can't see the flames in my photo, but trust me they were there.

 This was delicious.

 Here's one of today's rather surrealist mail art cards. I'd been waiting for a chance to use the eyeball.  I'm showing it as a break before my tale of the movie we didn't see.

 We got home from D's, having taken a bus & getting off at Bastille, and walking the rest of the way, and decided we wanted to see a movie. Something fun, the Sherlock Holmes. The closest cinema showing it was at Forum des Halles. (A huge shopping mall, underground.) We walked there with plenty of time to make the 7h45 movie. Well, we descended into the crowds below the street and it was so chaotic for us, crowded. We worked our way to the cinema, which was the equivalent of several blocks away. There were people lined up to use machines to get tickets. We didn't want to deal with figuring out the French (or rather, I didn't) and we had cash, so we asked about where to buy tickets with cash. Downstairs, around the corner, long lines, oh no, we'd miss the start of the movie. We gave up. We just couldn't take the confusion and the crowds. So we walked back, at a slower pace.

As we passed some restaurants, my honey said he was thinking about dinner. I didn't want Pizza Momo, so we stopped at the mini Monoprix and got ready made sandwiches, crisps(chips,)chocolate cake and a Coca Cola. Yum, this is better than our anniversary dinner, where we shared one sandwich. We sure know how to enjoy ourselves. No kidding, this was fun for us.  Meanwhile, we'll try to see a movie tomorrow, at the cinema on Saint Germain, which is further but easier to deal with.  Some days we just can't take confusion, crowds, and/or chaos. What about you? Have you had those days?

Day 5, Market day

 Yesterday, we went to the market on Richard Lenoir, aka Bastille market. There was this wonderful duo with terrific voices. The little girl in pink was swaying with the music.

 Here's what I purchased at the market. I was happy to see the simit (the round sesame seed bread) like in Istanbul. The long cucumbers were 2 for $1.27, inexpensive.  What a feast. And I found some repro postcards.

 Leaving the market we saw these pigeons taking a bath in the water that was pumped out to clean the streets.

 In the evening, we took the bus to our friends place up by Pere Lachaise cemetery, and went to a restaurant for dinner. I chose the couscous.

 Notice the lovely vegetables. There was a small bowl of chickpeas, another of white raisins, and some harissa for spicing it all up.
Afterwards, we went back to our friends' place for some Armanac (spelling?)

We decided to walk "home" rather than take the metro, as the buses had quit for the night. It's not a long walk, only 2.4 miles, though it seemed longer. Probably because it was pretty quiet and very few people were out. We stuck to the wide, busier streets. This is the Mairie of the 10th or the 11th or whatever arrondisement we were walking through. It was a nice night, and we enjoyed the walk. We got "home" by midnight, ready to sleep well.

#69s and my walk to the market

"Nous allons a Paris"

 What else could I do with the letter "F" but use these wonderful 1950s fashions. So stylish and of course, they had to be on a map of Paris.

"Vamos a ir a Paris"

 My Paris map had some Spanish on it so I used that to say Paris Fashion.

 Yesterday I walked to the Market to get an adjustment made on an overcharge from the day before. I started out, lovely sunny day, spring like, but look, there was no one walking out there except for me.

Post Office 23221

I walked past my 23221 branch Post Office. No one was there because it was Sunday.  I usually go to this branch because it's closer to other things, like my bank, the natural food market, than the 23220 branch, which is my zip code.

This is my natural food market, called Ellwood-Thompson, it's located at the Tee intersection of those two streets. We call it E.T. for short, naturally.

As I was checking out, I met up with my neighbors. Adrianna and her mom. We walked home together, which was a treat for me, and I learned that I wasn't the ONLY person walking to market that day.

Sunday #2 (Dimanche) at the Bastille Market

The market was crowded, which is not my kind of place to be. I forget and think I'll be okay, but after awhile, I'm like OKAY, done with this. We walked to the end of the stalls and back, threading our way through the people, benches, and dogs. We bought a baguette. We decided to walk back along rue Franc Bourgeois and see what new shops were along the street. Shops were just opening up, people were strolling, and then little white flakes came out of the sky. Surprise! It was snowing, not a lot, but definitely snow flakes. We got a bag of pistachios nuts from the shop at the end of the street with all the falafel shops. Yum, did that street smell good! We came back to our studio, however, and ate leftover soup. We were glad to be in and warm. Now it's raining, windy, and probably very chilly. A good night to stay in and entertain, which is what we're going to do. Hope our guests don't mind coming out to join us on a night like this!