at the flea market and the movies

saturday was deb's last full day in paris. she leaves for the airport this afternoon around 2.

we had breakfast -- cafe au lait and pain chocolat, mmm -- at this little bakery down the street from the hotel, and then jumped on le metro to go check out this flea market in the 14th mentioned in suzy gershman's born to shop paris (a very entertaining guide for anyone who wants to shop in paris, and it has useful info about tipping, public transportation, and other tidbits). it's not the really big, famous one (called le marche aux puces de saint-ouen) but a smaller one, called puces des vanves, that was closer to us and more dealable (and which she says is the no. 1 flea market in paris ... and who am i to argue?). we found it without too much trouble, and i got a present for one of my friends. the market was spread out along three different connected blocks, arranged sort of in a T formation.

we wandered around, taking in a totally random variety of furniture, clothing, shoes, photographs, paintings, war medals, jewelry, accessories, fixtures, cutlery, dishes, videos, books, postcards, cameras, and assorted bric-a-brac. this was more like a real flea market than the street market we went to on thursday, which was of course much smaller, but also didn't have the sheer crazy array of stuff this bigger one boasted. i admired a pair of black velvet gloves adorned with gorgeous gold embroidery (and a bag to match), but decided i didn't really need to go there. most of the vendors had booths or tables, but there were some people with just a blanket spread out on the sidewalk. those were epic in their randomness -- everything from dusty old electronics to tubes of mayonnaise (!).

then we walked across the 14th to another shopping street with designer outlets and stock shops. i left the squirrel at a cafe and window-shopped a little, but nothing really grabbed me. also, i was kind of shopped-out. had a croque monsieur and a glass of wine at the cafe, and then we headed back to this shop in the 3rd, called sobral -- which sells colorful resin jewelry that looks like exotic candy -- so that deb could buy the bracelet she coveted. (it looks sort of like this.) then we got ice cream (i had blood orange that was sweet and tangy; she had a double scoop of, uh, chocolate and something else). we walked around and looked at some of the mansions along the seine. where even the drainpipes are impossibly ornate:



later i took a picture of the back of notre dame (see above). but i must really be burned out on being a tourist, b/c i didn't take too many photos today, either. too bad. i wish i had some shots of the flea market. oh, well.

we went back to the room and feasted on bread, foie gras, and wine. then i made good on my promise to go see sex and the city with her at the local cinema. she said she wanted to see it with a french audience -- i guess to see how they'd react. it was in english with french subtitles, so i said ok. i never watched the show, but i know enough about it to follow the story (and they also had an intro that brought you up to speed). i really like sarah jessica parker -- have since her days in square pegs (recently released on DVD, and i recommend watching it if you never have). i kind of wish she would've done something deeper with her career than this frothy fluff, but a gig's a gig, i guess.

the theater was just around the corner from our hotel; 9.50 euros for a ticket. we got into the queue, and they opened the door about five minutes before the movie's posted starting time. we went down and down and down the steps -- underground cinema! i had read that the french don't eat during movies, but there were snacks available in the lobby, and some people were indulging. the previews and run-up advertising and other blather was as long (if not longer) than at an american film.

anyway, the movie was entertaining, if not especially thought-provoking, with a lot of fun (and some truly hideous) fashion. it was long, howev -- more than two hours! that just seemed excessive.

back at the hotel, we had more wine, and the squirrel finished packing. at 2 am we hunched over my laptop to watch the new who ep, "midnight," which was nice and creepy. then we went to bed.