#pucesdeparis

[alieros-blog]

Les puces#pucesdesaintouen #pucesdeparis #dog#streetphotography

[redroseantiques]

#sputnikchandelier #luxuryvintageinteriors #redroseantiques #pucesdeparis #parisfleamarket #sputnik#midcenturylighting #midcenturymodern #midcentury (à RED ROSE Antiques)

[redroseantiques]

#pucesdesaintouen #parisfleamarket #pucesdeparis #louisvuittonlover #louisvuittoncollector #louisvuitton #vintagesafe #vintageluggage (à Puces de St Ouen)

[redroseantiques]

#louisvuitton #louisvuittonbag #louisvuittoncollector #louisvuittonlover #pucesdeparis #parisfleamarket #pucesdesaintouen (à Puces de St Ouen)

[redroseantiques]

#pucesdeparis #parisfleamarket #louisvuitton #louisvuittontrunk #louisvuittoncollector #redroseantiques #luxuryvintageinteriors (à Puces de St Ouen)

[redroseantiques]

#redroseantiques #luxuryvintageinteriors #louisvuittoncollector #louisvuittontrunk #louisvuitton #parisfleamarket #pucesdeparis (à Puces de St Ouen)

[redroseantiques]

#redroseantiques #louisvuitton #vintagesafe #parisfleamarket #lv #louisvuittonbag #louisvuittontrunk #vintageluggage #safe #marchedauphine #pucesdesaintouen #pucesdeparis (à Puces de St Ouen)

[parisamoi]

Les Puces de Paris

Like with any place you might travel to, if you don't speak the native language as well as a local and if you hardly know a person, Paris has proven to be a difficult place to make French friends. I knew this when I came, but it didn't manifest fully to me until I realized that the semester is coming to a close, and I have no French friends at Sciences Po. Don't get me wrong, I have amazing American, Canadian, Dutch, and Australian friends - but the French tend to spend their time with the French. That's why meeting a French guy named Felix who was with his mom in Lisbon at our hostel turned out to be a great acquaintance. For the first time this semester, besides with my friend Camille, I spent time with a Parisian. Felix has lived on the outside of Paris his entire life and works in Paris as a photographer for the press - so he really knows the ins and outs of the city. Last night Kaeli and I met up with him and THREE, yes three, other Parisians to go to a bar called Le Zero Zero which had techno music like a Berlin club and inexpensive drinks named after the bar itself. One Zero Zero for just 3.50 made the night affordable and fun. What's more, after hitting up the Zero Zero we walked towards Bastille, a student friendly area in the eastern and more local side of Paris where Kaeli and I discovered, for the first time, Le Rue de Soif (The Street of Thirst - aka the French equivalent of Greek Row at USC). Even the dance floors inside of these bars played all American music and people were dancing a la America (which meant they weren't really dancing). Around 1am Kaeli and I had to catch the last metro home and besides, we had plans with Felix to explore the Puces de Paris at 11am which meant going home earlier than later was a plus. 

So this morning I rolled out of bed after ignoring a series of blaring alarms, grabbed a roll at Eric Kayser (best bakery ever), and took the metro from Odéon to Porte de Clignancort - the last stop in the 18th arrondissement. I met Kaeli and Felix outside of the station and we walked to the Puces de Paris - literally translated the Fleas of Paris, or the biggest flea market in the world according to the internet and the biggest in Paris according to Felix. Either way, this flea market stretched on for at least a quarter of a mile and that doesn't include the side streets you could take to other areas. If you've seen Midnight in Paris, the film that makes Paris the ultimate icon, the scene where Owen Wilson finds the old record and talks to the model-esque French girl who he takes to coffee at the end of the movie - that part is set in Puces de Paris. It's kind of funny that that scene happens in the Puces because in fact, most of the movie is set in the super touristy and fancy areas towards the center of Paris (like near the Pantheon or at Musée de Rodin) but the Puces are at the very edge of Paris where the working class people of Paris reside. 

The Puces themselves run the whole gamut of items from antique trinkets to your grandmother's old socks to fake designer sunglasses. Parts of the Puces are legally set up, while others (such as those under the bridge dividing one half of the market from the other) aren't quite so law abiding. Felix knew his way around and took us down street I would never have noticed, into little covered passages where a whole row of beautiful and random old items had the dull tint of worn gold and silver knobs and buttons and coins and dressers and knives and spoons and all sorts of doodads and whatsits. I commented (in French - in French the whole day in fact!) that it's hard to find that one thing amidst all of the, well all of the rubbish. As it turns out, the French have an actual word for searching through the clutter - farfouiller - or to rummage I suppose in English, though I think it has a different connotation in French. I love coming across words that really have no English translation, that describe something utterly unique to the French or whatever country the language originates in.

So after j'ai farfouillé, we took the metro to Montemartre, snapped a few photos with Kaeli's giant camera, and grabbed lunch from Carrefour (the local grocery store). We ate in the sun, since Paris was nearly cloudless today, and then walked down to the Jardin des Tuileries in front of the Louvre where we continued to bronzer (tan) and chat amiably in French to the best of our ability. Kaeli eventually had to return home and finish a paper for class and Felix and I walked to Saint Germain des Pres to find some Yerba Mate tea mix (Felix just got back from a trip to Argentina where they drink Mate like it's coffee in Italy). From there I headed home and he went to pick up his motorcycle which had spent the day in the shop. After a long day of seeing more of Paris than I have in weeks I found myself exhausted but satisfied with a sunny day in Paris, speaking French, and rummaging through the Puces de Paris and really, though Paris itself.