Personal tour of the Port de Vanves Flea Market & A day in the life

I do not own this photo: By Demeester (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons — I do not own this photo:
By Demeester (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I got moving early for a personal tour of the Porte de Vanves Flea Market. This flea is focused on antiques. Claude, the gentleman who is letting the flat to me, is quite the expert on who has what, and the quality. Things are generally inexpensive if shown on the ground, and pricier if on a table. Can you believe I didn’t take ANY photos of this!?! I’d be shocked at myself, but I remember being mesmerized by the stuff on display. The photo above is a creative commons photo of the market.

Claude also took me down a short side street/walkway that he said was all black-market. We had to take a quick look, because if the police come, the vendors have to grab their things and run.

There were so many fun things to look at, but I really didn’t need any of it, and couldn’t justify the postage home. We got there about 10 am, and the vendors started closing up shop at noon.

I grabbed a sandwich to go from a nearby shop, and made my way back to my neighborhood. Before I went back up to my flat, I stopped at the Monoprix for some veggies.

Monoprix is a mix between a super Walmart and super Target, but really small, a little jumbled, with food on one floor, and personal items, clothing and housewares on another.

I just happened to see a silk scarf on sale. It was 50% off, aubergine and gold dots, 7 euro 50, so now it is mine. Silk takes no room in my bag.

I returned to the flat to straighten out my mobile phone situation. When I was state-side, I asked the people at the mall kiosk if I had the plan that would give me what I needed. They were very wrong. It took about an hour, some quiet cussing, some tears and begging, and talking to ten people, no exaggeration. Also, lost some $ in the deal, but now I have free texting and data, and .20 cents a minute calling while outside of the USA.   Really, in reviewing this past paragraph….I was so much more frustrated in this process than I can apparently convey.

About 4pm some kind of peaceful protest went down my street. It was loud shouting over a PA system, and followed by lots of traffic. I think they timed it for rush hour. Once it passed, I made a quick run to get a baguette and some cheese. Oh, some macarons, too. I have found I love them.

Now I am going to settle in with some more tea, and work on my travel plans into February. Time is flying!