A shop at Les Puces de St-Ouen

One word describes the St-Ouen market:  wow!  This famous flea market on the northern edge of the 18th arrondissement has anything you might be looking for and more.  It would have been easy to fill a shipping container with all the pieces I found that I loved, but it would have completely drained all bank accounts.  Block after block of shops held anything you could possibly dream of.  My dear friends Teresa and Joanie would be lost for days in this shopper’s paradise.

Murano glass chandeliers in the flea market, reasonably priced around 350 euros

A chair I liked, also 350 euros, so reasonable I actually inquired about shipping to the US

I did find the one perfect piece on my must have list, a Schneider art nouveau desk lamp.  I had two goals for my stay in Paris;  one awesome photograph, and an art nouveau desk lamp.  One down and one to go.

The art nouveau lamp that first caught my eye, unfortunately it was 2,000 euros

The Schneider lamp I purchased for considerably less than 2000 euros in the Marche Serpette, Aisle 4, Stall 10

Lamp being disassembled for packing

more shops

We saw many dogs accompanied by their people, like this wheaten Scottie

More beautiful chairs, these were 1800 euros for two

And more beautiful chairs, a recent obsession of mine

You could easily spend days going through all the shops, but after finding my treasure we headed towards the metro station at a leisurely pace.  Paranoid I would break the irreplaceable Schneider art glass, we made our way directly back to the apartment.

After safely depositing the desk lamp in the apartment, we ventured back out with a Rick Steves restaurant recommendation as our destination.  It was in the Montmartre area, but away from the hustle and bustle of tourist traffic.  This one turned out to be a good recommendation so Rick earns some points.

L’ete en Pente Douce

Our lunch spot

Looking down from the Montmartre hillside

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and looking into shops.  Montmartre seems to be the windy spot of Paris, so I didn’t last too long without ducking into a shop to avoid the wind.  The sun did shine now and then, but temperatures were still cool.

Macaroons in the window at Christophe Roussel Patissier Chocolatier

Nikon color outline feature