market day

I was so completely exhausted last night that I didn't get my blogging done.  We had a really great day yesterday ~ or at least I did because Mr. C does NOT find strolling through a crowded market in any way amusing ~ at La Marché Bastille, aka Marché Richard Lemoine.  It's a quick Metro ride over to the Bastille (home of the old prison and the new opera house).  The market goes on for blocks and has absolutely everything you could want in the way of fruits and veggies, prepared , clothing, furniture, kitchenware, table linens,  flowers and more.  I was ecstatic!  He was bored but indulgent (sort of).  We didn't buy a lot; little quiches for lunch (they were terrible), flowers for the apartment (they are lovely), a spatula for the kitchen (:Mr. C said we needed it but when we got home we found there was already one here), and a bag of mixed olives (my favorite before dinner nibble).

The tiled walls and location name plate of the  Metro

Yummy cheese, one among hundreds of varieties at this fromagerie

Glossy fish on ice

Many varieties of mushrooms

Olives I've never seen from places I've never heard of!

There were two or three bread stalls but I was particularly delighted by the way this baker displayed his baguettes ~ sort of log-cabin style.

One of the more fascinating characters was the caning man; you bring your sat-through chair seat and he'll re-cane it.  And this is hand caning, not the stuff that comes in a roll.  It was absolutely beautiful work.  I couldn't get up close to him to take a photo of him actually working due to all the other gawkers crowded in.  I'll try again next time.

This market is very popular, especially on Sunday.  These are true French shoppers with their carts on wheels, stuffed with the goodies for the coming week.  Young, old, kids, dogs.  There are still a few debonair gentlemen in suits and vests and their  beret and ladies all dressed up.  This was the style the first time I was in this market in the late '70s.  Now it's shorts  and t-shirts and the ubiquitous jeans.  There's nothing wrong with any of this but it does make French fashion watching a bit disappointing!

We headed home, again via Metro, and walked from Republique (one of our two stops) back to the apartment, about a 7 minute stroll.  I wanted to walk this route to check out any outstanding landmarks I could point out to Cait for her arrival tomorrow.  I found a good one.

The café on the corner has these distinctive chairs out on its terrace.  They are so cheerful and bright and SO French!

I would love to have these little beauties at home.

At home we had lunch ~ the terrible little quiches (tough, dry, tasteless) and a lovely salad with my favorite green, mache.

I never see it in the US, even at our farmers' market which has several trendy greens growers.  I'll have to ask.

It rained yesterday afternoon, then the sun came out but before we could think of what we wanted to do it started raining again.  It was an early night.  More to do tomorrow, including more shopping.  I love marketing here.  There are such interesting things on the shelves of even the most humble market.