Les Puces de Saint-Ouen

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 6

Today I woke up late--again. So I did my best to hurry and get ready and we headed to the train station. We made it without getting lost at all! C'est un miracle! Unfortunately our train was late and we had to switch trains because it didn't stop at our station. So it took us longer to get to class than usual. Oh well. I did end up seeing two really cute French boys sitting in some seats across from me on our way to Paris, so it wasn't a total loss! Then, after class about eight of us went to a little Boulangerie around the corner and got lunch. I ate a really yummy sandwich--Le cereales et poulet a l'indienne (Indian-flavored chicken sandwich). It was sooo good. The sauce was flavorful but not too spicy and there were sundried tomatoes and the bread was wicked tasty, per usual.

From there we went to the ticket office to buy seats to Les Miserables. After talking to the lady there we found out that the cheapest tickets (10e) go on sale the week before the show (which is later in May) so we're going to come back then to buy them. As we were leaving it started to rain--it'd been cold and overcast all morning--so we became officially uncomfortable. And unfortunately I forgot my jackets in Utah (genius, pure genius) so all I had with me was my thin rain/windbreaker that does very little to keep one warm. Oh well. We weren't about to let the weather stop us! We then proceeded on the metro towards Porte de Clignancourt where we passed a black guy standing to the side bobbing up and down and doing the ghetto shoulder shrug and hand gestures--basically doing what I do when I pretend I'm gangsta. Ha. I'm not sure if he was doing it for his benefit or for ours but I was definitely entertained--especially when you consider that he wasn't actually listening to any music!

We then got off the metro and found Les Puces de Saint-Ouen--the Saint-Ouen flea market, which is the largest flea market in the world! There are over 2,000 shops and in 2001 the French government classified the zone as a Zone de Protection du Patrimoine Architectural, Urbain et Paysager, making it the first historic area to receive state protection for its unique and historic atmosphere. The first part of the market is a tourist trap with really aggressive vendors. There are freelance vendors walking around on the streets around the market holding their goods out to try and get passerby to stop and buy them. It reminded me of the stereotypical scammer in the street who opens his jacket to show you an array of watches. They held out sunglasses, necklaces, trinkets and even cigarettes. I made sure to have a hand on my purse the whole time--its known for having a lot of pickpocketers. In fact, as were were continuing on to the other part of the market (the more secret one that most tourists don't know about) we passed a boy running holding some stolen item under his coat! Au voleur! So I was pretty careful not to get too close to these guys.

We then found the real flea market where the legit shops were. It reminded me of a scene in Morocco or something with the narrow alleys, overhanging awnings and old antique items. I found some cool trinkets but I decided against buying anything. We went into one shop that had beautiful old china and there was a collection of antique fans from the Orient in a glass case behind the counter. We found out that one fan cost 600 euros! When we recalled this to Frederique (our mere) she told us that its true they're expensive but its common to haggle the price down to something more "raisonnable" like 300 euros. Ha. Reasonable. But it was cool to look at all the old art, furniture, costumes and trinkets. We saw another shop that had enormous bottles of perfume and each bottle was unique with some pretty elaborate shapes. Most of the bottles were about the size of a small lamp and many were shaped like flowers, or had sparkly doodads on the stopper. It was all pretty wild to look at. Unfortunately its considered very rude to take pictures so I didn't take any of the actual market, just one of the "secret" entry to the market alley. But some of the things were really fascinating. I especially enjoyed looking at a collection of old postcards. I'm not sure if they were all legitimate originals or if they were copies, but I found some that were written on and dated in the early 1900s. They only cost up to two euros though so I'm not sure if they were the originals, but it was still neat to look at them. I also saw a neat antique costume shop, some old pocketwatches from the 1900s and a beautiful set of old wooden chairs. There was another chair that I particularly liked--it was of a dark wood, a rounded back and the whole thing looked to hand carved. It was really beautiful.

We then went back into the first part of the market where I bought a pretty purple and yellow floral designed foulard (scarf) for 10 euros. Not too bad a price. Then we left Les Puces and headed on the metro to Sainte-Chapelle which is next to the Palais de Justice. We stood in line on the street for probably close to an hour (at least if felt about that long). It was freezing out today. My hands and feet went numb with cold and I was pretty much uncomfortable the entire day. However, in spite of the terrible weather and lack of appropriate attire to combat said climate, I'm glad we were able to do continue our walks because I do not want to waste a day in France!

After standing in line forever we finally made it in the Sainte-Chapelle. Saint Louis (Louis IX) had the church built in the 13th century to house relics brought back from the crusades (the crown of thorns, the holy nail, part of the cross--now in Notre Dame). Although the relics are gone the church's stained glass windows are beautiful. One of the things I liked most about the chapel was how every single part of the building was decorated. The entire church is a piece of art from the painted stars on the ceiling to the wood paneling, back walls and even the floor. The ornateness of the structure is visually overwhelming with all the details and striking blues, reds and golds. Currently work is being done on the chapel to restore the stained glass windows (which requires hand washing each section). Its a huge project (considering how many little pieces have to be washed and parts restored) that is supposed to last until 2013.

After visiting Sainte-Chapelle we decided to head home (it being about 5 o'clock). It was so nice to sit in the warm metro after freezing in the cold and rain all day. Marissa had left earlier in the day to meet up with her French friend who she's done an exchange with a couple years ago, so I had to walk home alone. Luckily I finally know the way home and I got there in record time! Yay! When I got back I ate some dinner, which wasn't very good because the temperature of our fridge is probably equivalent to a freezer because it killed my fruit and froze my salad. So I had to eat frozen salad without dressing, couscous that I luckily warmed up in the microwave, and some bread. After the icky salad I ended the meal right by adding Nutella to the bread for a treat. Its so hard to stop eating it. I've already gone through half my Nutella bottle! Oh la la. Good thing I'm walking it all off--I hope. Although I'm pretty sure I'm averaging at least five miles a day (depending on the walk we do).