11-7-2010

IMG_2475
Originally uploaded by cspatrick

We achieved another milestone today – we bargained down the price at a flea market! And yet another milestone – we bought a pitcher and four glasses!! We started out to go to an art fair at the Montparnasse Tour (Tower). We walked there, probably only a 15-minute or so walk. We walked all the way around the tower looking for the fair, but no success. It was clear that the fair was not in the tower itself, because there was a guard there keeping out the flotsam and jetsam. We pondered what to do next, and decided to go to a nearby train station and check on a train ticket out to Charles de Gaulle Airport. I am leaving this weekend and I don’t want to have to jump the gate again. Once was quite enough, thank you very much! So we whipped out our trusty map and planned our route, and it looked like the best route included turning down a street called Rue Edgar Quinot. Once we got onto the street, voila! There was the art market! A bit of serendipity – we had already given up on finding the market. The market consisted of probably 60-80 stalls set up in the neutral ground of the rather wide street. Much of it was pretty decent art – too bad we are not in the market for art at this time. I know, I know, I should buy art that I like when and where I am, but we don’t want to have to cart it around, and we are not really here to buy art. Further, I can’t say that there was any one piece which reached out and grabbed me. As we passed the last stall, there was an empty space of a couple of hundred feet, then more stalls set up. This was a flea market – another bit of serendipity. This one probably consisted of 100 stalls or so. We were about half way through the market when I spotted a pitcher and four glasses. Not huge, but at least as large as what we are using now. Our landlady furnished much of the kitchen at Ikea. It appears that she bought the eating utensils in a glass jar, probably with a seal or something on it, because there is no lid. Actually, there are two of these. The problem with them is that they have no pour spout, and when they are full or more than half full and we try to pour from them, we pour tea all over the place! So we really needed a pitcher. We were also in the market for some iced tea glasses instead of the latte cups we have been drinking out of. So I spotted the set for 10€. We considered it for a moment, but the vendor was busy with other customers and Roger didn’t seem too excited about them so we moved on. The farther I walked past other stalls, the more I wanted to go back and buy. Finally, after some discussion, I decided to return and offer 8€ for the set. We checked our change and scraped together 8€. We went back and had to hang around for a few moments while the guy served other customers. When he got to us, I asked (in French) if he would accept 8€ for the five pieces. He mumbled something in French which I did not catch, so I just waited. After a moment, he said “OK” and started to wrap the glasses up. When he got to the pitcher, he wrapped it in something which, when we got home, we discovered was an acrylic turtleneck sweater, never worn! Ooookaaaaaay! I paid him his 8€ and we left. Success! I can now say I have bargained down the price of something in a French flea market. In French!