Greetings from hot Paris . . . and by this Thursday it is supposed to get up 36C (96.8F), which will be no fun if there are no breezes. The old Centre with its thick stone walls remains cool, at least on our floor, if we keep the windows and blinds closed. Believe me, they're closed. Today wasn't so bad, a mere 29C (84F), which the radio says is about 12 degrees above normal for this time of year. In Vancouver we would be muttering about heat waves and global warming.
We went out for a walk anyway. It was time to see a good local flea market/garage sale (empty the attic). The junk lived up to its name, but the 100+ stalls offered variety and gave me an opportunity to take photos of unsuspecting shoppers. The photos are in the order taken. It's too warm to do anything creative.
We emerged from the métro, and low and behold, there it was, one long line of awnings and stalls.
This lady (back turned to us) was holding up a top that I'm certain she could never have squeezed into even 20 years ago. But hope burns eternal, and like me, she's surely going to go back to the gym and lose weight, soon.
Nobody was buying, but I was intrigued by all the wine glasses and by the vendor's courage in displaying so many on flimsy table tops. The ones with the green stems are for Alsatian wine.
Only several book vendors. This is surely the place to pick up something to read on the plane, but I am so often fooled by clever titles. None of these books had photos on the title pages to mislead me. I usually get one or two for 1-2€.
This box of old brushes and ointments was interesting. I can't imagine buying any, but I liked the casual display.
I had to wonder why these two gals didn't just move to the same table to talk, but they felt comfortable this way.
After the numbered stalls ran out, we could walk around the corner and see junk displayed by immigrant vendors on blankets. I doubt that they were paying any rent, and I haven't a clue who would want to buy the stuff. But they are likely specialists in bargaining, which would have been fun to observe.
These two 'boxes' on wheels enable local people to leave unwanted books, good magazines, decent clothing, unwanted potted plants, etc. for anyone to take home. Vancouver has a number of very small boxes for sharing books, but these boxes take donations to a new level.
We were getting hungry for lunch, so we started looking for red awnings indicating that a café might be open. This one was mostly a bar, so we skipped it, but my eye noticed something on the awning: "Doctorate en rhum arrangé" (a doctorate in mixing arranged/infused rums). Of course, I've never knowingly had one, and now realize that I will need to return soon. Some of these Madagascar concoctions call for various crushed fruits which are left in the rum for about three months. One French recipe I just saw called for the zest of 2 oranges, 2 slices of fresh ginger and 2 soup spoons of honey heated together. Then you wash and cut a fresh ripe mango into pieces and put them in canning jars, adding the orange zest and fresh ginger/honey mixture. Put in 2 cinnamon sticks, fill the jar with white rum, screw the lid on and let it sit in a cool place for 3 months. What could go wrong?
We're looking forward to a cooler night this evening, and getting emotionally prepared for some good ol' heat. The Alsace was too dry, as was the Morvan, where some trees were clearly hurting from the lack of rain. Portugal is dealing with serious fires, and some people apparently even died in their cars because they were unprepared for the heat wave. Here we go. I see that you are facing 28C today, Aaron and Julia 31 in Philly, so things are warming up. Well, that's all for now,
With love from us both,
Evan
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