Sunday, May 30, 2010

My London Trip - Part Four - Paris!

Bright and Early Monday morning Elizabeth, Katie and I boarded the Eurostar high-speed train to Paris.  The train tickets cost about as much as flying across the country in the US, but it was fast, comfortable, and scenic.  And how could I be that close and not go to Paris?

The main purpose of the trip was to shop at the Les Puces flea market so we decided to stay in Montmartre (ala Sabrina and Amelie).  Our hotel was walking distance from the flea market.  The room was super tiny but all we needed was a bathroom and a place to sleep.  I loved the window and the view.



After checking in, we had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. . .


. . . then headed directly to the flea market.  On our way to the antiques sections, we found some really beautiful scarves.  Everybody in London and Paris was wearing scarves so I just had to have one.  Here is Nellie modeling my choice:


Now on to antiques:






Elizabeth found a great wire egg basket and Katie found some fabulous African beads she had been wanting.   I got these cute sheep for the garden . . .



and a piece of vintage redwork in excellent condition. . .


It looks like the "tortoise and the hare" story with a windmill in the background and the flag at the finish line may have the stitcher's initials.  I like the way the hemstitching is done on the corners:


I also found some great buttons, a bit of pretty trim, and a small antique key.  Of course, I don't know exactly what I'll do with these, but I'll love having them in my stash.


After the flea market, the next stop was Tati which is a chain of stores known for bargain prices.  The Tati at Barbès Rochechouart is like a collection of different stores.  Sometimes you have to go outside and back in again to shop in a different department.  The pink checkered awnings are very cool.


Again, we shopped for scarves and found some fabulous ones.  I'm not going to show pictures, because most of these are for gifts and I don't want to spill the beans:)  Liz found a great sundress, too.

All this shopping deserved a special dinner.  Here Katie and I are toasting the day.  We dined on the sidewalk again at a great Italian restaurant.  I know, Italian food in Paris?  It was delicious!


After dinner, we stopped at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.


The view was fantastic!


Hey look, the Eiffel Tower!


The walk back to the hotel was a bit of an adventure because we got lost.  Well, we knew where we were, we just kept turning the wrong way.  Montmartre is so quaint with all the steps and the small streets, but trying to follow a map was confusing!  Here are some pics I took along the way.




At least the long walk made for a good night's sleep!  This post was pretty long, so I'll save our 2nd day in Paris for tomorrow's post.

5 comments:

Nancy said...

Paris? How lucky can you be to visit such a place! It's only a dream for me now, but I'm hoping one day it can become a reality. Thanks for sharing your trip!

Jackie's Stitches said...

What a wonderful trip! I hope to have a lengthy visit in France one day. Your pictures are just lovely.

Sylvia said...

Sounds like Paris was great fun - looks like the weather cooperated. Love the buttons & trim you found.

Julia said...

Hi Sherri,

I found you via Patti and have enjoyed looking at your London & Paris photos. And having looked back over some of your older posts, I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of the work you did at the Amy Mitten mystery sampler workshop - particularly the detached petals - it looks beautiful. I haven't come across Amy Mitten before - what a talented lady!

Regards Julia:0)

Margaret said...

Looks like you had so much fun! Love all your purchases! And the pictures too! I'm so enjoying this!