Flotsam and Jetsam

Today, we spent the morning at the flea market, Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen. When we talk about a flea market in this context, we are actually talking about several different buildings, each packed with stalls selling slightly different items. Some sell antiques, but most really sell second-hand stuff, or really new items which are reproductions of the old stuff. These buildings are then surrounded by a lot of little shops selling cheap clothes, leather products, etc on the fringes.

My favourite market was the Marché Jules Vallès. This particular market sold old pieces of furniture, books, what have you. It was like an extended attic full of the flotsam and jetsam of many people’s lives. You could find anything in these markets, from an old keyboard, to clocks, to old porcelain statues missing a hand or a foot, to a kitchen stove and even an old Jaguar (yes, as in the car).


I would find it so difficult to work out what was a potential collectable which just needed a little restoration work, from what was really a piece of junk. For example, there was an old violin, probably three-quarter size. I was reminded of my sister’s old violin, which she used as a child. It was originally in my grandfather’s house and missed its strings, was covered in dirt and (if I’m correct) also missed its neck rest. When we got it cleaned up, it was actually quite a good violin. My sister used it until she grew out of it and got her very own, full-sized violin. But it was her violin teacher who made the call that it was usable, not me.

Actually, the flea market reminded me a little of my grandfather’s garage – which is probably the reason why I liked it so much. It even had the same, dusty smell.

We had a quick lunch and then I went off on my own to the Tuileries Gardens. I got off at the Louvre metro stop, then walked down the length of the gardens to reach the Musée de l’Orangerie. Now the Tuileries Gardens have at either end these large fountains, surrounded by sandy pathways… I realized just how sandy when I saw the sand blow in the wind. So I got off the main paths to walk down a quiet tree-lined avenue where there were fewer people and hence less disturbance of the sand. Nonetheless, my shoes were covered in dust.

Now, I’d bought the 2-day Paris Museum Pass the previous day from FNAC (the French Virgin Megastore counterpart which sells books, DVDs, CDs, electronic equipment etc). The virtue of the Museum Pass is that you don’t need to queue to get in. Or at least, you get your own separate queue. So I waltzed past all these people who presumably had queued for a while and walked to the head of separate queue. So it saves time (it also saves money if you go to enough museums, especially the more pricey ones) which can be better spent looking at exhibits.

The L’Orangerie is famed for the huge paintings of water lilies by Monet, which were a gift from him to the French State. The oval shape of the rooms were determined by him and he then worked his paintings (partially completed at the time the location was decided upon) to fit the space. There are a total of 8 paintings, 4 in each room. They depict water lilies at different times of the day. According to the AV show, Monet loved the subject of water lilies because the combination of the flowers, water, and the sky and clouds reflected in the water was like the combination of the earth, sea and sky – a limitless, boundary-less world, without any fixed focal point so the eye looks everywhere at once. The rooms, two ovals connected to each other, symbolize infinity. I sat in front of each painting, to soak this serene world in.

The L’Orangerie is actually a very manageable museum. Aside from the water lilies, there is a small very select collection of paintings. The original collector was a Paris art dealer, Paul Guillaume, who bought many of the paintings. After his death, his wife continued his collection and then gave them to the state. There are Renoirs, Cezannes and Matisses.

Now the plan was that I would meet my friend at the Picasso Museum in the Marais area later that evening. So I thought I would take a look around the shops and buildings in the Marais area. The word “Marais” means “marsh” and so the buildings in this area were built on reclaimed marshland. Many were built by the rich and wealthy, in particular the beautiful Place de Vosges, famous for its symmetrical layout. Cardinal Richelieu stayed here in 1615. Maison de Victor Hugo (I didn’t go in though) is in one corner. Hugo stayed here for many years and wrote Les Miserables here. Indeed, the Marais is a charming area, with beautiful old houses and buildings. I wandered around these narrow old streets (quite different from other parts of Paris) and made my way to the Musee Picasso.

I thought I would be able to spend some time here. But the Musee Picasso appeared to be undergoing some renovation. There was scaffolding outside (this is why there is no photo) and inside, everything seemed a little less permanent in nature with what appeared to be temporary signs and I could not seem to find the more famous paintings as listed in my guidebook (I forgot to pick up the museum guide, a hazard of getting the museum pass). I did find a rather nice little AV theatrette showing a film of the master at work – he’s painting on glass, the camera is on the other side so you can see what he paints. I also quite liked the exhibition of photos of Picasso by many famous photographers – Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, amongst others. Anyway, somehow I finished it in double-quick time. Then it started to rain… of course that day I did not bring my umbrella… so I was stuck in the shop for some time. The rain died, I ventured out and since it was still rather early (I’d planned for a two hour visit to the museum but lasted only an hour there) I was very fortunate to bump into my friend in the street! We happily went back home to take a rest before dinner.

Dinner that evening was in the little neighbourhood restaurant around the corner from our apartment. We walked there around 7.20pm and found that it would not open till 8pm (that was when we found out that restaurants open about 8pm in France). On previous evenings, we must have reached the restaurants just after 8pm. So we wandered around and returned to the restaurant. We were the first customers in and spent some time deciphering the menu. The next group of customers (all 3 of them) walked in and ordered the beef fondue. So when we tried to order it, we were told that there was no beef left! Amazing. Did she have a huge lunch crowd? So we had to have fish instead (that was the only other item available on the menu). At least, we got to eat escargot. Ok, but not great. Well, we are talking about snails here. The owner’s cute little dog was running around in the restaurant – where are the environmental inspectors in France! Parisians indeed do love their dogs!