Bonjour!

A couple of years ago two wonderful friends of mine flew over from the US and we met in Paris.  This wasn't a first trip for any of us, so we skipped most of the sightseeing and made it exclusively a shopping trip, mostly of the world-famous flea markets.  Needless to say, we had a great time!  

We've all seen pictures of Paris a gazillion times, but I thought you might like to see a few "off the beaten path" shots...hopefully these are not what you have seen before.  I also love to cook, so many of these are about the wonderful food markets.  I wasn't blogging at the time; otherwise, I would have taken many, many more to share with all of you.  Regardless, I hope you like them! 

I was in awe of their flower markets...tons of ideas at every glance.

A convertible on a sunny day in Paris with Notre Dame as a backdrop? 

It doesn't get much better.

Check out those grapes!!!  Luscious.

Food can be such a work of art!

This little market was right around the corner from our apartment and we visited almost daily for fresh cheeses, etc.  I wish I'd taken a picture of the man who ran this wonderful shop...he was at least 80 years old, used the original push-button cash register, wore a beret, didn't speak a word of English...the whole thing.  It was awesome.

Just something pretty!  Notice the blue skies - we had amazing weather.

I found these doors at one of the many flea markets. I really, really, really wanted to take these home with me for our future dream house.  This picture is in the "dream house" folder as inspiration for when we build, so I am hoping I can find someone to replicate something like these.

I also bought all of this hardware (or as my husband says: "old rusty stuff") at the markets throughout the city.  Perhaps these are strange souvenirs for most, but for someone with the design of a dream house on her mind, these were heavenly finds!

A couple of months ago I posted about an amazing artist whose work I enjoyed while I was in Paris.  Take a look here if you're interested.

All photos by moi!