Paris in California

Song - Under Paris Skies by Lee Terry Meisinger



Mr. B and I didn't have much planned for Memorial Day Weekend.....but he did take me out on Friday night to a local French restaurant in Lafayette - Reve Bistro.  As we have gotten older we are tending to stay home most nights, especially me.  So Friday night was a fun and delicious adventure!

And on Sunday we decided to head up to Sonoma to go to the Paris Flea Market at Cornerstone and sponsored by Chateau Sonoma. It was a little cloudy and drizzly outside but we were ready for an adventure.

The vineyards were full of fresh new growth and we found lot's of people who had nothing to do on this three day weekend deciding to go up to the wine country!

There were lots of venders there as well as several places to eat.

Mr. B spotted this beautiful window? adornment? well whatever it was, it was beautiful!

I learned how to get the French Bistro look.....

The French Sonoma Peloton......

And under one of the "big tops" were some beautiful antiques....

There was a Frenchman singing and playing an antique card fed music box filled with French tunes!  It certainly added to the atmosphere and was fun too!

The rain held out while we enjoyed a glass of Rose, the gardens, the music and the antiques.

The Clematis was especially stunning growing over the walls...

The flea market was on the outskirts of town and we decided to head into Sonoma for some lunch at The Girl and the Fig.  By the time we arrived, so did the rain.  There was no outdoor seating and the inside of the restaurant was packed......so was every other restaurant there!  Mr. B found out that besides it being a three day weekend, Bottlerock was happening in the Napa Valley. We left Sonoma in a downpour and headed towards home.....

Mr. B missed our turn off of the freeway and we decided to take a different route.  We ended up in Crockett at The Dead Fish which was perfect.  We sat in the bar area at a table next to the big windows looking out over the Carquinez Straights. Great timing, perfect atmosphere and yummy food.

On a warm day, it's nice to sit outside and enjoy the train blowing it's whistle just a few feet below you as Amtrak rolls by.

Nice weekend all around....hope yours was as well.....

Returning to France Day 8

Song - Vivaldi a la Sainte Chapelle by Les Solistes Francais

We woke up early on Sunday to go to the big Paris Flea Market - Les Puces de Saint-Ouen which is only open Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  It's in kind of a dicey area just outside of Paris proper so I was glad we took and Uber there instead of the Metro. Once you are inside the market you're OK except to watch your purse and wallet (and I mean that in more ways than one ;-) )

A good idea that Sydney suggested for all of our outings was to take an iPhone photo of the map or directory so if you part ways you will have the information at your fingertips to regroup!

After the first stall that we stopped at (ribbons, trim & buttons), we did all go our separate ways as each one of us had different things that we were excited to look for.

 

 Some of the stalls were a collection of unrelated objects like the one above.

And others were carefully collected objects like the silver collection above. I personally enjoy finding unique pieces of silver for my own collection but I had never seen the spoon below. Do you know what it is?

I finally had to ask the shopkeeper.....and it's a fat-separator.  You put broth in the spoon & allow the fat to rise to the top, then you press down on the upper lever and the broth pours out of the bottom of the spoon but the fat stays inside.....supposedly!

And a portion of a linen collection.......but I couldn't find my exact initials on any of them!

Perhaps you could find portraits of your great-great grandparents?

Do you think I will have any trouble getting this alligator on the airplane?

 

I am sure packing this chandelier in my suitcase will be a cinch! 

We all came home with our little treasures.  I bought two bone handled knives and an antique white wild boar terrine.  Jackie & Sydney found paintings, etchings, 12 fruit knives, ribbons, fabric, pillow covers and loads of other fun things!

We headed home about 3pm as we had tickets for a Vivaldi concert later that evening inside Sainte Chapelle!

Dinner was across the street from Sainte Chapelle at Les Deux Palais - just salad and a Croque-Madame.

As it got dark we headed across the street to get in line for the concert.

It was magical.....the setting and the music!  The group that night was Les Solistes Francais with Paul Rouger playing the main violin and directing. If you are ever in Paris, I highly recommend you find out what concerts are at Sainte Chapelle and get your tickets early as it is usually a sell out!

Afterwards we ended up in the lobby of our hotel for a glass of wine & Sydney had a whiskey.....I tell you this because it ended up being so funny.  I kept smelling something and it wasn't good! And you know how you don't want to say anything in polite company? We were staying in a very clean hotel and what was that off odor?  Then Jackie began to smell it as well and it was getting worse.  Well, Sydney finally got the giggles and confessed that she was drinking a very "peaty" whiskey.  It was her drink and breath that we were smelling!

"Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite

 and furthermore always carry a small snake."

-- W. C. Fields

Flea Market Day

After much planning and down dressing and security measures (no jewelry, hidden money & small secure purses, etc.) we took the Metro to Marche aux Puces de Saint-Ouen on Clignancourt in the 18th. Unbelievable!!! So much to see it was impossible to do more than a small portion in one day. We could go every day for a month and still not see it all. It was more like a little village than a flea market in the states. You walked down streets to get to the different areas of the Market. I found a nice etching & a Provencal plate. Jackie found beautiful linens and Sydney found several lithographs.....small and very large. Mmmmm....I wonder how large her suitcase really is? Next time we will need to order a shipping container!!!


"They say a reasonable number of fleas is good for a dog - keeps him from broodin' over being' a dog." - Edward Noyes Westcott

Antique Linens

My friend Jacqueline is looking at beautiful antique linens at a little speciality shop she has discovered, La Tuile A Loup. We had a wonderful time Today exploring a new little neighborhood!


"Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends." --H. Jackson Brown, Jr.