Saturday

Saturday morning. Still so groggy. It’s hard to get up. I want to be energetic now, please and thank you. Jed has a lovely little system here. Just down the hall is a kitchen of sorts (no stove, no oven, but hot plates and a microwave. You set the wattage on the oven -- no “popcorn” buttons here!) Jed has the bare essentials in kitchen gear. Using an empty cereal box for a cutting board, he chopped a bunch of onions and cooked us up some fine scrambled eggs for breakfast. We had purchased the supplies last night on our way back at the grocery called “Ed” -- they’re all over the place. Cheapest groceries in town! After a delicious breakfast, we hopped on the tram that runs right in front of this building and east/west across the city.


We went west to Port de Vantes and the Pouce de Vantes, the Flea Market. They’ve got some mighty fancy fleas here. Tons of silver, jewelry, linens and (my favorite) buttons. Lots of the Quimper china Helen loves as well as a few purely offensive things, some of which are pictured here. (Jed and I were kind of on a tour looking for the most offensive things.) Things were pretty pricey but fun to look at. The wind kicked up quite a lot and umbrellas were falling over. People were yelling at each other. We found it all very amusing, even as we helped retrieve tumbled down things on the pavement or caught umbrella ties before they blew away. I was snapping pictures as surreptitiously as I could manage with my iPhone camera. One woman gave me a little hell for taking pictures. I couldn’t make out much of what she said but Jed told me she was calling me a Japanese tourist, among other things. Lots of people were taking photos, though. She was just in a crappy mood. Can’t blame her -- it was cold and threatening rain and there weren’t many people out shopping, at least not when we were there.

I'm a sucker for buttons.

We stopped at a creperie near Place d’Orleans for a bite. A crepe with spinach and cheese for Jed, a tarte Italiene for me (toast with basil, tomatoes and cheese). A cup of cider (apple beer I think) for me and a shared crepe sucrée for dessert.

The rest of this day we’ve crashed and cleaned. I just can’t seem to get my sleep cycle right, but I know it takes some days to do it. Daylight savings comes to town tonight, so we throw another unruly hour into the mix. Dinner was yogurt, honey and nuts and a chunk of baguette (purchased at the boulangerie down the street) with a bit of Fraises preserves and a slim slice of cheese.