Today, however, was a special Sunday: it was the day of la braderie. What this meant was that the main shopping street, La Rue Nationale, was overtaken by street vendors selling their stuff. And the French people went CRAZY for it. Some of the stuff being sold in the streets belonged to the actual stores, and in that case, they would just display some items being sold for low prices right in front of their locations. However, there were also many "independent" sellers--people who just pay to have a spot on the street and set up shop with whatever items they may have. Mostly, the things people were selling tended to repeat themselves. There were several stands selling each of the following: shoes (oh god so many shoes, good thing none of the ones I liked were my size), clothing (especially of the Italian variety), lingerie, make-up, candy (I resisted...I'm proud of myself), handbags, jewelry. Some people were selling more unique things, like ethnic African hats or Native American charms. It was cool to walk through and look at the crazy French people digging through piles of clothing, but by 11:00 AM the street was literally jam-packed. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to find a bag for a cheap enough price (I realized I need one large enough to carry books, notebooks, etc).
My favorite part of the whole place was an adorable little Yorkie puppy. It was sitting in a crate, and when Tara and I walked up to pet it, this young French guy started talking to us about how the dog is part of a circus, they need money to feed the animals, please buy these little pieces du miel (they were like honey-flavored mints) to help. And then he asked me if I was a local (!!!) and when I said we were from the US, he said I spoke French well. :] So then duh, I bought the honey mints for 5 euro... That puppy was so adorable though, I decided I am going to get a little yorkie when I'm older (along with a beagle, a border collie, and a golden retriever).
After that, I just came home and kind of hung out. I had an amazing and amazingly nutella-filled crepe at the braderie, so I skipped dessert at dinner. It really took a lot out of me, but I think I need to start limiting myself to one dessert per day. Ohhh, zut. I hate calories, there is so much deliciousness to be consumed in France....pastries, chocolates, ice cream (here, ice cream = gelato), CREPES, oh my it's ridiculous. When I get to Paris, I'll need to start running my butt off (literally).
Well that's about it...time for me to go to sleep, otherwise I'll never wake up at 7:30 AM!
A tout a l'heure!
P.S. Sorry to all of you who know French for ignoring accents. They are too hard to make on my computer...except for the é!
P.P.S. Sorry for all the parentheses in this post.
OHMYGOD i can't believe i didn't bring you to crepes when you visited boston last year. they're the best. but sounds like you're having a good time with the french crepes so it's all good .. haha
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