living in montmartre means living on a hill ...which means there are ten's of narrow steps to climb & descend whenever venturing out into the other arrondissements/down to the metro. i'm close to a few different metro stations, one of them = abbesses. the entrance to the metro is in the centre of place des abbesses, and is one of the only remaining metro's with the art nouveau architectcture at its entrance.
when i arrived jelly-legged at the bottom of five flights of stairs, i was met by the brocantes aux abbesses, a small flea-market in the square. it was bustling with people, and it was so different to see the square full of market stalls & furniture - as opposed to its normal park benches & fountain. i was able to sink into a squishy old armchair while looking through a haphazard collection of yellowing books. i found a french-translated version of the diary of anne frank for 50c - thought it could be an interesting read after visiting her hideaway house in amsterdam last week...
i easily spent over an hour here...it was just way too relaxing being there with the dappled sun shining through the trees, giving the whole market a yellow-y, golden light. i don't know when the brocantes will be here again (if ever), i think it might be linked to the marché aux puces st-ouen de clignancourt, another flea-market (on a much more colossssssal scale) nearby...
i disappeared down the metro - one of paris' deepest at 36m below ground (aka 7 flights of a spiral staircase....so dizzying..). the walls are covered in murals the entire way down, pretty cool. i'm just glad i was going down the stairs, not up...
S.
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ɥdǝʇs?? |
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| old french records |
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| creepy broaches |
