A little known market and a find worth its weight in gold

I wanted to experience a Parisian market, ideally one where I wasn't going to be harassed to buy stuff or worry a lot about the bands of travelling panhandlers that came with more tourist oriented markets.

I found in a guide book, a market that fit this bill, le Marche d'Aligre. Along the way to get there, we also past another street market filled with lots of fresh produce and goodies. My husband stopped to get a Mille Feuille pastry.

Now, I hear you ask, where are the pictures? I don't think its fair to take pictures of people doing their daily lives. For me, there is a certain level of privacy that comes with a resident of a tourist oriented city. How would you feel if you were headed to the local farmers market and someone is in your face taking pictures of you buying tomatoes?

After we hit the market, we had one last thing we had promised ourselves we would look for in Paris. We had two noticeable spaces on our livingroom walls. As long as we've lived in this house, my husband has always envisioned having maps framed on these two walls.

We were able to purchase a large map print that hangs over the staircase to the basement we haven't found one he likes for the living room. Ideally they would match or have some similarities since they are in the same room.

Along the Seine, there are these huge green metal containers. Right along the edge of the cement railing. For a while I didn't know what they were for. Now, I do.

On the weekends, the sidewalks along the Seine become one big flea market. Artists sell canvases, antique maps and books among other tourist oriented items. It was among this stalls we found our maps.

We have been looking for these maps for MONTHS. We thought we had made a choice but if we were to get them ordered, framed and shipped, it would cost well over 250$. We got 3 maps for about 30€ (45$US) so after they are framed, we will be well under that cost.

That purchase was well worth the weight.