And what about those fabric shops?

I thought I would start off with,  “The Stores!”,  but if I’m not careful,  I’ll once again be humming the opening tune to Green Acres. 

Wouldn’t be prudent.  You can go off and get your own theme song fix if you wish.  I’ll try not to get distracted.

 

Having just arrived in Paris at the “Gare de l'Est” on Thursday morning,  we were actually a bit too early to check in at our hotel.   That wasn’t too big a deal,  since we were able to stop by and drop off our luggage and carry on.  The fabric shopping area that we wanted to visit was also within walking distance,  and that was our destination.

This is at the base of View Larger Map' target=_blank>Montmartre. 

 

Here,  I’ll make it easy.

 

See now,  this was an area of the city where it was just a tad dirty.  Mostly OK,  but every so often there was some cr*p of some sort to be avoided,  some of which was of the doggy kind.  Gah.

There were very few tourists,  and the only ones I was aware of were headed in the direction of Sacré-Cœur,  or were quite possible lost.  Nobody of the tourist variety was particularly interested in buying fabric,  which isn’t to say the stores were standing empty.

So just to give you an idea,  each and every one of those awnings represents a fabric shop.  Well,  either fabrics or “notions”.   Typically “notions” aren’t in with the fabrics.  I have no idea why.

 

If you have the bandwidth,  you’re welcome to take a trip down that street compliments of Google.

 

There would be something like ten fabric shops,  and then a cafe or pub.  Gotta eat and drink,  ya know.

 

Needless to say,  there was lots to choose from.   By the time we got to this honkin’ big one,   T.C. was done.

Such a shame.  Didn’t go in.  *like I care*

Her biggest score was at this place.

 

You’re certainly welcome to go and check out their website,  which of course is in French.   This was also one of the few places that had both fabric and notions.   The other curious thing was,  they had everything already cut to three metres in length.  Interesting.  That meant there was no need to take up unnecessary space with a cutting table,  nor was there any need to track down someone to cut fabric for you.  According to T.C.,  you can make most any garment from three metres.  

I have no opinion.

If you click on that pic and take a closer look,  you’ll see the place is pretty busy.   I stayed outside.  

Most all of the places were busy,  and I think that was partially due to the fact that the prices were quite reasonable.  Again,  I have no opinion.  

 

Of course,  if you look at the *big picture* and factor in the cost of travel,  accommodations as well as the cost of filling our pie holes,  the fabric was pretty damned expensive.  But hey,  we were “on vacation”.

 

I can’t very well wrap up today’s drivel without mentioning one more little snippet of dreck.

While I was outside whiling away the minutes waiting for T.C.,  I couldn’t very well help but notice a public toilet that had been installed on the street corner. 

Like a dummy,  I didn’t take a picture of the actual device,  so I’ve had to pinch one off the internet.

Thus:

It’s a heck of an improvement over the old “pissoires” that they used to have.   No images available.   Use your imagination.

These modern marvels are fully automatic,  and self cleaning.  Well now,  isn’t that just grand?   The only thing is,  as they are open to the public,  there’s still a problem,  since most people are pigs.   I DID NOT take a picture of what I saw when the door finally opened (that guy was in there for a long,  long time)  but I’m pretty sure I saw at least one used diaper.   I wouldn’t kid you.  

And no,  I didn’t do a sniff test either.   *shudder*

Thankfully,  I was OK in the bladder department.  *phew*

I’ve had my moments I realise,  but I try to be careful.    Best to not scarf down a gallon of coffee and then go shopping.  That would be bad.

Oh, there was that really large beer issue from a previous Paris visit,  but let’s not dredge up things from the past,  shall we?

 

Once again,  I’ll refer you to a few more pics (and some repeats) over on the book of face.    I think I did it right this time.   They can spare the room on their servers.

You’ll see by the number of steps involved,  just why Travelling Companion was in dire need of a cab to get us back to our hotel.

 

 

Tomorrow,  we find out what I mean by a “once in a lifetime”.

 

Thanks for taking a look.  We aims to please.

 

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