Living Montmartre

We read about a flea market called Marché aux Puces which seemed to be nearby. So we woke up early in order to get the first look at everything. We've been searching all over Europe for cool vintage wine prints or tools, but haven't found any yet.

With pain au chocolats in hand, we walked (farther than expected and with a few wrong turns) to the flea market. We had romanticized about this market for awhile, but unfortunately we were disappointed since it was somewhat similar to the one we saw in Lisbon. It required lots of scavenger hunting. Some things had potential, but we have such limited luggage space that it had to be a true gem.

We decided to get lost in the streets of Montmartre taking random turns where ever we saw a cute street.


This led us by a tiny vineyard, just fun to see in the center of a city. We came across a marché and picked up a few things for lunch. Quickly ate at home and set back out to continue exploring the neighborhood.

We weaved through the streets, stairs and alleys. Eventually, we hiked to the top of the hill and stopped at Sacré-Coeur.


Beautiful view but we enjoy the streets with fewer tourists.

Just after, we met Aurora and Analuna. We dropped Analuna off at her gymnastics class and Aurora showed us some of her favorite shops in the area. After shopping for awhile and it started to rain, we popped into a cafe to enjoy some tea and madelines. At 5pm, we picked Analuna up and came back to the apartment.

Around 7pm, we went across the street to Aurora's for a glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres with them and their friend and his daughter visiting from Southern France. Later, we went to dinner at a restaurant close by where Khalil, Aurora's partner, was going to play jazz. We went around 9pm and had a pretty incredible meal of (somewhat) typical French cuisine. After filling our stomachs, we went to the cave downstairs and listened to some incredible jazz performed by a trio; Khalil played the guitar. Before the first set was over, the audience was treated to a special guest, Analuna joined her father on stage. (She is only 8 years old.) She played the violin, and it was impressive how well she kept up with the professionals. It was particularly moving to see the connection between her and her father while they played together. We were both so stunned by her talent. As Analuna was playing a solo, Aurora leaned over to Martin and told him she was improvising the entire solo! Our jaws just dropped. Unbelievable.


We stayed and listened to Khalil for awhile and then went home late.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Berthe,Paris,France