Pontoise

This morning I went to Pontoise. Every year an unexceptional section of town has their annual flea market; lots of families have stands, which I like, because I can buy stuff cheap for the kiddies.

A collection of beer steins and glassware, French and foreign. What is that gestapo thing in the upper left? I didn't notice it when I took the picture. You're not allowed to sell Nazi merchandise in France, even collectible memorabilia, so the relative anonymity of a flea market makes it a good place to sell it.






I know nothing about cars but I thought the ones below were neat.






I want this umbrella stand. I'm a sucker for all things copper.




And this makes me want to go skiing! back in a simpler time and place.



I came early, so the local rotisserie had just put chickens out to be slowly roasted. By noon they will be nicely browned and dripping with juices. Mmmm.



And no day would be complete without a gratuitous look inside the local bakery.

Verneuil

Today the older girls were in school all morning, so my husband and I went to a nearby town that was having its annual flea market.

I covet the set of vintage ladles to hang on my kitchen wall, but alas, no room. The bag to the right of them in toile de jouy is a bread bag. It's hung in a lot of country kitchens and is used to hold, you guessed it, the day's bread.

Cute Moroccan table



I could just see the two pictures on the right in my downstairs bathroom. The one on the left is called "Marriage" and depicts a marriage from a few centuries ago (I guess). I could just see that hanging in the bedroom. The couple looks so morose!

The ad with the chubby baby on it really raised my breastfeeding hackles. It's an old Nestle ad for cereal to put in baby bottles - a "complete food" for babies. I wish I'd taken a better picture of it because I can't remember what else it said on the bottom... but it annoyed me!

I'm equine-challenged and I know this has something to do with horses, I'm not sure how.

Finally, some colorful Eastern European folk art at an association's table. They are particularly focused on helping Ukrainian orphanages, by raising money to improve basic sanitation and hygiene in the orphanages themselves, and by bringing kids over for a month to stay with a foster family. I'd like to foster a Ukrainian kid one day too.