Av. de Flandres

So one of the upshots of running has been its tendency to take me on adventures. Especially since Boston had so many things to see, running was a more efficient way to go exploring. It turns out, running in Paris has a similar effect.

My first discovery of summer running in Paris this year has been that I have apparently been oblivious to a pretty awesome marché aux puces that occurs every weekend on the Av. de Flandres. It's legit a 10 minute walk. Epic fail.

One of my first finds was this old Elvis disc. I can never remember what the small ones are called.

This collection seems like it could just be entitled "Generation gap," if only I could have set an iPod down in front of them. 

For some reason I have never quite understood, the French seem to love medals and awards and seals and stamps and stickers and what have you more than just about anyone else. This one appears to have been awarded to a M. Neuville in 1949 by the Minister of Work and Social Security. I wonder who he was, and what he did ...

How could I resist this? A beautiful typewriter. Better still, the caps key actually says "majuscules," which only makes sense, and yet seemed hilarious.

Casual art purchase, anyone? Seems totally legit.

So basically, American girls of the 90s, Europe one-upped us. While we were busy fighting it out over N*SYNC, BSB and 98°, France had this epic collection [Google informs me that Alliage and boyzone are two groups, French and Irish]. You can feast your ears here, and it is as catchy and wonderful as you can possibly imagine.

Tambourines, sax back-up, teenage misogyny ... What's not to love?

Lol.

Unfinished.

One of the most interesting street art commentaries I've noticed lately: "Requiem for a neighborhood." I assume that this is tied to the "urban renewal" that our corner of the 19th is experiencing -- even the change from three years ago when I first came here is monumental. Construction cranes dot the sky, and all sorts of previously empty lots and abandoned buildings have been bulldozed and reconstructed in an incredibly narrow window in time. Part of why I like the 19th so much is for it's blend: of cultures, languages, styles ... Although renewals are theoretically good things, I hope that the "renewal" doesn't change the energy of this 'hood.

It looks like I'm hardly the only one.