Back in France...and the shopping begins!

We landed safely in Paris early this morning and immediately hit the ground running.  After a bit of confusion at the Europcar counter concerning the size of car we had reserved (“we’re antique dealers; we have to squeeze furniture in there” we pleaded), we headed into Paris to pick up our woodworking products, our traditional “first-stop” on any buying trip.   While we were in the neighborhood, we decided to walk around the famous Paris Puces (Paris Flea Market) to see if prices had changed since the last time we tried shopping there.  They hadn’t.  Once again, we found that most pieces, having changed hands several times before reaching Paris, were priced way above what they would be in our shop, so we knew there was no point in lingering too long.  Nevertheless, it was a great way to get in “the antiquing groove”.  

We drove deeper into Paris to our first appointment with an art dealer in the posh 8^th arrondissement.  There we found four fantastic paintings, each one very different from the next.

To get to our next appointment, we traversed the city on Blvd. Haussman, the famous tree lined allee that runs from the Arc de Triomphe to the Arc de la Defense, dotted with many glitzy shops and department stores along the way.

We discovered some beautiful things at our last source of the day.  Many formal Paris apartment pieces that were top quality. 

At 7:30 p.m. (or half past noon and 24 sleepless hours for us), we were famished and exhausted.  After an early dinner, we were off to bed by 10 p.m, ready to begin another day uncovering the rare and unusual