A break in the heat - along the canal 7-5-15

Well today when we woke up the sky was overcast and it was, dare I say it, cool.  Our resolve in this heat has been to try to get out earlier and head back to the apartment before it gets too hot.  So today we decided to walk along the canal.  We were walking down towards, La Ronde, which is a large round building at the south end of the Basin de la Villette and the beginning of the locks leading down to the Seine at the Arsenal.
We no sooner got to Rue Crimee than we came across what turned out to be a marche brocante, an unexpected bonus for getting out on a walk.  Plus it stretched all the way down to La Ronde, so we both got our walk in but we had the fun of trying to "fleece the natives" again.  This is a great pastime as it allows us to just saunter aimlessly but also to observe and interact with local people in friendly verbal exchanges.






  Yesterday I was looking at a medal depicting the coat of arms of Paris and showed it to Deb to see if it had any appeal.  She didn't much care for it and so I told the dealer that I didn't want it. He lowered the price but I still said no and that she didn't like it, his response, "Women make all the decisions" somewhat disgustedly.  A trap to avoid is when a dealer gives you a price and you say no, he lowers it, you say no, then he says "how much will you offer?" if you respond to that other than no, you have committed to buying it, at least in his mind.  Doing it in French is a challenge!

We went back to the apartment early afternoon and watched the Tour de France on television, which I hope to do almost everyday.  These are two former winners of the TdF who are Dutch,