We moved to the Canal St. Martin neighborhood last Monday, but my sister and her husband arrived in Paris the next day, so while they were here we focused on doing and seeing the things they were interested in. Today we spent the entire day exploring our new neighborhood. Canal St. Martin flows from the Seine to the northeast corner of Paris. It's a very popular neighborhood and lots of young people live and hang out there. On Sundays, portions of the streets along the canal are blocked to traffic and a party atmosphere ensues. We walked along the canal checking out the brunch menus, and within 3 blocks of our apartment came across a 20-piece brass band playing alongside the canal. It was very entertaining and we stopped to listen for about a half hour. You can see a passarelle, or pedestrian bridge, in the background of the photo.
From there we walked to Le Comptoir General which is a market area built to resemble an African bazaar. Food and drinks were available and there were several places where you could purchase vinyl records. There was an art area for children and a tiny museum of "supernatural" artifacts. I wasn't sure if photos were allowed, but I took one anyway. It's tiny doll legs on the insole of a shoe. I have no idea of its significance. There were lots of political posters about Francophone African countries
Further on along the canal we came across a huge flea market. Beyond that, not far from Place de la Bastille, was a restaurant called La Fee Verte (the green fairy), specializing in absinthe.
We stopped for gelato at Place de la Bastille and then returned home. On the way we passed a beautiful tile sign. Google Translate was worthless in helping me figure out what it says. My guess is the building was formerly a public bathhouse. Sorry, but no real food photos today. It was a snack day and the photo of the gelato was blurry.
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