Ally is great. She's the only one in my family who really appreciates bargain hunting. So, of course, when we learned there was a Flea Market on Saturdays in Strasbourg, we were there.
We started with the book fair, but all the books were in French -- go figure. Then we went on to the Flea Market. Now I'm no novice at this flea market stuff. I found a brooch that I liked that was marked 2 euro (about $3) and I started bargaining. The seller insisted he couldn't sell it for less and tried to sell me the brooch and a wooden box together for 5 euro. Not to be outdone, I countered that I would take the brooch for 2 euro if he would throw in these three old buttons. A deal was made.
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| Snoopy and his master |
Our day was really made by this fellow, though. He didn't speak much English except to say "Oh my God," and "hotdog," but he charmed us with his kindness and we communicated pretty well with our hit or miss attempts at French. Ally made friends with his dog, Snoopy, and we "conversed" pleasantly for quite a while. I bought a necklace and asked him if he would throw in this costume pearl bracelet that had a broken clasp and he agreed (I easily fixed the bracelet as soon as I returned to the hotel). He must have gotten fond of us because he presented Ally with this necklace -- "a cadeaux," he said, a gift -- and asked for a kiss for it. She kissed him on the cheek. Then, probably fearing that I felt left out, he gave me this little rhinestone cross as a cadeaux. When we parted he insisted on kissing us both on each cheek in the French fashion. We felt like we had made a friend.
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| Broken bracelet, now fixed |
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| Ally wearing her cadeaux |
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