I’ll give you a hint……. puce in French translates to flea.

On Sunday, the hottest day we have experienced since leaving Australia almost 6 months ago, Mick and I headed off to the commune of Entre-Deux-Eaux. We had seen a banner advertising the Marchés aux Puces earlier, on one of our excursions last week, and thought it would be fun to attend. I had suggested we could walk, as it is just over 2Km away to the centre of Entre-Deux-Eaux (or what I thought was the centre based on the fact the Marie is located at this spot, as well as the bar). But, because it was so hot, I drove us.

And thank goodness.

The marchés were not held where I thought they would be. They were actually about 8Km further on in a smaller sub-commune of Entre-Deux-Eaux in an open paddock. As I have mentioned before, the towns in this area seem to straggle along a road and go for ages.

Mick would not have been happy to have walked that far. Nor would I for that matter!

Loads of people were there. I have read that the Alsatians love ‘to hunt’ for bargains. These cars suggested that statement is correct.

It really looked like what we would call a ‘boot sale’ in Australia, where people load up all their secondhand stuff and try to flog it off for whatever they can get.

The marchés were advertised to go from 6am until 7pm, and after an hour, Mick and I were so hot that we wondered how the store holders would be by the end of the day. Some store holders, like this chap, decided that it was hot enough to shed some clothing.

Many of the ‘stores’ were trying to sell children’s clothing and toys, but some had interesting antiques and treasures. We saw a few people buy items, and many more like us, just looking. But, for the effort of setting up the stall and sitting there all day, I doubt many people made much money.

Mick was on the look out for a particular book, but unfortunately he didn’t find what he was after.

There were a few gross items as well. Such as these two below.

A set of salad servers made from the hooves of some animal, and a full fox pelt.

The place doing the best trade during our time there was the bar.

It provided much needed shade and refreshments, including cold beer of course. And, it was the only stall to get any of our money. We had a coffee, and later succumbed to the smell of a BBQ, buying a hot dog and some frites to share.

I had mentioned in a previous post that Mick was hoping to go to the bar in Entre-Deux-Eaux last Friday. (And, oh…. the Friday before that!) But, it was closed for renovations.

But today, on our drive back from the marchés, through the centre of the commune, we stopped at the bar for a beer, as it was the first time we’d seen it open.

And, what a pleasant surprise. It was quite small and very cool inside; and nicely painted and clean. There were around a dozen people there, with more arriving during the time we spent there sipping our beers. It reminded us why we like France so much. Everyone there was so polite to each other, shaking hands or cheek-kissing. And we weren’t forgotten either. The newcomers to the bar made their way over to us and insisted on shaking our hands. Two young boys, aged about 11 or 12 years old, also did the rounds of cheek-kissing (the women only) and shaking hands of the men, each and every one of them, ensuring to make eye-contact which is so important in the French culture.

Before we left, we were able to buy a baguette – as the bar is also a mini épicerie (store) of course!