Everywhere we went there were signs warning us of pickpockets. We were always on guard, clutching our bags and/or watching each other's backs. When Tennie was in Paris a couple summers ago, her phone was stolen our of her pocket on the train. All of her pictures from our Europe trip gone. She was particularly vigilant this time around.
It was Saturday, and we wanted to explore a big Paris flea market. It was a ways out of town, and when we got off the train it didn't feel like we were in the best part of town. As we walked toward the flea market there were Middle Eastern guys every five feet (not exaggerating) slyly holding out nice iPhones, black market style. The pickpockets themselves! We scurried through there speedy quick!
It was cold and wet, which dampened our flea market experience, but it was still fun to browse through the small alleys and the variety of wares.
Tennie wanted to stay at the flea market a little longer, then go to Pompidou, and the rest of us wanted to see the D'Orsay Museum, so we went our own ways.
Adele and Ceci loved D'Orsay because so many of the paintings were familiar. It was fun to watch them squeal with delight at discovering just what paintings they were seeing in real life!
Many reminded them of Geoff's mom, who passed away a few years ago. She loved art and taught them about various artists when we lived with her for a few years. This was one of her favorites.
We met up with Tennie and headed home. While changing trains we were assaulted by a group of Metro "Controllers". They asked to see our week passes and told us we had to pay 35 euro EACH for not having a photo on the passes. This photo, we were told, was to protect the pass from getting stolen. (Maybe they should work on the pickpockets instead!) Besides, if it is stolen, it isn't a loss to the Metro, a ticket is a ticket, right? Ouch. Thank you, Paris.
On this topic, the next morning we went to the booth to take pictures so it wouldn't happen again (even thought it was our last day). The booth takes four pictures for $5, so we devised a plan to switch out between each picture (and no smiling allowed). The booth was small and would require precision. It took us about ten minutes to plan out.
Ready, set, GO!
Almost! After a good laugh, we made some adjustments to our plan and tried again. Tennie and I had a picture, Geoff didn't need one, so it was just Adele and Ceci. We've got this. Ready, set, GO!
We were doubled over laughing in that metro station for a good while. After $10 of blotched attempts, we paid another $10 and let them have their own booth time. Good times.
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