fuzzbucket

Marche aux Puces is not open every day, and will take at least half a day to do it justice If you take the Metro there, you'll have to run the gauntlet of aggressive people selling fake knock-offs of all kinds - and there will be pickpockets.
Instead, take Bus 85, which lets you off inside the market proper.
Not too many bargains to be found, the market has upgraded significantly.
If you want to haggle and find bargains, I'd recommend Vanves.
Or, if you're lucky and find one of the large "brocantes" lining the boulevards, there is always a good chance of finding something.
http://quefaire.paris.fr/brocantes

WoinParis

Well I know now that I can skip the independent. I think there are a lot more rats than 6 millions but you won't see any. They are freaked out by humans and stay - wisely - away.
I have seen an invasion of rabbits once at Porte maillot.
And also an invasion of US tourists in the 6th. But French keep feeding them so they come back ;-)

fuzzbucket

Still striking at the Eiffel Tower - the problem is due to management concerns - and there is no date given for when the Eiffel Tower will re-open.

Macross

Woinparis, I just picked the independent because it was first one that popped up but the story was in other papers as well and on the news here in the states. They are closing many of the parks to kill them including the one by the Eiffel tower.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016...rats.html?_r=0

There were at least ten articles this week on the problem.

WoinParis

And not one in French.

Last I found was in 2015 - and was blaming mostly the tourists who leave a lot of food when picnicking in the parks. Oops yes, found 2 articles dated 8 december...
So basically we don't care in Paris but you do in the states ;-)

I love globalization.

Just for the fun, I was walking last week and yesterday along the parc Saint-Jacques, where I should have seen rats.

Some say that Disney is also to be blamed - ratatouille gave such a nice image of the rats that they became popular.

Macross

You really think a Paris newspaper is going to report this? Tourism is down already. I live in central Florida. They don't want tourist from Europe reading about the high rate of crime in the city beautiful. We have so many drive by shootings and murders it is ridiculous. I always tell people to stay on Disney property, a bit safer but they censor news. The kid that got eaten by the gator did get out but they paid the parent's off quickly so it is now no longer news.

kerouac

Actually, it was in all of the Paris newspapers. About one paragraph. It said that there are two rats for every human, the same as in every other city in the world. Four squares (not parks) have been closed during treatment. Other squares will be closed in turn for treatment.

There is also an online petition that has received 17,000 signatures so far against the "genocide" of rats, which are considered to be extremely useful for eating trash.

http://www.mesopinions.com/petition/...ide-rats/26805

WoinParis

I saw a dead rat today actually and my secretary told me we have some in the basement. Maintenance guys removed a grid and forgot to put it back inciting rats.
Perso I don't mind rats I don't feel they are worse than squirrels.
But squirrels are soooo lovely.

fuzzbucket

This is really old news - the City has been upping the amount of rat poison for 2 years and warning people not to let children play near bushes.
It's all the people who insist on picnicking and forgetting to find a place to throw away their trash.
People should really go back to eating in cafes and restaurants, like civilized people used to do.

Christina

you'll have to run the gauntlet of aggressive people selling fake knock-offs of all kinds - and there will be pickpockets.>>

I've never had a problem with either, but I don't have a problem with people in MOntmartre, either. I simply don't pay attention to people selling fake knockoffs, don't stop, and don't engage with them. I don't have things accessible for pickpockets, either. That flea market has been there for decades, it is an institution. There are aggressive people selling knockoffs in lots of parts of Paris, anyway. You'll have to deal with them just be going up near Sacre Coeur.

Personally, I don't think Vanves is anything like Clignancourt and didn't particularly care for it. Also, Clignancourt isn't that far from Montmartre, Vanves is on the completely opposite side of the city and will take up more time to go there. So if one is going there for the atmosphere and because of what they've heard (or seen, it has been in movies), I think they will be disappointed at Vanves. I would simply recommend not going at all if pressed for time instead of substituting Vanves. Heck, you could go to Marche d'Aligre right in the 12th if you just want to save time.

no, Les Puces isn't open every day but neither is Vanves, for that matter, in fact, it is open one less day than Puces. And there are pickpockets at Vanves, also. It's just about the smallest flea market and mainly small decorative objects, so it depends what the purpose of the trip is. If it is mostly for the experience, I'd go to CLignancourt as there is much more to see.

StCirq

Seems to me that a few years ago it became really "cool"for Americans to picnic in the parks of Paris. For all I know it's been going on far longer than that, but all of a sudden I began to notice people, maybe not all Americans, spreading blankets and munching on sandwiches and drinking wine all over Paris. I'm not sure how that translates to fun, but I think in the minds of a lot of tourists they think they're engaging in something "Parisian." For all I know, lots of Parisians do this too, but it should be obvious that's it's a bad idea if there aren't adequate places to dispose of refuse. Every city has rats - we had them galore in DC. But I find absolutely nothing the slightest bit romantic about having a picnic in a park in Paris with visible rats running around.

The Marché richard Lenoir has blocks and blocks of second-hand and antique stuff and is a lot more fun, IMO, than either Clingancourt or Vanvès.

Macross

I think squirrels are furry tailed rats. I hate when people feed them. They said they are stopping people from feeding the birds and leaving tons of bread.
Kerouac, NYC rats don't look like that Paris rat. That looks like a movie rat. UGH.

fuzzbucket

StCirq - I respectfully disagree about Richard Lenoir market.
The part near Bastille has people selling t-shirts and other clothing, a stand with soap and sponges, and a jillion scarf sellers and cheap purses and one guy who sells caramels and seasoned salt.
The rest is all food

Perhaps you're thinking of Marche Aligre - but even this isn't full of anything interesting.

kerouac

Yes, that must be the Aligre market.

StCirq

We must've stumbled upon a brocante on Richard Lenoir, then, when we were there in October. It was block after block of second-hand stuff.

fuzzbucket

Yep = you hit the brocante. There are a couple of them during the year on this boulevard.

PalenQ

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/wo...rats.html?_r=0

yes the Paris rat plague hit the NYTimes today -and it seems the blame is on the European Union -good thing Britain is getting out -like rats fleeing a sinking ship!

angel1

Just got up on Eiffel tower at 10 am yesterday. Not more than 10 minutes spent in security checks and wait for the lift. Awesome weather. Sun shining and got good view from above. Tody heading to Montmartre.

kerouac

Glad you got there at the right time on the right day!