A little flea market that made me happy on Sunday morning.

Weekend #1 in Nancy
I rented a bike to get around town during my stay. As a biking novice, I decided to get used to riding on the road in traffic during the weeknd when the traffic is much lighter...definetely a good decision. I'm feeling pretty confident after spending the weekend biking almost everywhere in town.

I don't, however, feel confident in my ability to speak french to university maintenance men. On Saturday, after a wonderful day spent exploring the city in the crisp fall weather, I returned to my room to relax before going back out for dinner. I soon discovered that every single electrical outlet in my room had stopped working. Great, I don't know the word for outlet or plug or electric and they aren't in my French 101 book or dictionary. After waiting for two hours for the front desk to open, I go there to explain my problem. With some difficulty, I convinced the clerk that I could NOT live without electrical outlets until monday and I then proceed to wait an additional two hours for university maintence men to arrive. I am reminded of several David Sedaris short stories as I attempt to communicate with them. They are trying to tell me that I should switch rooms for the weekend because they don't know how to fix the problem but are using fast, complicated french which I can't comprehend. They don't seem to understand "Parlez lentement" and "S'il vous plait, choisissez des mots facile" (translated "speak slowly" and "please chose easy words"). Finally I caught a student walking by who spoke english and she translated. Needless to say, I was pretty stressed out. Especially since I don't have phone or internet in my room, I felt pretty disconnected.

But, this morning, flea market to the rescue! There was a flea market in the "old town" outside the Porte de la Craffe. I found some great vintage postcards and everyone was very nice and friendly and I feeling much better now. The Lorrain region is rich with flea markets which means I can keep myself busy every weekend traveling to littles towns going to flea markets.

Glen: You can have your man purse if you move to Europe (at least London, Paris, or Nancy). I see them everywhere on seemingly heterosexual men. Or maybe its just a matter of time before the man purse makes its way to states...