Marche Saint Pierre

Each time I come to Paris I visit the "Marche Saint Pierre", as I used to when I was living in the town. If you don't know the capital and come for a holiday, it is easy to find : next to Montmartre's basilic, built in white stone and offering a magnificent view.

You have to turn right just before climbing the steps up the hill to the white stone church. It is the traditional area of the city to find the fabrics for the house, dressing up, dressmaking, and of course patchwork. It is sad to see the place being overtaken by cheap tourist shop, but I suppose there is more money in it.

So I indulged in some retail therapy. First I went to Dreyfus, the man operating the lift seems to come from another time, and the choice is almost overwhelming, you can find some interesting prices for cotton fabric but you have to look a bit; there are also some patchwork fabric, but not a lot when I went as they were due to do their inventory and had not reordered.

Next I went to "Tissus Reine", it looks tidier, but the price is higher as well, better selection of patchwork fabric.

There are different shops everywhere, under different names. The ones that sell "coupons" can offer some bargains, like some liberty fabric I found.

And then I went to "Moline", they have different shops in the same street, and in the one marked "mercerie", which means haberdashery, you will find tucked away a good selection of patchwork fabric, plus lots of bits and bobs very useful.

It is hard to resist buying fabric in such an environment, there are displays everywhere. In fact I went twice as the first time I wasn't able to visit all the places.

Now I am back home in England, and the house is nearly in order. I shall be able to do some sewing again soon.

If you go to Paris enjoy.