Saturday, October 26, 2019

Amsterdam Paris Scotland

I can hardly believe it has been three weeks since my last post but as I have in the past posted twice in one day it's not a bad average. I am always sad when a good blog slowly or suddenly fades out because real life gets in the way. As I live alone my blog is one way I communicate with the 'outside' world and I love commenting back and forth with my wonderful followers. 
I was called home to Scotland when my mum felt ill and I spent ten days there sorting out her life and doing gardening and house cleaning etc.
The upside was over 8 hours stopover in wonderful Amsterdam on the way as there is no direct flight. I don't usually have enough time to justify going into town from Schiphol airport. 
I love this city it's easy to get around although with the advent of smartphones it's tricky to avoid Twitting and Facebooking Amsterdammers on their bicycles. Between this and clumsy tourists and up and down pavements it took longer than usual to get around. I had also spent two days going through two flea markets in Paris so my legs were giving in.
I decided to head for a restaurant called 'Café de Jaren' on Nieuwe Doelenstraat, a lovely place to share a table with strangers, read the local news and watch the canal out of the window.


After an hour I needed FOOD and sugar so I popped into this cute typical little café and ordered grilled Mozzarella with sun dried tomatoes. The Café de Jaren would have to wait. I was the only client and the owners mother made it for me and took it down from her home nearby. It was way the best grilled cheese ever.



Below is the Café de Jaren, I popped in on the way back from the flea market.



Amsterdam means flowers and especially tulips. The flower market is on the Singel Canal.
If I lived in Amsterdam my house would be full of flowers.
I bought 50 tulip bulbs that when open will look more like Peony roses than tulips. I paid 10 euros for 50 tulip bulbs! In the airport shops the price is several times more!



Amsterdam is mainly made from bricks on wooden pillars sunk into the ground. I thought that these steps would made a good detail in a future dollhouse.


Sometimes you see the strangest things. Small children surrounded by skulls and death!



I could NOT find any store selling miniatures which I found odd given the large miniature Community there. 

I went to the flea market in Amsterdam and found a few nice things which I have not yet photographed but I might make a post of just recent finds.  I didn't take photos as it was closing up by the time I arrived there. With any good market it's best to go really early. I bought a late 18th century plate, a mid century pottery lamp and a bronze statue by a well know Dutch sculptor. I will post some photos later.

Below the big Clignancourt Flea Market in Paris, miles and miles of stalls, way too big to visit in one day. I first went there 40 years ago and on the surface it hasn't changed a lot, except the prices!
When I was young and poor I had no money to buy anything good and now that I am OLD there is Nothing I really need. I won't turn up my nose at a good bargain though.


I have a similar printed Tapestry somewhere in this house, SOMEWHERE ! 


I avoided the many stalls of antique fabrics and trimmings.


Someone was actually selling old paint pots, goes to show never throw anything away!


This store sells multiples of many many things. It all looks good 'en masse' but there was nothing that I felt I needed.





More vintage textiles, embroidered bed linens and tapestries.


Enamel coffee pots were very popular at one time, this stall had masses of vintage enamelware. I used to collect vintage enamel water jugs until they became too expensive. I used to lock onto whatever was cheap and easy to find and begin collecting, this went from antique enamel, vintage jewellery and victorian photographs to purses and engravings. All these things are now out of my league. I still collect interesting porcelain for use and mid century pottery.


I have always known this stand selling vintage stock of pearls in glass, plastic and semi precious stones.


I LOVED this vintage Tapestry but there was no way it was going to fit into a taxi.


There is a stall selling antique 'stampings' and chandelier accessories and when I was Young I spent ages looking through it all and occasionally buying small things. This time I bought a large selection of small stampings that I hope to use in future mini projects. I paid 40 euros for all the items below.


I polished up a few pieces with fine wire wool. I can take moldings from some of these. 



I found a wonderful antique Chinese stand in Paris along with a beautiful carved chest in another flea market, a job lot of chandelier cristals and some good bronze drawer pulls. In Scotland I found some 'Indian Tree' porcelain and a lovely mid century porcelain dove. One of my favorite purchases is a largish white plaster statue of a boy, the same one that the painter Cézanne used in his still lives. 
I will post some pictures of these purchases that I left in Paris and will be brought here by my friends in a few days by car. 
I am going to visit my possible future new home in a few days, will keep you posted.
Please cross all your fingers and toes for me.

12 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. M. Welcome in Amsterdam. :-)

    That gate with the skulls and crying children is the gate of the no longer existing cemetary of the Westerkerk.

    I love the stamping you bought and look forward to seeing your other finds. :-)

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    1. Mr H ,well that's not creepy at all ! Thank you for the information I thought that there was a story there. There is a novel based on a true story called 'Pure' and it relates the moving of ' La Cimitiere des Innocents' in Paris. There were so many bodies that the graves collapsed into the neighbouring houses and Nothing would grow in the area and food went bad. They 'reduced' the bodies and chartered them to a quarry where they were placed and became 'Les Catacombes'. It's hard to imagine a cemetry in Amsterdam because of the water, I must read up on it. Huggsss

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  2. How wonderful to have you back! I hope that everything goes/did go well with the organization of things in Scotland. And what a lay-over to have! I would have been in danger of missing my flight. Your photographs show such a variety of cool and interesting things. I would have had such a hard time prying myself away from digging through every interesting ‘pile’!

    And very cool that Huitbrecht knows about the cherubs. They all look so tired and worn out.

    Orange tulips with frizzy heads are my favorite flowers. There are so many colors available! The ones in your picture in a kind of periwinkle blue and white are very, very pretty.

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    1. HIris ! thank you, yes I am going to read up on the gate thanks to Huibrecht and find out more. I love flea markets and car boot sales and charity shops and already having so much stuff myself it makes finding the right thing even harder as I become more exigeant. Huggsss

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  3. Hello from Canada :) I've been following your blog but this is my first comment (under my sister's account). For future trips I'll tell you about the store Josje mentioned when I asked her about places to shop for minis in Amsterdam: https://www.avontuurinminiatuur.nl Although I wasn't able to taxi out there during my spring trip hopefully I can visit it next time. I love seeing your collections, I'llhave to go to flea markets more often!

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    1. Hello and welcome Canada! Canadians are the best people, so kind. I had heard about the miniature shop but as it was outside the town I would have needed to be there for a few days to justify going there and I only had some stolen hours. I used to go often to Amsterdam but usually when it was -10c ! The canals were usually frozen and even my Dutch friends thought me crazy to go wandering out in the cold. I buy everything in markets and charity shops and find people crazy to pay more for anything they can find cheaper. I recently bought two really good heavy saucepans with lids, like new for 5 euros ! I am thinking of a holiday in Amsterdam in the late spring but as I am due to move house that might yet be just a dream. The new house will need decorating and the garden dug ! Minis are not on the top of my list for now, sadly. Huggss from France

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  4. Would love to be back in Amsterdam browsing the flower market...white tulips and pink tulips speak to my heart in the springtime. Looking forward to seeing what you will do with the stampings and send good luck wishes for your new home...Cheers, Alayne

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    1. Alayne dear you should see the bulbs I bought ! Amazing they look just like peonies all frilly and full of petals. I'm not a red white and blue tulip girl, I like some fuss and pretty colours. The market actually sold peony roots for not much money but they were quite bulky sadly. I planted the bulbs in several large pots as the garden will also have to be moved when I move house. If I leave anything in the garden here it will die over the summer as the house being so big it will probably lie empty for a long while. If I lived in Amsterdam I would walk through the market every day! Huggsss

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  6. Un maravilloso viaje y grandes hallazgos,realmente es difícil no ceder al "embrujo" de los mercados de pulgas,hay siempre cosas tan curiosas!!
    El mercado de flores es increíble! yo también volví a casa con un montón de bulbos de maravillosas flores,he de decir que brotaron todas menos una,fue increíble!!!
    Bienvenida de nuevo.
    Besos.

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    1. Gracias Pilar, he plantado mis bulbos en macetas ya que me mudaré de casa si todo sale bien en la primavera. Me encantan los mercados y las tiendas de chatarra, pero ahora mi casa está tan llena que tengo que frenar. Besos

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