places

the flea market at porte de Clignancourt Saint-Ouen
: It goes from china-made mass goods with rap music pumping from the stands, to bins of rusty doorknobs lined up on folding tables and on the ground, to artwork and miscellanea that are looked over carefully by antiquary experts. And with the mix of merchandise comes the mix of personalities within the clientele and amongst the vendors.
This site is great for reading up before you go- knowing which markets to check out, where the restaurants are, and other various tips. For even more: Paris Perfect info on the flea market
and the official puces site (actually the least helpful of all in my opinion)

On the note of old things given a second life (or third, or fourth?)
: in Paris I had no idea how to get rid of those old things that have started to collect dust- though they may hold a soft spot in my heart, I just don't use them. So the city of Paris has a great site, actually, that help find this kind of information. And with a lot of options I was able to narrow it down to a Croix-Rouge location that is right near by, and where I can take this bag that I have been tripping over in my kitchen for a week. Very cool.
I just had a thought about a dream I had with pink hangars- and how in my dream I was thinking 'that's weird, why do I have pink hangars?' The reason I thought of it was to add the pink hangars to my pile of give away- before realizing that they were only in my dreams!