Discover The Rose Bowl Flea Market In Pasadena CaliforniaWritten by David G. Hallstrom, Sr.
The Rose Bowl Flea Market And Swap Meet, at 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena Ca. 91103, is probably largest and most famous swap meet held in California. On second Sunday of each month, rain or shine, over 1,800 vendors from all over country set up their booths and spaces in order to display and sell merchandise, including but not limited to accessories, antiques, clothing, collectibles, discontinued merchandise, dolls, handmade crafts, home furnishings (new and used), paintings and other fine art items, pins and buttons (sports, olympics, election, etc.), plants, specialty foods, used books, watches, etc.. Parking is plentiful and free and admission prices are as follows: "Rose Bowl Flea Market and Market Place regular admission starts at 9am for general public at $7.00 per person, children under 12 are admitted free with an adult. We also have an express admission from 8:00am - 9:00am at $10.00 per person, an early admission from 7:00am - 8:00am at $15.00 per person, and a special preview VIP admission from 5:00am - 7:00am at $20.00 per person. Discount tickets for early admissions are available at many local antique stores. Group rates are available. The box office is open until 3pm after which time sellers begin packing and leaving. The public may shop for those last minute bargains until 4:30pm." This flea market is worth price of admission. There are bargins galore and people watching entertainment factor alone is worth price. You will see people from all walks of life, dressed in every imaginable way, speaking numerous languages all scurrying from vendor to vendor searching for best bargins. The vendors are all very friendly and happy to talk about their wares. Many of them are real characters and a lot of fun to deal with. Note: This is not same as going to a garage sale or some of your local swap meets. The vendors pay good money for a permit to sell here. You are not going to find a lot of cheap unwanted junk or that $50,000.00 painting being sold for $1.00. These vendors are professionals, they know their merchandise and they know what they are doing. Their overhead is much lower than if they were selling out of a retail store or mall and are usually not paying employees so they can sell for less. You will find very good bargins, especially if you are willing to negotiate a little (It's not considered bad manners to negotiate at a flea market. In fact, many of vendors enjoy negotiating more than they enjoy selling.), just do not expect to leave with a lot of junk or with find of a lifetime.
| | Doing British Things In FranceWritten by B A Boyle
There are plenty of “British” things to do in France but you may have to be a little more imaginative as far as entertainment goes. A nice meal with a good bottle of wine is quite straightforward, but stylish restaurant, even if there is one near you, may not necessarily be best. Try that neat little local restaurant instead . You may be surprised to find that owner provides more than just a “plat de jour”. He is often a magnificent, well-trained chef who can create great dishes with fresh local produce; vegetables and herbs from his own garden, fruit from his neighbour and mushrooms from field, He would love to win a Michelin star but his tiny restaurant in an unfashionable locality will never be a contender. Just as well - last thing you want is an invasion of tourists or gourmets who would change this simple ambiance not to mention price.If you’re slightly more gregarious why not join a club. As population in some small towns and villages dwindles, locals are delighted for you to swell their numbers in yoga class, cycle runs or even senior citizens club. Don’t be surprised if you experience “hard sell”. They are likely to ignore a foreigner’s natural reticence, language barrier, and, in case of senior citizens, protests that you are barely 50 years of age. In fact, only membership criteria seem to be that you’ve given up work. The organisers of old folks’ Christmas party in our village, noting our reluctance to join, offered us temporary membership for festive season. Even though we brought down average age considerably, we were accepted with celebrity-like status. Our fellow revellers wanted to know how we managed to look so young. Our claim that we were in fact “young” was met with cynical smiles and disbelieving shrugs. Not much of a compliment I think!. However, as with most of these “dos” meal was superb. Countless courses of food prepared by local restaurateur were accompanied by fantastic wines to suit each delicious dish. Five hours later we were treated to a karaoke-style concert of songs from past. Interesting, entertaining and shamefully cheap. In summer, a similar but faster repas can be had at many fetes. Each village seems to have its own version of a farmer’s market, display of ancient and modern crafts and often, a wonderfully British thing, car boot sale. For two hours at lunchtime though activities cease so that you may join stall holders and regulars for a fantastic mini banquet served to hungry crowds on trestle tables. If you haven’t booked beforehand, you may have to settle for beer and a sandwich in bar with other disappointed visitors. Of course, there are other British things to do in France. Do you remember week-ends in UK? If you’re still addicted to visits to DIY store then nobody here will prevent you from continuing, except that is, on Sunday, when all such shops are closed, oh, and sometimes on a Monday too. However, you will be pleased to read that more and more retail parks are springing up everywhere and with them number of B&Q look-alikes. If you have satellite TV you can still watch house makeover programmes and then spend rest of those lovely sunny days painting your walls magnolia, sticking on paper borders or laying a laminate wooden floor. Remember though, it will be impossible to impress your French neighbours when their own floors are solid wood parquet and most fashionable décor is still to paper walls, ceiling and even doors in same garishly patterned paper.
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