Les Soldes

I learned this summer that French merchants are only allowed to hold sales twice a year---once in July and once in January.  Local governments monitor these to make sure that everyone plays by the rules.  Stores might get by with reducing some items at other times, but the big sales where merchandise is up to 50% off is at these two times only.
Wednesday, January 11th was the first day of this year's winter sale.  I had heard so much excited talk about it at school that I decided to check it out.  I never get to shop here because Jed hates even walking past clothing stores so having Sam around allowed my escape.
The atmosphere downtown was pretty lively.  Not only was it the first day of the "soldes," the twice-monthly flea market filled the streets.  Pretty much anything one could want was on sale.  A more seasoned shopper than myself could have gotten some great deals.  I just walked around overwhelmed by it all.  I ended up scoring a new pair of black socks, a knit hat, and a knit skirt in my four hours downtown.  That's ok, though.  I'm told that the best deals will be two weeks from now when most things will be 70% off.  I might just go crazy and buy some brightly-colored socks at those prices!

My new brown hat