Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Zut! and More...

Time was of the essence. Well, more precisely clocks were. My friend and colleague, Lenny, was looking for old French clocks and I was in search of fabric for a project. All hands pointed toward Montmartre. Lenny had researched the shop, Zut!, which specializes in industrial antiques and clocks and is located in Montmartre. That is also the area where I often shop for fabric. The Sacré-Cœur Basilica, marks the spot along with the many artists, musicians and shops. After a long metro ride, we got off at the Abbesses stop and found Zut! It wasn't open. :-( We peered through the windows eyeing a few of the old clocks and other treasures. Knowing that the owner lives nearby and he suggests calling if he is not there, we convinced a nearby (very cute!) shopkeeper to give him a call. Zut alors! He was in the south of France, but quoted a few prices for us. OK, so the clocks were a few more euro than we anticipated, uh, maybe a lot more. He didn't have to rush back for this deal, but perhaps another time we'll have a better stroke of luck. Leaving rue Ravignan and walking down the long hill toward the foot of Sacre-Cœur for my fabric shopping, we passed by several restaurants. The artsy decor of one intrigued us, and we thought it might be a good place for dinner sometime. Mental note made. A few blocks more found us in the thick of the touristy crowds of Montmartre. Fabric shops are dotted all along the streets in this busy area. Inside the shops are many kinds of linens, toiles, finished tablecloths, tapestries and fabric of every kind. Lenny was still disappointed in not having an antique French clock in his hand, but took some solace (or maybe he was just being politely patient) in the seeing the beautiful colors of the crisp linen. Be ready to buy in meters and not in yards. My son, Zac made a conversion chart for me to take along.

Here are some conversions from imperial lengths to meters:

1 inch = 0.0254 meters

.5 yards = 18 inches = 0.4572 meters

1 yard = 36 inches = 0.9144 meters
1.5 yards = 1.3716 meters

60 inches = 1.52400 meters

2 yards = 72 inches = 1.8288 meters

2.5 yards = 90 inches 2.28600 meters

3 yards = 108 inches = 2.7432 meters


I found the fabric I was looking for and made the conversion into meters. Yikes...all of that math on a jet lagged brain made me hungry! My stomach started feeling like that dummy in the window of Zut! Our minds wandered back to that enticing restaurant we passed on our way to shop for fabric. Hungry and thirsty, we looked at each other and headed back up the long hill with visions of dinner dancing in our heads.......

To be continued.

Zut! 9, rue Ravignan
, 75018 Paris
Metro: Abbesses
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 11am-1pm and 4pm-7pm. Also open Sunday morning.

For Fabrics:
Les Tissus Saint-Pierre 3, rue de Steinkerque, 75018 Paris Hours: Monday-Saturday 9:30am-7pm Phone: 01 46 06 48 29
Metro: Anvers

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