Paris - Marie Clair Craft Fair

Okay so I did a crazy thing this weekend and crafts made me do it. I got up at 5:30am and took Eurostar to Paris for the day just so I could visit the Marie Clair Craft Fair. Marie Clair Idées is a French craft mag that is absolutely packed with wonderful ideas even if you don’t speak French. It is always a wonderful day when the magazine lands on my doorstep.
The fair was in La Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris which is a giant glass building in the middle of a public park. The booths were packed with craft suppliers, people selling patterns, book sellers, and crafters selling their wares. It had taken me a year since the last fair to forget, but I quickly remembered that these French ladies must be starved for craft because the moment my tennis shoe (quel horreur!) hit the carpet, I was jostled to one side, pushed to the other, squeezed past, and generally man handled or should I say madam handled out of the way so the French could get to the front of the stalls. I do love the French, but gosh, they do like to push. Even getting on and off the Metro. In London, everyone stands aside to let the travelers off the carriage before the next set of passengers enter the carriage. In Paris, stand aside and you’ve missed the train.
I suppose I can understand why the French are so starved for craft when I arrived at my most favorite ever shop in Paris, Bouchera, to find it was fermé.

Mais pourquoi fermé? I asked a retired couple on the street corner. They shrugged. They didn’t care one of the best fabric stores in Paris that used to sell off cuts of Chanel fabric was gone. Where was I going to get my fix?
I tried to eat my way through my disappointment by heading down the street to Brioche Dore (the pic above is not B. Dore, just a really cool idea for a table settingin one of the Paris shop windows), but not even the 8 Euro meal deal (toasted ham and cheese panini, Orangina, hot chocolate, and huge slice of coconut flan) could make me as happy as Bouchera once did. It’s like the passing of a great friend.
Back to craft happiness, I wasn't able to take any photos of the crafts at the stalls because I was too scared. I'd seen the stall owners yell at others, so wasn't about to take the risk. I was on a sailor kick while at the fair, (not literally) so I seemed to have bought bits of red white and blue seaside fabric, sailor teddy button, sailory ribbon, and a seaside embroidery book. I think I need a holiday near the sea. Hmmm… another day trip sounds good.