Fun Displays

We've found our share of the whimsical and bizarre in France and I didn't want you to miss it.

I loved this display in Montmartre of bottles filled with (I'm imagining) a sugary liquid. Each bottle lists its flavor. Citron, mandarin, cassis, violette, menthe, peche abricot, lavande... It doesn't seem to be alcohol. I should have bought one. Or several.
Also in Montmarte was a shop that made every day kitchen appliances into fanciful characters.


Here's a small grater. Can't you just picture holding onto her blonde head while you grate a hard chunk of parmesan?


And here's a larger one. Very elegant for a grater, dont you think? I'm imagining what her dress might look like covered with slivers of grated carrot. No, maybe cheese is more her color.

This same shop also had minute timers that looked like big-eyed owls. I imagine they help while away the minutes for a child's time out or a simmering sauce as their beaks count down the time.

In Nantes, we saw a candy shop that carried what looked, to us, like homemade peeps. They were big and fluffy and covered with colored sugar. We didn't try any.

The whole window was filled with the concoctions in every shape and color. It made my teeth hurt just thinking of them.
Near Les Halles one morning, as we were killing time because we had missed our train, we found a shop that made me look once then twice before realizing what it was. The photo is very reflective, so you'll have to look hard to see what I saw.

That's right. It's a window full of dead rats hung from traps. This place was an exterminator business. The saddest thing is that right next door is a bakery. I imagine the bakery was not thrilled to be next to a window full of dead rats.