It’s Father’s Day weekend. Dad, sleeping late is highly overrated! A volksmarch is an excellent way to spend a day with the family. Get some fresh air, exercise and spend some quality time with your loved ones.

• Baseball season is in full swing, so if you’re looking for a volksmarch double-header, try the walks Saturday in Hombourg and Clermont-sur-Berwinne, Belgium. These two towns are less than 10 kilometers apart and it would be easy to do both walks.

Timing is important, since the Hombourg walk starts between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., whereas the Clermont event starts between 2 and 7 p.m. Doubling up is only possible Saturday because the Clermont walk is only on that day.

• This is the weekend for the International Militaria Show at La Gleize, Belgium. This is a large, outdoor military flea market with vendors from all over Europe. We might head to La Gleize in the morning and then to Clermont in the afternoon.

• The walk in Enzberg, Germany, is a Stammtisch event for the Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club. This walk starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, so we guess you can sleep in a little. Sunday the doors open for the early birds at 6 a.m. The prize is a B-medal truck for 3 euros.

• A unique prize is available this weekend at the Hirschau, Germany, volksmarch. Finish this walk and you receive two tickets for the Sommerrodelbahn Monte Coaster. Based on pictures on the walk flier, the Sommerrodelbahn looks like a roller coaster ride with one-person cars. This looks like an exciting ride.

• This is also the weekend for the Bad Kreuznach, Germany, volksmarch. We thoroughly enjoyed this walk last year. It was a nice walk through the countryside and there were nice cafes along the river for lunch.

• This weekend’s walk in Kordell, Germany, is convenient for those in the Eifel region. This Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning event is for IVV credit only.

• A few weeks ago we took the express train from Aachen, Germany, to Paris for the weekend, where we focused on flea markets. We didn’t do any IVV- sanctioned walks, but we still did a lot of walking.

Having done the usual tourist attractions on earlier visits, we decided to focus on flea markets this trip. Saturday morning we took the Metro north to the Porte de Clignancourt stop to visit the largest flea market in Paris, Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, more commonly known as Les Puces, or “The Fleas.” We read that there are between 120,000 and 180,000 visitors to Les Puces on a typical weekend. We got there as it was opening and found the myriad of small shops on the tiny winding streets and alleys. It seems that most of the venues were antique shops as opposed to flea market stalls. The prices seemed high, but we found a couple of small items to buy.

Sunday morning found us heading south on the Metro to the Porte de Vanves exit to visit the Puces de Vanves. To us, this was more of a typical flea market. Tables and blankets were set up along a street and the prices seemed more reasonable. Bob is always on the lookout for WWII items, and he found a plate dedicated to the French Resistance in the Vercors region from 1940 to 1944. If we were to go back to Paris, this is the flea market we’d visit again.

We were able to take a WWII walking tour of Paris and found it very interesting. The guide was knowledgeable, friendly and since he was British, spoke English. On the train to Paris, we watched an old movie, “Is Paris Burning,” and found it to be a good supplement to the WWII walking tour. The walk was two hours long and did not end at the starting point, so we had to hail a taxi to get us back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We were meeting our group for a dinner cruise on the Seine and could not be late for the boat’s departure. This was our first taxi experience in Paris and was pleased to find the prices very reasonable. It costs a bit more that the Metro, but taxis are a lot less stressful.

Feel free to share your flea market stories as well as volksmarch stories with us at the address below.

Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.

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