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My first visit to Port-Au-Prince was in 2006. Probably the most picturesque site in the city is the Marché de Fer, always lively, where vendors are mostly women. It is one of the few buildings that survived the earthquake earlier this year.

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It is said that President Hippolyte Florvil (9 October 1889 to 24 March 1896) bought it, there are more than a century, a French manufacturer who intended it to Turkey.

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Today, the Marché de Fer literally overflowing population busy and noisy. Step over thepile of items spread across a feat. Lamps, bird cages, kitchen utensils or children’s toys cut from tin cans, sandals cut from old tires catch the eye. Nothing is wastedhere.

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But the Iron Market is full of treasures: the naive paintings, dishes, mahogany wood carvings called ”Mahogany”, famous sculptures carved in metal drums, baskets, hatsand all kinds of items handicrafts.

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This Iron Market is also the focal point of the tap-taps (see Vivre le Tap-Tap Gallery on Porfolio). These famous tap-taps! shiny,noisy, rolling rhythm of zouks latest in fashion.

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On my first trip upstairs was inhabited by a family that was dedicated to sewing. On my second trip in 2008, the top floor had become a place where illegal gambling is practiced.

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