Paris: About Flea Markets and Friends

I want very much to speak about flea markets and friends, for this was a big part of my Paris visit.

As you might imagine, I was desperately eager to visit a flea market or two, and they didn't disappoint!

The first was with our blog cohort, Tara Bradford, aka Paris Parfait! I was so excited to meet up a blogger whose blog I visit faithfully and simply adore for its great photography and point of view. So, I was certainly looking forward to that first Saturday morning in Paris when met to go to Vanves, a large flea market in the south of Paris.

Vendor tables seemed to go for blocks, with everything from print/ephemera and old books to furniture, jewelry, keys, artifacts. You name it! Lots of things caught my eye...

My favorite finds form this show included a beautiful Japanese print (with special thanks to Tara for helping to negotiate the deal!)...

... an old key and some print ephemera.

I was very fond of the Parisian print trio...

...and oh! The magazines!

For an Anglophile, finding Paris Match highlighting Queen Elizabeth's coronation was a treasure (to match my Life magazine at home!)

This 1953 ladies magazine was great fun.

I loved the color spreads.

Even the ads were fun!

I also chose some postcards from places in Paris I'd visited, including Cluny in 1901 and this one of the Hotel deVille, which I passed every day on my jaunts to the Metro and beyond!

I also found this frame and these wonderful buttons. (The lace and trim came from a later market, down below). Later Jerry would help supplement my button collection, but that's in a later post!

One of the other things I love about Paris in general (and Vanves was no exception) is the prevalence of dogs.

I loved these two, becoming friends at a vendor's booth!

Later that day, Tara and her husband David invited us for a lovely dinner. I wanted to bring flowers, so we stopped at the florist.

Jerry explained that in France, you don't buy a ready-made bouquet, but pick several kinds of flowers from the shop's display, take them inside, and they make up the bouquet for you.

The woman making the bouquet gathered stems in a circular motion.

Then she wrapped it in colorful tissue and a cellophane.

Gerbera daisies, rose hips, greenery -- worked for me!

I would love to have added a photo of Tara or one of Tara and David with me, but at Tara's request, I'll pass. But she is so lovely! Just a delight, and I had the best time enjoying David's fabulous Moroccan dinner, great conversation, and being surrounded (as readers of Paris Parfait might imagine) by so many lovely things, I barely knew where to look!

I will say it was a memorable evening with sharing of smiles, stories, gifts and I will always remember this evening with my gracious hosts!

The following morning, Jerry and I headed out for our Normandy excursion. But he had done his homework well -- we had an itinerary of town flea markets along the way.

These are greatly different than Vanves, which is a weekly and somewhat more commercial affair. In France, "ordinary people" don't have yard saleswhenever they like; instead the city (or towns) set dates and everyone who likes participates.

The merchandise is different, too. While Vanves had higher end items, the markets we visited were a real mix -- everything from vintage and antique items to discarded Fisher Price toys and old clothes.

And produce vendors also had their wares (and I found the best raspberries EVER! So sweet, they couldn't be believed!)

The towns they were in had what they called "foires" -- in addition to the sales, they also had rides, food, and other activities. Jerry was aces at making good deals!

My favorite finds from these included a French Scrabble board (which I left up north and don't have a photograph of, but you might be interested to know that "W" is worth 10 points!)

I also bought some sewing notions and trims (pictured above with my Vanves buttons), some lace, bicycle pins (which have yet to be given!) and a very nice photo book on World War II and the invasion.

I would have bought these chairs, but I was a little too far from home!

Enjoying all of these was great fun -- fun to see the kinds of things that are different from what one sees here. For example, in the town foires, yes -- there was tacky and modern stuff. They're garage sales, after all. But there was a tremendous amount of the "good stuff" too -- beautiful (old) glassware, copper, pewter, brass, military-related items, photo albums (the one I wanted was 50 euros and Jerry couldn't get her to come down, so I gave it a pass).

Let me just say when I hit the yard sales here, I don't see much in the line of good stuff. Estate sales, maybe. Yard sales, no.

I loved seeing the people, the towns. And oh -- those raspberries!

Things I Learned:

When flea marketing in France, go with someone who speaks French for the best deals. I'm sure I could have tried something with my little Rick Steves phrase book. It wouldn't have worked. Not really.

Experiencing this was really a treat. I appreciated the differences between the professionals and the locals and I loved seeing the small towns.

The whole florist-bouquet thing was new to me, and I just loved watching her work (and the end result!)