As promised, here is my take on French flea marketing in several installments....
Check out http://vide-greniers.org/ for the best shopping in all of France...brocantes (high end antiques), marches aux puces (flea markets), and, my favorites, vide greniers ("attic emptying"...the French equivalent to garage sales).
The French cannot have individual garage sales as we do but the whole town has an "attic emptying" sale once a year. Our eyes popped when we would come across one of them. They had everything from dealers with fine antiques to moms with lots of kid's toys and clothes. Incidentally, French children's clothes are so nice and at a dollar or two apiece, they were a steal!
And then we'd return to our home base and spread it all out to ooh and ahh and share. What fun we had!
Then there were the brocantes. These ranged from fine antiques at high prices to ancient barns filled to the rafters with stuff....wonderful stuff!
Plan your route based on the sites you want to see and the vide greniers that are going on while there. Be aware that vide greniers are canceled if it is raining too hard but brocantes are always open...well, almost...most shops (not just antiques) are closed Sundays through Monday late afternoon and during the lunch time from about noon to four. Flea markets are usually on Saturdays and Sundays. Watch out for holidays! Who knew that the Feast of the Assumption would entail almost a whole week of shops being closed!! The French (as most Europeans) take any religious or civic holiday very seriously and combine days to make a long weekend.
In future posts I'll give you advice on how to manage your loot. So for now you can start dreaming about your shopping trip.
Check out http://vide-greniers.org/ for the best shopping in all of France...brocantes (high end antiques), marches aux puces (flea markets), and, my favorites, vide greniers ("attic emptying"...the French equivalent to garage sales).
The French cannot have individual garage sales as we do but the whole town has an "attic emptying" sale once a year. Our eyes popped when we would come across one of them. They had everything from dealers with fine antiques to moms with lots of kid's toys and clothes. Incidentally, French children's clothes are so nice and at a dollar or two apiece, they were a steal!
And then we'd return to our home base and spread it all out to ooh and ahh and share. What fun we had!
Then there were the brocantes. These ranged from fine antiques at high prices to ancient barns filled to the rafters with stuff....wonderful stuff!
Plan your route based on the sites you want to see and the vide greniers that are going on while there. Be aware that vide greniers are canceled if it is raining too hard but brocantes are always open...well, almost...most shops (not just antiques) are closed Sundays through Monday late afternoon and during the lunch time from about noon to four. Flea markets are usually on Saturdays and Sundays. Watch out for holidays! Who knew that the Feast of the Assumption would entail almost a whole week of shops being closed!! The French (as most Europeans) take any religious or civic holiday very seriously and combine days to make a long weekend.
In future posts I'll give you advice on how to manage your loot. So for now you can start dreaming about your shopping trip.
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1 comment:
Looks like so much fun! Did you buy to sell in your shop? I tried to find your store one day and couldn't so I called but no answer.Maybe you were in France~Cheers Kim
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