Finding Home: Paris: The Flea Markets

Day two was all about hitting the flea markets. There were three I targeted but decided to only do two since we were there for such a short period of time.

Since my husband does so much business traveling, he NEVER checks his bags. I knew he wouldn’t say anything if I had to check bags, but I knew he would be happier if I didn’t. So, I had to get all of my stuff in carry-on only, leaving little room for treasures, but I did mange to get some treasures which I will post soon.

We did arrive relatively early at both and did not have any issues with crowds.

The first one that we went to was Marche de la Porte de Vanves in the southern part of Paris. This was a true flea market as booths are set up in the morning along the sidewalks. When we were there we seemed to be the only English speaking people around, but by saying “bonjour” and “combien?” (how much) everyone was helpful and kind.

Looking a little sleepy but happy!

This is the one I still think about, that gives me a little shot in the gut. There was not wa this was fitting in my carry-on luggage. It was in the very beginning and I never even asked how much it was. It is probably better not knowing, but I can’t stop thinking, “what if it was really cheap, I could have shipped it home!”. Hindsight as they say is 20/20 and the sight of this was gorgeous!

This was just tons of fun stuff. Oh to bring home the bistro chairs, the leather club chairs, the blue car, the frames, the legs and the galvanized bucket. The good news is I did get to bring home the guy who’s feet you see!

This is not really my type of stuff, but can appreciate how lovely it all is even just for the fact that it is French!

Again, just beautiful furniture treasures waiting to find a home. I didn’t ask about pricing on any furniture, but this did seem like the type of place where there would be a potential for some fairly good purchases. However, I think you would have to lots of courage or know a lot more French than I to really get some deals!

Not everything seemed appropriate to photograph as I did not want to ruffle and feathers. Once we turned the corner, everything was closer together and more difficult to photograph. Also, the further you went down, you seemed to be moving into the “lower rent” district of what was being offered. However, on the other side on the way back through, I did see this lovely seed packet holder. Oh, if it would only fit in my carry-on bag!

I really enjoyed this flea market and would recommend it. We then moved North to the Marche aux Puces de St.-Ouen. This is the oldest and most famous flea market in Paris.

It was a little difficult to navigate around what is what around here as there are a lot of vendors who have filled in around it to take advantage of the crowds. We kept following signs for the information booth, but never actually got to it.

We didn’t really tackle much of this, we just got a flavor of it. The parts that we went through were all permanent structures more like shops. I understand there are more “flea-market-like” areas, but we did not go to them.

There were some amazing and beautiful things to be inspired by. We bought nothing here as it was so expensive, but it was really fun to just stroll through.

Sorry this picture came out so blurry, but I felt it was so amazing it was worth showing. I am big sucker for anything with an industrial feel. The suitcases up at the back on the shelf were amazing.

This booth was just so Parisian in every sense of the word…

This was down one of the smaller alleys and I swooned over these…

Loved every single thing in this booth..

Some of the booths were VERY high end. Check out the cute guy in the mirror!

This gives you a good sense of what the alleys looked like. Some were much tighter and snaked around quite interestingly.

This booth was stunning. Just to give you a perspective, she wanted close to $500 for the music sheet covered dress form pictured below.

There is no mistaking where Restoration Hardware gets their inspiration. This area was filled with industrial items that we would all put in our homes.

I don’t think this piece is old. I believe it is a newly machined metal cabinet. Exquisite. The guy inside the booth was like a mad scientist talking to himself quite quickly while creating something. I would have loved to stayed and watched but the smarter side of me said, keep moving and photograph where he can’t see you!