Le Mans yielded an armful of good oil paintings (along with the not unfamiliar poignancy of finding the entire contents of a late artist’s studio spread out on the ground), tall hinged shutters, garden furniture and the usual selection of 19th century household items. A pile of insect display boxes that happily contained nothing more […]
Early that July morning I drove to a vide-grenier on the other side of Nogent. Parking outside the Boulangerie was fortunate and, croissant in hand, I walked past the Route Barrée sign towards the market where villagers were steadily laying out their stalls. I feel a quiet delight in village vide-greniers. Things that have indeed […]
Back in Belleme, a town of noble houses and winding streets, and many new antiques shops, I turned off the road and drove beneath the beamed porch of a Brocante that had opened up the year before. The large gravelled courtyard was framed by an imposing house and barns on three sides with views over […]
Sunday morning, along deep green lanes, just after sunrise. A curve in the road opened onto views of wooded hills and ripe barley. I was back in the Perche in search of both the illustrious and the humble, the cobwebbed and the gilded. By 06.30 people were steadily setting out their goods for the annual […]
Back from Provence with many good things: armoires, Italian chandeliers, enfilade and cupboards, buffets, large mirrors, vibrant paintings and still lives. All to be uploaded very soon.
In the pitch black 5am frosty morning I scraped my windscreen and drove to a Marché aux Puces further round the lagoon. This was a regular local market with an array of hum drum plastic and synthetic goods, and yet one or two stalls of interest. Bundled up beneath hat and scarf an elderly man was […]
A sunny morning in Castres and the café terraces in Place Jean Jaures were busy. As we sat in the bright winter light I recognised Raffael from the market at Albi. We shook hands. He lived just outside Castres, he said, would we like to visit his house? He also added that he would be […]
The Marche a la Brocante is held every Saturday beneath the large covered market in the Place du Castelviel in Albi. This is no ancient timbered medieval hall but a functional concrete and steel construction. On a damp January morning everything was in a palette of dull grey. A group of dealers warmed themselves around […]
Savigny en Veron held its annual vide-grenier on July 14th. La rue Basse, fringed with trees and dappled clearings, lead out of the village. A duck plied its way across a pond solid with emerald weed and an egret stood statuesque, brilliant white in the early slanting sun. The church bell chimed 7h, birds chirruped, […]
In the damp greenish light, stalls were being set up on the stone quay and along the picturesque river at Montsoreau. This was a market of about ninety professionals. No baby clothes or plastic toys. As I trawled through the stalls, checking prices, loitering to see what was next out of this van or that […]
We drove on to a Groupement d’Antiquaires near Nogent, to see Olivier, Laurent, and Julie the dog. Olivier came round from the back in his work apron and we shook hands. Formal, courteous, gracious. They told me in hushed voices that they were planning to open a shop in a nearby town with a reputation […]
A slate sign poked out from an old watering can, indicating the little brocante boutique solely for the guests at the chambre d’hote. I rifled out a couple of glorious white soupieres, some pots, a watercolour of a large pig and some beautifully pristine monogrammed sheets. On the tag was written “TBE” which, I learned, stood for “tres bon […]
The weekend of 14th July normally offers rich pickings at vide greniers in towns and villages across France. Tricolour flags fly and the boom boom boom of smartly marching bands can be heard streets away. With the regular monthly market at Montsoreau falling on such a weekend a trip, was planned down to the Loire. […]
The Deballage began at 8h and, as always, there were stall holders in clouds of bubble wrap and old newspaper unpacking their boxes and setting out their stands, and others already settled down for the morning, coffee in hand. There were handshakes or kisses on cheeks, the day was bright and fresh, and spirits were […]
What should have been a three minute hop to the Chartres deballage next morning was a choked up traffic jam. The main entrance of the Parc des Expositions was closed and only a small secondary gate was open. Impatience mounted and vans began driving along the verge and straddling a steep bank. Other people shouldered […]
A trip was planned with Lesley, who had made me so welcome in her stunning shop in Tetbury after the fire at Station Mill Antiques. We would travel in convoy. From Le Havre we drove along the north bank of the Seine as it meandered towards the sea. We crossed at the Pont de Brotonne, […]
Other establishments had mushroomed in old warehouses and great old farms along the road. We pulled in at the Brocante de Brigitte. I’d called in here a few years before. I found the same tumble of rooms crammed full, every surface toppling over with the detritus of yesteryear. On to the Brocante de Nadine which looked […]
The car park at the budget hotel near the Parc des Expositions in Chartres filled steadily with vans and tourist coaches. Across the way in the adjacent hotel people met over an aperitif. Most were dealers. The words that rose above general murmur of conversation were ….. “deballage”, “marchand”, “client”, “debarrasser une maison”, “cave” and […]
South on long ribbony roads, through towns of half-timbered houses in plains of green fields, trees in blossom, towards the tower of La Madeleine at Verneuil on the horizon. The chambre d’hotes was stunning. Set back behind tall iron gates, painted a pale coppery bluey green. The owner, Domi, served fresh apple juice out on the […]
Unexpectedly, travel plans changed for a March trip. The big yellow ferry that had done service between Le Havre and Portsmouth for many years was being taken out of service. There would be no crossings the day a new vessel was brought in, so I travelled a day earlier. I could use the extra time […]
Standing on the balcony I realised I was gazing into the Dufy painting of the Baie des Anges – same turquoise sea, same curve in the bay, same ardent palm trees, same Hotel Negresco that had ushered Marlene, Salvador, Grace and Satchmo through its opulent doors. Colour, colour, colour. My blanched, be-wintered spirit was stunned […]
The hotel lobby on the outskirts of Le Mans was busy with dealers who were regulars at the Deballage. Laetitia, the receptionist, handled their jocular high spirits with seasoned aplomb. The hotel restaurant was passable, and a dinner of steak frites, Tarte Normande and a glass of red wine worked restorative wonders. Just before 8am […]
The truck in front of me on the old National 23 from Chartres to Le Mans braked hard and swung off down a track. As I sailed by I glimpsed a large building with Antiquités Brocante painted in large letters. “Zut!” I turned around at the next hamlet. A willow swept over the rushing water outside […]
It was a dismal morning, not yet light. The parking areas of the Parc des Expositions were full of muddy ruts. Vans were all over the place, backing up, wheels spinning. There were shouts and waving torches. No one could see much through rainy windows. Having reversed out of the scrum I found a spot […]
