It was the last market – Montpellier. Barry confirmed that I’d almost filled the space booked on his van. With just one cubic metre left I’d have to be satisfied with buying smalls or light things that would perch on top – no point looking at larger buffets now. As always the visual feast […]
That December I’d booked to stay by the sea. The receptionist said “Madame Hanna, you are the only guest here tonight. I will not tell the chamber maid to come just for one room. But, of course, if you need, I will do it for you myself tomorrow….” She paused, hoping for my response of “Oh, […]
Snow and a vicious Mistral wind chill was forecast for the south of France. Driving to the depot of a dealer just outside Pezenas early on the first day of December, radio stations were bursting with adverts for Christmas: turkeys, sapins de noel, cut price canapés and champagne en promotion. Snows had already fallen in […]
Next day the big dealer markets began – time now for some major activity. I met up with Barry who was ready to start collecting and loading. On his way down through France he’d delivered an English roll top bath to my friend Francoise, for a turret bathroom in her chateau. It was last seen […]
Green metal gates opened into a courtyard full of rusting garden furniture and stone fountains. In the large old hangar beyond I picked through a pile of large linen monogrammed napkins. Madame came over, smiling. “They are from une belle maison,” she said, “I have just brought them in.” They were already gorgeous, and with […]
The road came to a dead end. Ahead a few white yachts plied round the headland. Unloading my luggage in the hot afternoon, I relished the sea breeze and the calm. The modest hotel here is all I need. I’m glad to return – it’s going to be a busy few days but here I […]
I’d booked a basic hotel in a town not very far from Bagnoles, near a vide-grenier early the following morning. The hotel proprietor had called to say she would be unexpectedly absent that night, so would I mind letting myself in. She regretted that her restaurant would be closed but informed me there was a […]
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I called into the new shop of a charming woman I’d not seen for some years. She was cleaning a chandelier, which was fortunate timing for me, and I bought it. She’d drop it round at my hotel on her way home. As I was leaving she said, “If you have time tomorrow, do go […]
This was the first trip to France for Nelly, the new van. There had been Little Moe, then Sylvie, and now Nelly. She was a bit longer and a bit taller than her predecessors, her name in remembrance of an antiques dealer in the Luberon. Driving down into Normandy I relished, through rainy windscreen, steep […]
The regular “Puces” flea market on the coast was in full swing at 6am the next morning. It had moved location and was now beneath tamarisk trees alongside the railway line, where long loads of metal shipping containers rolled past. Groups of men gathered over fishing tackle, rifles and plumbing parts. There is nothing grand about […]
The September fairs in the south of France promise good buying after a summer lull. Before the buying at the fairs began in earnest I made a first visit to Pezenas, not far from Beziers. I parked on a quiet road next to the high walled Vieux Cimitiere. Crucifixes and the backs and wings of […]
Remembering with gratitude the wonderful people who brought light, life and creativity into this year. Remembering with love those no longer here. A poem for this time of year: It’s so delicate the light. And there’s so little of it. The dark is huge. Just delicate needles, the light, In an endless night. And it […]
I’d been to the regular monthly market at Montsoreau a few times. It is a delightful village with a chateau perched over the river. Arriving early, before the strolling Sunday throng, has always yielded good finds. And on the narrow cobbled road up to the chateau sit two antique shops worthy of a good, long […]
A large Brocante had opened on the N12, a ruler straight road south of Verneuil that thundered with lorries. This place lookedpromising. We walked into what had been a spartan and high ceilinged industrial unit, which was now was adorned with stuffed pheasants perched on antlers, painted panels from fairground carousels and a pyramid shaped tabernacle. […]
Brocanteur: The photograph was hanging in Jean-Paul’s shop. “The look on his face,” he said, “of profound despair….. It was after the war in Paris, hard times, and, vous voyez, he was even heeling shoes using a block of stone to work on.” Brocanteuse: I have been writing The Diary of a Brocanteuse for a […]
I wanted to visit a dealer in a nearby village full of fountains and winding streets. The shop was yet to open as we squeezed into a narrow parking space opposite. A small vide grenier was quietly setting up on the main tree lined promenade, although nothing clamoured to be bought. So we sat on […]
Beautiful Uzes was not far up the road from Castillon. I remembered it fondly from a visit when I was twenty. En route we stopped at a Brocante. A taciturn man with a head of dark unruly hair nodded as we walked into the courtyard. Every kind of metal work was here. Moustache hinges, door […]
Quietly shutting the door of the gite behind me I came through olive trees into the resiny, still night. The vestiges of a full moon hung high over the Pont du Gard. The sky lightened as I drove to the Déballage at Beziers and the sides of the autoroute were beautiful with magenta blossoms and […]
The three large dealer Déballages held in Provence a handful of times a year sometimes fall on consecutive days, and are within two or three hours of each other. It makes a worthwhile trip. Graham and I stayed near Avignon in Castillon du Gard. A jug of lilac from the garden welcomed us to our gite. […]
My dear old work pal Sylvie has gone to a new home, and it is time to welcome Nelly, my new van. I have named her in memory of an antiques dealer in the Luberon. Nelly and I are off next week to visit some old contacts in Normandy and then down to Le Mans. I am looking forward […]
With armoires and buffets stowed with the shipper, and the contents of Sylvie rearranged, we left Avignon and drove up through the Rhone wine region towards Le Puy en Velay to see our friend Francoise. Violent winds rocked the van. First through vines, then cypress and pine as rain clouds roiled above us. Fortresses and […]
We arrived in good time for the Avignon fair next day. As soon as the gates opened at 8h on the dot, I headed straight to a particular stand in one of the large halls. A stunning pair of painted console tables stood gloriously together, but the dealer was not yet there. I perched on […]
Southern France had been on Orange Alert with “temps chaotique,” chaotic weather. People watched in disbelief as cars were swept away in turbulent rivers. Eerie, transparent and purple jelly fish were washed up on the beach. The wind continued to howl. I arrived at the Montpellier market late. My alarm had not worked and I […]
