Foire de la Bastille

Dear Diva Readers,

top: 5px; float: left; color: white; background: #781300; border: 1px solid darkkhaki; font-size: 60px; line-height: 50px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: times;”>I’m sad to say that it is the end of an era….The renowned Foire de la Bastille will set up its tents alongside the Seine for one of the very last times this November 2015. The final edition of Bastille’s infamous antiques fair will take place next spring, but now is the time to savor this extraordinary fair which began in 1969.

Foire de la Bastille salon-antiquite-brocante-a-la-bastille

Foire de la Bastille Paris

Beginning November 5th and running through November 15th, 2015 this fair which includes offerings from 350 vendors will take place at the Place de la Bastille including each side of the Arsenal basin along the boulevard Bourdon and Bastille. The fair will be open each day from 11:00 to 7:00pm and costs 10 € to enter. This has consistently been one of The Antiques Diva & Co’s favorite French antique fairs as it has been a Parisian institution filled with charm which always welcomes our clients with open arms. From fine antiques which are beautifully displayed to junk stalls that require a true hunter’s eye, this fair offers something for everyone.

Foire de la Bastille Stalls full with Antiques

The theme of this season’s show is “The Mountain Cottage Mind,” and will feature dealers from all over France displaying furniture, paintings and engravings, pottery, silverware and old glasswork, ceramics, dishes, and antique linens. While the items for sale will vary vastly, the overarching theme of a French mountain cottage will prevail. As always, it is sure to be an antique hunter’s dream!

Foire de la Bastille Mountain Cottage Mind

I remember past times shopping this antique fair – even before I became “The Antiques Diva” – it was a brocante I visited and shopped with my friends. I helped my friend Tamara hunt for paintings when she was returning home to Tampa after living in Paris. And I shopped with Stacey for a dining table and chairs. Catherine was on a quest for Baccarat knife rests (if I recall she ultimately found those she was looking for in Chatou at the Ham Fair). Meanwhile Lisa and I sought out vintage fashion. And I came home with more than a piece or two of crystal and porcelain for my personal collections. The Bastille Brocante is as much of part of my personal past as it is my companies past – each season we’ve taken clients to find treasures along the Seine when it returned for it’s twice annual fair dates.

Foire de la Bastille Antique Desk

Foire de la Bastille Chandelliers

If you would like to book an Antiques Diva Paris Tour in conjunction with this fair, email us at info@antiquesdiva.com. We’d love to custom plan an antiques buying tour for you, taking you not only to the fair, but also to Les Puces and other secret sources just outside of Paris to help you find the perfect pieces you’re looking for. As always, our Diva Guides can translate and negotiate on your behalf, helping you maximize your time and money while abroad.

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Bonne Shopping!

The Antiques Diva®

Bastille Brocante 2011

Dear Diva Readers,

There’s still time for you to book an Antiques Diva® Tour during one of our favorite French Antique Fairs  SALON D’ANTIQUITES BROCANTE at the PLACE DE LA BASTILLE .  Held from  4 – 13 NOVEMBER 2011 some of our favorite upscale vendors will be setting up shop alongside the Seine!

This traditional fair first occurred in 1969 and has become over time a Parisian institution with undeniable French charm owing to it’s location in the heart of Paris and it’s exclusive antique atmosphere boasting over 350 French vendors! 

The theme of this years event is “MINIATURE AND SMALL OBJECTS OF VERTU” so many of the vendors will specialize in offering unusual and tiny miniature precious curiosities!

LOCATION
PARIS – Place de la Bastille

ACCESS
Metro: lines 1, 5 or 8 – station: Bastille

HOURS
Daily from 11 am to 19 pm

ENTRY FEE
8 Euros

To read a past blog post about this sensational antiques fair and to see some of Paris Parfait’s photos –
click here.

For information on Antiques Diva Special Tours of the Bastille Brocante:
contact to:info@antiquesdiva.com”>info@antiquesdiva.com

Bonne Shopping!
The Antiques Diva®

Last Minute Diva! Guest Blog – Bastille Brocante

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>This weekend I will be attending The Pier Antiques Show in NYC, but my heart will, as always, be in Paris. My 2nd favorite antiques show, the SALON D’ANTIQUITES BROCANTE PLACE DE LA BASTILLE, closes this weekend after 10 days. This indoor/outdoor antiques show at Bastille has always been a personal favorite, second only to tou” target=”_blank”>the famous ham and flea market fair in Chatou. With over 400 dealers and everything from fine antiques to junk, it’s a shopper’s paradise. Plus, with the cold autumn weather, my favorite Vin Chaud* was always purchased at Bastille, usually accompanied by a merguez sandwich with mustard and fries.

Salon d’Antiques Brocante Place de la Bastille
Daily November 6-16
Paris, Place de la Bastille
11am – 7pm
8euros

At Bastille my favorite purchase was my first armoire, discovered at the Spring show, and leading to a 7 year association with the vendor, Monsieur and Madame Nakhechkerian (The business is listed in the wife’s name – Mme Florence Mallion-Nakhechkerian – contact +31.(0)1.60.66.15.73) who became one of my personal favorites (partly because I spoke with him only in French for the first 4 years I knew him, and then discovered he spoke English! He told me my French was fine, which, in the Spring of 1998, I assure you was NOT!) In addition to being so kind and patient with me during my first purchase from him, he invited us to his home in the country to see how it was restored, all the beautiful furnishings he and his wife had found and restored (he went into antiques restoration with his father-in-law, so it was a long-term, well-established business.) He visited our home several times to help us with our purchases: he modified one armoire so that it could easily hold our TV, but then be restored to original state; another armoire he added a coat bar so that it could serve as our entry coat closet. After a guest left a wet glass on our buffet and I got a restoration quote of 900 Euro from another restorer, he came by, pulled out his handy can of wood wax, painted over the spot and voila! The spot was gone. The name of his miracle furniture wax: Pate Duqay Rustique Moyen (my preferred shade) found at the Clingancourt flea markets, 92, rue des Rosiers.

Bon weekend a tous!
La Reine

*My favorite Bastille show “vin chaud” vendor shared his recipe with me! I now make it at home and enjoy it many times each autumn!

1 bottle of inexpensive, but drinkable, red wine
1 small plastic cup filled with granulated light brown sugar
1 small plastic cup filled with orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
Heat until bubbly, stirring well, serve and enjoy!
Bon Ap!