Tips on Buying Vintage & Antiques in France

How To Shop For Vintage & Antiques at French Flea Markets

Marché aux Puces and Brocantes
L’Isle sur la Sorgue
In France, flea markets are known as marché aux puces or simply, les puce, (the fleas). But googling brocante will take you off the beaten path to traveling flea markets that are only held a few weekends a year. They can be held anywhere from 1 day to a full 2 weeks. Bigger traveling flea markets in France will have billboards all over town advertising them – so when you see a sign stuck to a lamp post or a giant poster in the metro with the word brocante highlighted, get ready to shop! Brocantes attract vendors from all over France, selling everything from high-end antiques to vintage pieces and simply second-hand junk. Prices here are usually better and take you into neighborhoods you might never have reason to visit on your own. A great website for finding brocantes is www.brocabrac.fr. While the Paris Flea Market is a personal favorite and must-do (and The Antiques Diva & Co are the only official tour guides of Paul Bert Serpette at the Paris Flea Market), visiting other French flea markets in Paris and across France is ideal to shop for antiques and vintage pieces. Here are my top 3 brocantes in Paris – and my all-time favorite French flea market starts next week!!

Tips on Buying Vintage & Antiques in France: Top Europe Antiques and Design Markets and Fairs Calendartip: Check out our Antiques and Design Markets and Fairs 2017 Calendar for flea markets in France and across Europe!

While there is nothing more fabulous than getting lost in France and discovering some place (or something) magical, shoppers in the know research where to go before traveling overseas. We suggest you book an Antiques Diva tour so you can shop on the arm of a local who knows the area like the back of their hands – plus more importantly – has relationships with the vendors which allows you to get the best prices possible when negotiating. But if you decide to give it a go on your own, be prepared and do your research. Google the cities where you’re planning to antique, using keywords for the antiques and vintage pieces you want to buy.  

Paris Flea Market - What To Buy and HowVide-Greniers
On brocabrac.fr you will also find vide-greniers – essentially attic sales – set up in the center of town with anywhere from 50 to of 1000s of people participating. These aren’t professional vendors, but instead they private people wanting to sell their goods – think of it as a town-wide garage sale where anything and everything is for sale. While you’ll have to dig through second-hand clothes and used toys you can also find gorgeous antiques going for a song!

Salon des Antiquaires
If you’re looking for high-end antiques you want to go to a salon des antiquaires a step up from a flea market or brocante – which can have second-hand and decorative objects. This will be more high brow and have higher quality pieces – but don’t let that phrase scare you – there are still bargains to be had. Remember French antiques are often 3 to 5 times less expensive in France than they are in America or Australia. Something selling for 2,000 Euro in the North of France might go for $6-10K in the USA. You have to spend money to save $$$!

Tips on Buying Vintage & Antiques in France: Toma Clark Haines shopping at a Provence flea marketKey French Shopping Phrases
Now that you know where to go whether it’s a puce, brocante, vide-grenier or salon des antiquaires you should know a few key phrases in French to get the ball rolling! Even if you don’t speak French, learning some basic vocabulary is worth it’s weight in golden Louis 15th antiques.

  • Always start the conversation with a simple, Bonjour Madame or to catch the vendors attention try S’il vous plaît  (SVP) Monsieur.
  • Point then to the item you are interested in and ask how much it costs: C’est combien, SVP? or try Vous voulez combien?
  • Ask how old it is? Quel âge a cette chaise?  Ça date de quand?  What wood it is? C’est quel type de bois? And where it comes from:  Quelle est sa provenance?
  • Don’t be shy – negotiation is expected. Ask for a good deal. Vous pouvez  faire un meilleur prix? Will you make a better price? or C’est votre meilleur prix? or Vous pour faire mieux? Is that your best price? It’s best to ask the Vendor to tell you their best price BEFORE you offer a number – because sometimes they offer you more of a discount than you would have expected. If the piece is 100E and you ask for a best price, the vendor might come back and say 80E. You can then continue the negotiation – Will you take $70? Prenez Vous 70E? If said this way, the vendor might compromise on 75E. 25% is a reasonable amount to expect for a discount.

Be willing to walk away in order to get a discount.  Leaving then returning to the piece helps with negotiation… but beware… you might just return and find your item SOLD to someone else!

  • Verify they are giving you the export price – C’est le prix pour exportation? Is it too expensive? C’est trop cher!  (said while batting your eyes!) A good deal? C’est bon marché – C’est un bon prix – C’est raisonnable.  I’ll take it! Je le prends!
  • And don’t forget to say Merci! Au Revoir!

 

Bon Shopping! 

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Portobello Market

tobello-knotting-hill.jpg”>tobello-knotting-hill.jpg” alt=”portobello notting hill, Shopping flea markets in London, The Antiques Diva, Toma Clark Haines, English Antiques” width=”600″ height=”450″ />

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 just love the cherry glossy red exterior of Alice’s Antique Emporium – a landmark on our tours/england” target=”_blank”>London Portobello Road Flea  Market Tours.  While the street market is positively heaving with people on the weekends, I prefer to meander in Notting Hill on weekdays when the shops are open but the crowds have dispersed sticky-beaking my nose into the individual retailers, finding vintage bits and bobs and everything in between.

BONE-jour: A Diva Reader Comments of Café Dogs

Dear Diva Readers,

top: 5px; float: left; color: white; background: #781300; border: 1px solid darkkhaki; font-size: 100px; line-height: 90px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: times;”>An Antiques Diva reader recently left a comment on a blog I wrote about Flea Market Dogs and her comment so captured the essence of Paris that I asked if I could share her comment as a blog post!

 
 
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Rebecca writes:
On my first trip to Paris (circa 1976), while enjoying dinner at Le Train Bleu, I noticed a beautiful Bull Dog at the next table – he was known by the waiter and his service dishes were on the table  – not under it!  He sat at the table as proper as any human could, and sad to say, better than most people I know today.

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On another day we stopped to have lunch at a small crowded sidewalk café.  I squeezed into the back seat of a tiny table (I could squeeze into things back then!).   For the entire time we were there, a red Dachshund doggie, being held by his mistress, snoozed with his head on my shoulder.

Photo credit above:  from one of my favorite blogs, “Paris at a Certain Age”

On my more recent trip to Paris – in particular those to the flea market – I was amazed to see a dog wandering thru and lifting a leg on a high-end antique.  I fully expected to hear a proprietor scold as only the French can do… but there was no reaction.  It was eventually wiped off the furniture but no one appeared distressed.  I came to the conclusion that perhaps this only added to the patina!! 

 

Flea Market Dogs - The Antiques Diva

 

My trips abroad are short because I have animals I don’t want to be away from. At the time of one of my trips, I was owned by a little Rat Terrier named RT (see photo at top). RT was a handful! When I spotted the beautiful little creature in the shelter, I knew he would be back and forth to the shelter unless I to the shelter, or worse, unless I took him home. I still have the image of a little “RT” in Paris trotting down the street and wishing how my RT could be there too! I think Paris would have been his kind of town!

Today’s post is in memory of RT. As Rebecca explained in an email to me about her adorable rat terrier, “He would be so pleased to be remembered in this manner. I had to put him down due to diabetes – it nearly killed me. He was such a character. He also perked up when I practiced my few words of French; in particular “BONE-jour”!

To all dogs full of French Spirit regardless of which side of the Atlantic they roam, I wish you “BONE-jour”!

Yours,

The Antiques Diva
(seen below in my alter-doggie-ego)

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Pretty in Pink in Paris’ Marché aux Puces de Vanves.

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top: 2px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: times;”>While every client at The Antiques Diva™ European Shopping Tours is special, this summer I had the opportunity to travel with an extraordinary client – my 16 year old niece, Tessa! On her first European adventure I initiated her into The Antiques Diva™ Lifestyle by taking her to my favorite French flea market in Paris – Marché aux Puces de Vanves.

One of the things I love most about my job leading travelers around the flea markets of Europe is what my clients teach me as they introduce me to their passions and collections! Each client inevitably is unique – with a different interest, different hobby and different collections they’re looking to add to while out and about, shopping in the European flea markets. My 16 year old niece was no exception! With her pink head pulsing thru the market, vendors simply adored her, pointing out perfect Parisian pink treasures for her to take home. Ever the fashion plate, she picked up this gorgeous 1960’s French silk gown (above) shortly after we arrived at the flea market for a mere 36Euro. It fit as if it were made for her and a few days later she wore it to lunch at Café Marly nearby the Louvre!

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She also fell head over heels for these vintage French frames at 12 Euro and sported them around Europe for the next month!

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Of course, she was crazy for this Daisy Necklace picking it up for a friend as a souvenir de Paris for 6Euro!

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I’m not certain whether it was she or me who noticed the stuffed camel first – but we knew that it said exotic travel décor with a 20 E price tag!

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She decided against buying this Charlie Chaplin hat for 30E but was sorely tempted by it!

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In general, the French hats were of great interest and we spent a good 30 minutes digging thru this box where all the hats were marked 10E or less!

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But perhaps the catch that got away was the magnifying glass paperweight. We decided against purchasing it at 45E, but in retrospect perhaps we should have! Where else could she have been framed so perfectly in Paris?

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After all that hard work shopping, we were ready for a break. So we hit a local café to have a Diablo Fraise! A Diablo Fraise is a typical drink you’d order on a sunny day in Paris – it’s carbonated lemonade with strawberry syrup that just so happened to match Tessa’s perfectly pink hair!

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When the waiter noticed this, he decided that Tessa would make an ideal art installation on the Parisian streets! And he artfully arranged colored straws in her hair!

Tell me – where else but Paris would a waiter make you into street art?

From time to time I’ve had clients on Diva Tours tell me that their teenage sons and daughters wouldn’t be interested in antique shopping, preferring instead to antique/vintage shop solo. But I have to tell you, my 16 year old niece loved the Paris Flea Market! Tessa found nearly ever souvenir she purchased in Paris at the Porte de Vanves Flea Market – so for your next trip abroad, forget the typical souvenir t-shirts when shopping for a teenager in Paris, consider instead vintage fashion and fun French antique accessories!

Until next time, Bonne Shopping!

The Antiques Diva™
(seen right with The Little Diva – Tessa at the top of the Tour Eiffel)

Paris Travel Files!

Located in the 14eme arrondisment at the avenue Marc Sangnier and avenue Georges Lafenestre, “The Other Paris Flea Market” is located near the Porte de Vanves metro stop. to 10px; width: 297px; height: 299px; text-align: center;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TMmeF3wx9TI/AAAAAAAAFMk/fi9G1RyBV9o/s400/Picture1.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” />The market is open year round e
very Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 1pm – though experience tells me vendors aren’t really ready for customers until 9am, so take advantage of a “late start” and sleep an extra hour before shopping the fleas!

Bonne Shopping, Diva Style!

Ask The Antiques Diva™ – Bonjour Paris

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top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>Each month I write a column for Bonjour Paris Newsletter titled “Ask The Antiques Diva™”. In this month’s column a Parisian party planner takes time off from the hectic world of weddings to plan her own vacation in the Paris of the East. I dish out advice, giving her best bets for buying antiques in Budapest. From the Ecseri Flea Market to Falk Miksa utca, I explain why I think Budapest is called the Paris of the East!

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Until next time, Happy Reading!

The Antiques Diva™

One Minute Diva: Easter Flea Market in Paris

to 10px; width: 277px; cursor: hand; height: 400px; text-align: center;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S55Gu26ww6I/AAAAAAAAEaM/ZWcvMyc8_zY/s400/affiche+aligre.jpg” alt=”Easter Flea Market in Paris” width=”277″ height=”400″ border=”0″ />top: 2px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: times;”>If you’re looking for something to do in Paris on Monday, April 5 when the rest of the city is closed for the Easter holiday, the vendors at the Place d’ Aligre have provided a flea market outing to fill the shopping gap. This is the 4th year running that this brocante has been held on the Place d’Aligre – a square more known for its lively North African-influenced market each weekday (except Monday), selling everything from old gramophone players to odd bits of crockery alongside fromageries and charcuteries.
to 10px; width: 400px; cursor: hand; height: 300px; text-align: center;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S55GvCShk6I/AAAAAAAAEaU/OgjE–rX_xk/s400/2007+03+14+-+Place+d%27Aligre+(12).jpg” alt=”Easter Flea Market in Paris” width=”400″ height=”300″ border=”0″ />As the neighborhood can be a tad rough I wouldn’t recommend wearing your best Easter dress to this locale… instead dress casual and as always when attending flea markets, watch for pick-pockets in the crowds when scoring big-time bargains on bric-a-bracs, antiques and collectibles!

When: Monday, April 5 2010

Time: 8am-6pm

Where: Place d’Aligre near Metro: Ledru-Rollin

What: 100 vendors selling antiques, collectibles and bric-a-brac

Bonne Shopping!

The Antiques Diva ™

Spring Parisian Flea Market Calendar

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top: 2px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: times;”>The Antiques Diva™ is going Double-Diva on you… not only will you find me writing here on The Antiques Diva™ blog as normal, but twice a month you can also read my column as the In-House Antiques Expert in the Bonjour Paris newsletter – the definitive guide to Paris! I’ll be writing about everything from my favorite flea market towns in France to giving tips on how to bargain in France, what to buy and where and when to buy it.

to 10px; width: 178px; cursor: hand; height: 93px; text-align: center;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S50wwKwVl1I/AAAAAAAAEZ0/PN4Dptj2Tio/s400/bonjourparis.gif” alt=”” border=”0″ />To find out where the best brocantes are in Paris this March, April, and May see the tory/spring-parisian-flea-market-calendar/” target=”_blank”>Spring Parisian Flea Market Calendar in the Bonjour Paris newsletter!

Make sure to subscribe for free to the Bonjour Paris newsletter by clicking here!

Spring Paris flea market calendarBonne Shopping,

The Antiques Diva™

Think Outside the Decorating Box

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top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>You might remember a couple months ago I did a blog post on ton-usa-edition.html” target=”_blank”>The Urban Market’s November 8 antiques fair in Houston. On that post I included a picture of a darling wagon, calling it “the Find of the Day” and claiming it would make a sensational, eclectic coffee table for those who are interested in using fun finds in unique and interesting ways as home décor!

to 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/SvbgGRbdOSI/AAAAAAAADxA/9uf0bJvqBTY/s400/antiques+diva+elle+decor+aug+july+2009.jpg” border=”0″ />Just a few days after posting that picture I stumbled upon a picture in the July/August 2009 Elle Décor magazine featuring a similar wagon just as I described this one’s potential! Needless to say, I had to share it with you to help you visualize how one might turn a wagon into a coffee table!

The text on the feature photo reads:

to 10px; WIDTH: 312px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/SvbgG5OqZjI/AAAAAAAADxI/zZpEHc0wBQM/s400/scan0117.jpg” border=”0″ />“The living area of the barn turned guest cottage of Dan MacDonald and Gregg Kaminsky’s Long Island New York retreat, Cow Pond Farm, which was decorated by Kathleen Clements, has vintage photographs and subway sign displayed above a Chesterfield sofa from Mecox Gardens. The pillows are made from old grain sacks and an antique bellman’s car serves as a cocktail table. The rug is by Lauren, Ralph Lauren Home.”

to 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/SvbgHX67ldI/AAAAAAAADxg/LXCySWPmEJ8/s400/Diva+Tours+-+Chatou.JPG” border=”0″ />Recently, while at Antiek d’ Eglantier Amsterdam, I stumbled upon these charming potato sacks and think they would go perfect with the décor in the room above!

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/SvbgHNIFAyI/AAAAAAAADxY/zix2ZtJF4sE/s400/Diva+Tours.JPG” border=”0″ />Meanwhile I might just use them for a “Do-It-Yourself-Diva” project to make footstools similar to this pair of footstools recovered with La Post bags which I found on my to-join-two-special-antiques.html” target=”_blank”>Fall French Flea Market Extravaganza!

Until next time, think outside the decorating box!

The Antiques Diva ™

Diva-scovery: Online Shopping at The Inglenook Décor

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 229px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/Sva9JO31hvI/AAAAAAAADwo/ymqwunplMZ8/s400/Inglenook-Card.gif” border=”0″ />top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>Coco Chanel once said, “An interior is the natural projection of the soul” and if that’s true, then my soul is well-lit with crystal chandeliers, shabby chic slipcovers, rococo antiques, object d’art and everything Baroque and beyond! As a decorating-obsessed diva, I’m out hitting the flea markets and antique shops during the days but at night, once the markets have closed and insomnia is in full swing, I find myself surfing the design blogs, flipping endlessly through shelter publications and pursuing online décor stores. Here lately a new kid in town is capturing my attention! Enter The Inglenook Décor, an online home & garden shop specializing in 4 decorating styles: Vintage Modern, French Chateau, Rococo and Shabby Country.

to 10px; WIDTH: 229px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 305px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/Sva9JXRokjI/AAAAAAAADww/0C2PFKPLlxs/s400/Maureen.jpg” border=”0″ />The brains and beauty behind Inglenook Décor, choreographing the charmingly eclectic inventory, is the darling Maureen. A physical therapist in private practice, Maureen dreams of “traveling the world à la Samantha Brown, checking out the world of design & decor”. She confesses impishly that she “longs to be an interior designer to entertain her creative side….” And speaking of entertaining a creative side, that is exactly what she does for me with both her online shop and her blog!

to 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/Sva9Jobb3II/AAAAAAAADw4/lyrOW5ghb4Y/s400/odi+et+amo+ingelnook+decor.jpg” border=”0″ />Oh, did I forget to mention – not only does Maureen run an online boutique (with a store website chocked full of useful decorating nuggets of wisdom) but she also writes a blog called Ingle Talk to boot. The design blog Odi et Amo posted a sensational interview with Maureen earlier this year, where Maureen explained among other things the origin of the company name and shed some light on where she finds the treasures for her online store!

Maureen writes, “Inglenooks are built-in alcoves centered on a fireplace where friends and families gather. It’s like the center of an old-fashioned cottage. Just like what this built-in alcove represents, I believe homes should provide warmth and should be a place of refuge from the outside world and a reflection of our own personal style and taste.”

to 10px; WIDTH: 235px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 363px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/Sva9JFIkzmI/AAAAAAAADwg/Cc_ni5u1i88/s400/ingelnookdecor.jpg” border=”0″ />To find inventory, Maureen started subscribing to trade magazines and checking importers from her home country – the Philippines – as well as going to several markets in the US. And Maureen explains, “Of course, (I go) antique and flea market shopping. This can be tricky, you have to separate the trash from real great finds. A little self-serving but some of it, I kept for me…. As for my archetypal customer? Highly independent, confident and creative individuals that thrive on making all of their choices definitely unique and their own. I picture them as sophisticated men and women who totally agree with one of Coco Chanel’s famous quotes: ‘An interior is the natural projection of one’s soul.’ A little frivolous for these times perhaps, but they realize that a beautiful surrounding inspires.”

Thank You Maureen for being an Inspiration – You, my dear, are The Diva of the Day!

The Inglenook Décor
www.theingelnookdecor.com

Happy Shopping,

The Antiques Diva™

Upcoming Paris Brocantes!

Dear Paris-Based Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>This Weekend – Oct 17 & 18 – get out of the city! Leave Paris behind and head to Senlis and visit this small town’s “Salon des Antiquaires” near Paris at the Abbaye Royale de Chaalis –Fee of 3 Euro includes entrance to the brocante & abbey!

to 10px; WIDTH: 278px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/StSWW9TzmyI/AAAAAAAADpw/GWD-6Zz38SU/s400/Salon+des+Antiquaires+Senlis.jpg” border=”0″ />Another out-of-town event nearby Paris that might be interesting to art lovers is being held this weekend on the grounds of the infamous Foire Nationale à la Brocante et aux Jambons en l’île de Chatou – The Grand Marche d’Art Contemporain Oct 15-18, 2009

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 190px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/StSWWcS3ILI/AAAAAAAADpo/Pul_eODcO-U/s400/Chatou.jpg” border=”0″ />If staying in the city is more your style, visit Brocante de la place Maubert – Sunday, Nov 1.

to 10px; WIDTH: 282px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/StSWWG-7wYI/AAAAAAAADpg/O2KRh4BqXts/s400/Brocante+Maubert+Paris.jpg” border=”0″ />And last but certainly not least, visit the Antiquites Brocante at the Place de la Bastille Nov 5 – 15, 2009! There’s still time to book a to-join-two-special-antiques.html” target=”_blank”>last minute Antiques Diva Tour! I think blogger Tara Bradford of Paris Parfait has the best pics of this sensational flea market! Check them out!

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 252px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/StSWVsgpAHI/AAAAAAAADpY/BELZNFhmXPM/s400/Brocante+Bastille+Paris.jpg” border=”0″ />While we at Diva Tours like to keep you informed on what’s on in Paris, we also like to educate you so you can find the flea markets of Paris (and all of France for that matter) on your own. Whatever dates you’re in Paris, you can always look up to see what flea markets and antique fairs are being held in the city of light by visiting the Brocabrac website. For Paris events click region 75 and learn what the fleas have in store for you!

Happy Shopping,

The Antiques Diva™