Flea Markets in Paris

Marche d'Aligre is one of the lesser spoken about flea markets in Paris, in fact no-one ever told me about it, I found a small mention in a magazine years ago. The three well known markets (more info on those below) are all next to the periferique, the main road that circles Paris and they are all weekend markets - some are open Monday too - but the brocante at Place d'Aligre is open every morning except Monday so you have more opportunity to visit it.

At first it looks like alot of antiques but get further in and there are stalls like this with boxes and boxes of stuff - far more promising for bargains!

This market shares the Place with an amazing fresh food market and an indoor food market. There are cafes around so it's a good morning out with lots to look at and buy and a coffee stop; it's about 5 minutes walk from Metro Ledru-Rollin on Line 8, a little south east of the Bastille area in the 12th arrondissement.

I can really recommend a morning in this neighbourhood. I went on a Tuesday that was actually a public holiday (victory day) and lots of places were closed so I was happy to turn a corner and find everyone busy and working as normal.

Puces de Montreuil

I really like the grubbier markets because I'm looking for old kitchen stuff for my work and so the Marche aux Puces at Porte de Montreuil in the south east is a favourite. It's open all weekend and Monday though most will pack up at Monday lunch time. Warning - This is not picturesque Paris. Go to Porte de Montreuil metro, line 9 then walk east (follow the crowds) on the left around a portion of a huge roundabout (Place de la Porte de Montreuil) and you'll come off at the start of some stalls. For the brocante walk down it's hill, turn left and follow the bottom aisle all the way north til it ends - the other aisles are all new stuff. When you get to what appears to be the end do continue 40 yards or so up Avenue Gallieni as there is a yard on the right with alot more stalls; proper scruffy stuff here so good for a proper rummage. I found quite a few things for my work here. There are no collectibles and trendy stuff up this end, it's like boxes of stuff found on the streets or from house clearances so it's not chic at all and regular tourists would not come here. I read some reviews on the link and see some people felt scared here and one got pick-pocketed - well you need to be careful of that in every big city but yes this is more edgy and may not be for you but I've always felt fine here as I don't look like a tourist or ever have a ladylike handbag etc. 

Marche aux Puces de St Ouen also known as Marche aux Puces de Porte de Clignancourt

There  is plenty online about this the most famous flea market in Paris so I'll not write too much but you need to get to the heart of this market and then go to the west end of it where the real bargains are; the banana boxes of junk but at the high end there are shops of ornate baroque furniture so this place has an amazing range and feast for the eyes. Orientate yourself from Rue des Rosiers. I love the Marche Vernaison off that road but it's too expensive for me though lovely to look at everything here. I love these town houses on one of the roads near here, the whole market is like a small town itself.

I wouldn't say I'm a hat person particularly but I couldn't resist the displays in this shop. And if you come here be sure to have lunch at the amazing La Recyclerie which is right by Porte de Clignancourt metro line 4, the market is 5 or 10 mins walk from here.

These coffee pots were in the Marche Vernaison; there are many named markets within the whole market area.

And here are some of my finds from across these three markets. I presume the bigger metal disc is a stencil to sieve an icing sugar pattern on a cake - I may even use that in my kitchen! I cant wait to rewire the little turquoise glass stand and see if I can do something with that.
I only ever went to Porte de Vanves market in the south once, (Sat/Sun only) it was mostly antiques, hardly any bargains so I never gave it another go, but it's great to look at and maybe there is a bargain in there somewhere.

Recent Treasures

These twin dogs called my name from a stall in Tavistock Market. How feeble is my attempt to not acquire too much more stuff.....but I'd never seen a pair like these, a fun variation on the classic Staffordshire spaniels. They were £15, again I thought maybe I'd give them as a present but actually they're not going anywhere!

 
I love the very straight legs of the little puppies.

More things from the same market, some from the £1 table, the little scissors I thought I'd use in a chandelier, the little fridge I just couldn't resist, might keep some earrings in it. The old jug has a little crack but beautiful fern engravings on it. And purely for my work so needing no justification 2 fantastic sets of pastry cutters £15 for the 2 large sets. They have mucky pastry on them still - just like the good old days of car booting (20 years back) when I found loads of this stuff and no-one else wanted it and thus the chandeliers could grow. And four of the 12 pressed punch cups I found - it's not always easy to find nice ones and these are a style I don't usually see.

From a Devon charity shop; Woodside animal rescue, for 50p I had to get this because of the accordion!

A boot sale sweep; old hooks and mature hinges all 20p each, hoping to use the hinges in a chandelier. Other odds for my work and then something I  really don't need - a lidded baking dish; I could become a Pyrex fanatic if I let myself because the design is so great. I love the lids on these dishes, they sit underneath well, and right way up or upside down on top or the lid can be a separate plate. It's the decoration on this one that appealed, I love those French style drawings of onions etc - this was £1 - so had to come with me.
I found 5 things in the house that can go to the charity shop so I've almost justified the recent haul.

Tavistock

The buttons in the previous post were from a stall in the pannier market in Tavistock: a little market town on the edge of Dartmoor. I went to a huge comprehensive school there before I ran off to bigger cities at 16. I struck lucky on this everything £1 table - maybe a January clear out by the dealer - as I also got a cute technicolour jigsaw of Monmartre - wish I was there in the sun...

and two little jugs and some brooches - I already gave 2 brooches away as presents, probably the jugs will go the same way,

There's plenty more to tempt you here like home baking with the name of who baked them and where on the package,

Hand knitted dog and puppy coats - very very adorable no?

There's a great cheese shop called Country Cheeses where you can have a taste before you buy.

Tavistock got in the national news a few years ago because McDonalds (can't believe I'm writing their name in my blog!!) failed there and closed - YES - the local food triumphed, read the story here. And it's not a really posh place like the home counties or Cotswolds or the like.

Then recently I read this Guardian article telling that it's the only place in the UK apart from parts of London where women earn more than men, so it's clearly becoming a very cool place. 

So many places have a growth of independent shops and food ventures and are run by people who have a real passion for what they do so they should outlive what you could see as a trend, remember that when hear of all the closures in the news. One of the other great draws for me to visit Tavistock is the 10 charity shops within spitting distance of each other!



Little potted pale blue/grey iris were £1.50, I bought two. At home in London I rarely ever set off on 'shopping trips' but in Tavistock it's a real pleasure.

Brocante

French flea market finds seem so much more exotic than British stuff.

I love these thin metal stencils, the alphabet is only missing the P and the Z, I reckon I could get a P out of the B and probably not have much need for a Z.

This is not a painting

What I love about flea markets, almost more than finding things to buy, is the inevitable surrealism.