My latest find

Remember the post by Teacup Moments on the Brookly Flea market where she showed us a picture of a vintage card catalog? (Read it here) Well, I've been searching for something similar to that for awhile now but haven't found any until....drumroll please...the last brocante I visited about a week ago.  

I spotted the drawers sitting quietly on the floor of one of the last stalls on the street and immediately had a little flutter of excitement.  This metal set of drawers from the 1920s used to sit inside a building receiving mail from the occupants of a particular building. It has since made its way around the city and now sits comfortably in one corner of our salon, just waiting for me to fill it up with loads of little beauties. I was so pleased to have it though it took a royal effort to clean up the years of dust and dirt it had accumulated. It still has its nicks and scratches but it gives it a well-lived in look. Definitely one of my best finds yet!

 Marvelous find aside, I also want to share with you  a couple of pictures I snapped of the other great things I saw. For some reason, the brocante was full of children's things.

Just look at these gorgeous antique dolls all dressed up with their pretty dresses and hats.

 Little wooden toys that have that have that smooth patina of long years of loving use by little hands.

 And just check out these vintage pencil cases, all in solid wood. Cool huh?

 And the most curious thing was this little frame which turned out to be a document holder from the time of Napoleon III.

All in all a great brocante!

What might be the last one for the summer

A glimpse of the Tour Montparnasse

The city is almost empty now. Everyone is away but for a few hardy souls and visitors of course, but a lot of stores and restaurants are shuttered down.  Little wonder then that the brocantes have dwindled in number as well.   The last one I went to was in the 14th arrondissement, literally in front of the Tour Montparnasse.  Now I just have to say that nothing riles Parisians more than the Tour Montparnasse. It is universally decried as the ugliest building in Paris. People are fond of saying that the best view to be had of the city is on top of the Tour as its the only place where you can't see it

That said, the brocante itself was one of the most interesting ones I've been to this year. It was a good mix of individuals selling their wares, antique dealers and professional brocanteurs. There was a wide variety of beautiful, interesting and quirky objects for sale.   I took some pictures of the more memorable items to show you.

Making up for last week's rain

After we finished our walk along the Coulee Verte, we found ourselves in the 12th arrondissement.  The heart of this largely residential arrondissement is arguable the Place Felix Eboue with its magnificent fountain of lions. The two major streets of the 12th criss-cross here and becomes a busy hub for the residents when they gather for the twice weekly market. The market features a dizzying array of vendors selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry and seafood. There are even several cheese stands to choose from.  It is reputed to be the longest and oldest marche in Paris.

That weekend though, the space was turned over to a huge brocante of over 250 stands.  And unlike last week, it was a beautiful day so everyone was in a great mood, perusing the different wares.  I wasn't really expecting to find anything as the sellers were mostly professional ones selling major items like furniture and silverware.

So I meandered about taking a few pictures here and there...notably this man's collection of apothecary jars

This stand's beautiful chimney cover... when I spotted it, I had a pang of regret that our chimney has been bricked over ....

 It wasn't till almost at the very end that I spotted something that made me gasp in surprise. Well, it was more like a squeak of surprise since it was totally unexpected. Do you remember the stand from last week's brocante selling the old mini lamps? Well, there he was with his crates of lamps! Unfortunately his wares were significantly diminished but I did manage to find a pretty one.  Just take a look? Isn't this just adorable? I love how the fact that its all glass reduces the kitsch factor. Now if I just have to find oil and we're good to go. That and make sure our house is insured!

The lamp alone made my day and I was happy to go home but I had one more unexpected find and its this pretty crocheted collar necklace sewn with glass beads. Its so pretty and I can perfectly imagine it sprucing up my basic shirts.

Here it is hanging from my vintage frame

A close up shot of my lovely collar

 Needless to say, I went home happy and pleased as Punch!

What a difference a day makes

Some pretty spring flowers

I suppose I was still savoring my trip to the park because I had this brillian idea of dragging my little family over to a brocante in Vincennes not too far from the Chateau Vincennes which is in, you guessed it, the Bois de Vincennes. The idea was to hit the brocante and then visit the Chateau. But heaven had other ideas for us so the Chateau will have to be another visit. 

When we arrived, I immediately spied a stand selling what seemed to be miniature lamps. Now I don’t know what it is but lately I’ve had a fascination for old lamps.  This particular stand had old oil lamps dating back from the 50s but in teeny tiny sizes; some of them even fit in the palm of my hand.  I was completely fascinated.  There were old bronze ones (very Aladdin-like),  delicate handpainted porcelain ones and even glass ones.  As we had just arrived I told myself that I better go around first before making a purchase. Alas! It was not to be as it was then that the rain began. After enjoying such beautiful weather, the universe decided to rain on my parade.  Even for a die-hard brocante fan, going around while its pouring cats and dogs makes it virtually impossible.  Stall- holders started putting big plastic sheets over their wares while some just gave up and packed up. It was extremely frustrating.

Mini Lamps 

And yet more lamps

But just as we were about to leave ourselves, I spied one last stalwart stall still open.  In the spirit of never giving up, I hurried over and to my surprise managed to find two things to take back with us.  I found myself two vintage frames! Now I realize this might not send everyone into paroxysms of delight but they were exactly what I was looking for. You see, I was trying to think of creative ways to hang and display jewelry when it occurred to me that an old frame would be a good way to do it.  After all, jewelry can be as pretty as a picture.  

Vintage frames

On the other side of the river

Going to brocantes is starting to be a real habit (dear friends, do you think it should be a weekly feature of the blog?).  It doesn’t help that there seems to be one every weekend.   Case in point, it was a rainy weekend but there were at least 2 or 3 in the city.  I thus decided to visit one that I’ve never been too. Boulevard Grenelle where this week’s brocante was held is all the way in the 15^th arrondissement, across the river.  The fifteenth is mostly residential and is full of young families.  It is a quiet area with no major sites except for a few museums here and there so perhaps it is less interesting to tourists. But it is full of restaurants and cafes that can be quite good.  I was thus unsure whether the brocante would be worth the trek it took to get there. It didn’t help that there was a constant drip of water from the unrelenting rain.