The Trials of Le Chineur

Well it's that time of year when every weekend there are so many brocante markets to choose from that it can be a bit hit and miss but even so we do somehow usually manage to find a few eclectic trucs to stock my Etsy shop.

A lovely set of vintage French fairytale books took my eye recently

The brocantes are often mixed with vide greniers (a kind of car boot sale) which tend to have fairly modern bits that local people want to get rid of.  It is rare to find a treasure amongst these things but when you do they are invariably cheap.  

I paid more than I wanted to for this gorgeous enamel jug but it looks
great in my bedroom and it was an excuse to buy some pretty flowers 

Having spent a couple of years getting up at the crack of dawn to set up a brocante stall myself I can understand that the professional dealers are there to make a profit but unfortunately this often leaves too small a margin for me.  

This tactile copper ladle was a happy find from a private seller

To get around the flea markets without wasting too much time Spike and myself use the code "P.O.P." when we want to tell each other that there is nothing worth looking at on a particular stall. These initials represent the phrase 'pile of poop' which could potentially offend English speaking dealers so it's best to be cautious and to remember to always use the code.

A dealer sold this wine funnel/strainer to me with a couple of
other bits - all I need now is the vintage wine to go with it!

It may sound crazy but sometimes I feel quite low after a couple of hours or looking at other people's junk.  The amount of broken bits of plastic tat that we find piled up on an ever increasing amount of the stalls is enough to make you want to weep and shout up to the sky "WHYYYYYYYYY!" (if you must do this don't forget to flail your arms about for dramatic effect).

An English lady was packing up and moving to Spain so I picked up this
cute little Limoges coffee set just when I was about to give up and go home

It's when we have had a run of bad shopping expeditions (can you tell we've had a few lately?) that it's important to remember to treat these excursions as a pleasant trip out and to get over ourselves.

There is so much to enjoy at these flea markets aside from the buying not least the banter with the stall holders, the pretty country car trips to engaging destinations and the fact that we regularly bump into friends.

Only a couple of weeks back we enjoyed a chat with this charming old man who was sharpening knives on his fascinating vintage contraption.

To borrow a well worn phrase (or a rough estimation of it) - I must try to remember that it's not the destination that's important but the journey (but I won't lie it's always better if you can pick up a few interesting trucs on the way!)