A Day in Dordogneshire

It's that time of year in the French brocante calendar that you will inevitably begin to run into the same stallholders and in turn the same stock over and over again so having been tipped-off by a mysterious man in the know (nudge nudge wink wink... and a few taps to the side of the nose) we set off south to Verteillac, a village in the Dordogne that holds a flea market on the first Sunday of every month (OK it's not that much of a secret but we didn't know about it).

Early morning and just beginning to warm up

We arrived in the picturesque village nice and early just as everyone was setting up so after a croissant and a steaming hot cup of coffee the game was afoot (I've gone all Sherlock Holmesy).  Of course we had heard the stories about the Dordogne being inundated with the English so we thought they wouldn't notice if another two sneaked across the border.  Anyway it appeared that the number of English residents had been vastly exaggerated as at first glance the majority of the stallholders were French as were at least half the chineurs searching for that early bargain.   

Sitting outside a café with a coffee people watching

As the cold morning air cleared and the sun came out we felt as though we were on holiday and strolled around the charming French village feeling relaxed and happy. We also bagged a few unusual bits and pieces (trucs) for my Etsy Shop and were very glad we'd made the effort to go a little further afield.

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Being into quirky and unusual trucs I was particularly thrilled when I found this gorgeous little antique dog collar that once belonged to Tarzan - a petit chien from the centre of Bordeaux.

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I also bought this great looking tea caddy (or tobacco jar - we couldn't decide) and a beautiful little signed bronze pin dish by the renowned Parisian maker Louchet (I didn't know that he was renowned until later after a bit of research but that's half the fun of this game).

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As the morning drew to a close we stopped for a bite to eat in a charming little restaurant on the square and it was then we began to notice that all the other diners were also English.  We're so used to waffling on to each other safe in the knowledge that the majority of people around us have no idea what we're saying that we felt we had to be a bit guarded and for us that was a bid weird.  We also find that it's easy to lazily zone out the French language in restaurants until it becomes a series of Gallic sounds (unless is sounds interesting then our ears prick up) so being surrounded by English chatter that we couldn't ignore was quite an annoying distraction (and did I mention weird?)

A beautiful little village with a real holiday vibe

After an unusually whispered lunch we decided to do a final circuit of the brocante to see if we had missed anything and it was on our way back to Piggy (our van) that I heard some old music playing in the background. To my absolute and slightly over the top delight (I may have jumped up and down clapping my hands) a couple of stallholders (yes they were English) had a 1930's HMV picnic gramophone for sale (Spike wasn't so keen but I reminded him of the cuckoo clock purchase and he knew that he was defeated).  

Whenever I come across these little gems they usually don't work properly (something to do with a spring I've been told) but there was no doubt about this one as the wonderful sound of Fats Waller blared out from this precious little box.  It was so loud in fact that I asked the vendor if there was any way to turn it down while we discussed the price - he told me 'to put a sock in it' (how rude!).  

My little gramophone that could do with another outing in the open air
(as could the wallpaper in my office... preferably the dump!)

After much umming and ahhing and a lot of arm twisting we negotiated a few early 78's into the deal and I headed off home with a big grin on my face (and Spike of course... minus big grin).  There's no denying it, my little HMV is very LOUD if you play it indoors but the volume can be muffled (as suggested by the seller) by stuffing some cloth inside it. My only issue with it now is that it's a bit fusty so it's causing a wee bit of a stink in the corner of my office (suggestions on a postcard please).  

All in all a successful day's shopping and in a few months time we'll no doubt make another buying trip to the pretty little village of Verteillac in Dordogneshire.