Paris: Marche au Puces

Bonjour from Paris!!!
Today I will take you shopping in a very special place!
The Marche au Puces in Paris!

First we take the metro to the last stop on this line
Clingancourt
You can easily follow the crowd down the street and under a concrete overpass.
just ignore the MANY vendors who approach you with arms full of 
watches, sunglasses, belts, belt buckles, scarves 
and all manner of goods that can be carried.
Don’t look them in the eye and keep walking.
As you emerge from under the overpass you’ll see the beginning.

Right now, it looks like any other flea market and this is the area full of
 cheap t shirts, scarves, purses, shoes, etc.
As you progress further, you see that it is like a small community.
Inside are more permanent shops that line the streets.
There are maps available and if you are searching for something specific 
you would need one.
Immediately I can see interesting things….

Everything is jumbled together….
like that mirror and the chair next to the plastic bin and all the real junk on the shelves.

Suitcases, windows, picture frames, furniture, china and
linens might be found anywhere.

In a couple places, the vines seemed to be winning…
but it certainly made for a picturesque shot…

 Most of the shops wouldn’t allow pictures but I found if I had bought something
and then asked….it was OK.
This is the linen shop where I purchased a set of pillow shams.

The proprietress was a small lady with glasses wearing a wool coat, 
over a skirt and a sweater.
I’ll make a sidebar here and tell you that while we thought it was plenty warm enough
most of the French people still had coats, sweaters and in some cases gloves on!
We were constantly amazed at how they NEVER seemed warm.
The restaurants, shops and even the museums were very warm inside
and yet they kept their coats on and in some cases we saw people putting things
 BACK ON that they had previously taken off.
 I blamed my hot flashes but my husband said “it’s not you….it’s hot in here.” 
Our cooking class was with all Americans and they all said they had noticed it too……
interesting difference.
Back to the linen shop……..
The little lady was very nice and untied bundles of linens for me so I could look at things.
She was very pleased to let me take some pictures.






My research had indicated that further back into the market 
would be the more expensive furniture shops and the info was correct.
Too expensive for us (plus too large) but beautiful.



Look at those gorgeous lanterns.



I can’t associate this sign with a particular shop 
but I sure wanted to rip it off the wall and take it home.



I’m sure one of you will be copying this!!


 This shop was so chock full of little stuff…..it could make an
assemblage artist salivate in an instant….

Wait til you see what’s in all those bins…



Little toys, wooden knobs, doll parts, tiny bottles, corks, paper items……

thread bobbins, buttons, buckles, wheels……

 typesetting blocks, French letters and receipts….



advertising, photos, flowers, pins, small shoes…..

 postcards, tags, knobs, Dresden


And, the prices were only OK.
 I’ve bought some of my typesetting stamps cheaper here.
I did get two folding French rulers and three shuttles…….
after all, I wanted to take pictures…..


Of course, linen booths were many…..



I found something unexpected for my sister in this one.
Tea towels or perhaps napkins from a restaurant called Chez Jenny!!
Very reasonable….2 for 5E….they had a huge pile of them.



Red and white was abundant.



Everything was pressed and tied into bundles.



I checked the price of that red and white sampler because I was
looking for something my sister-in-law would love but it was over 100E.
I did find her something else from this booth that was more affordable.
This booth was really loaded with 18th century children’s clothing….
just gorgeous…….


I hope you enjoyed shopping in Paris today!


A bientot!




Sharing with
Freckled Laundry
French Country Cottage
Savvy City Farmer

Comments

  1. Sure DID enjoy shoppin’ with you!

    AWESOME!!!!!

    I bet you spent hours upon hours!!!!

  2. OH MY GOODNESS!! I hope you took an extra large suitcase!

  3. HI Lorraine, looks like heaven to me! thanks for taking all the pics when allowed~Id love to see more!

  4. Thank you for this lovely Paris tour!!
    Think, I live in Italy and have been 4-5 times in France, but never been in Paris (always in Provence)! Now I think I HAVE to go!
    That shop with the lanterns is a dream, and all this red-white fabric too
    Silvia

  5. Oh, thank you so very much for the “tour”. I have never been to Paris so this blog post was a real treat for me. I saw your post over at the perfect place for this…French Country Cottage.

  6. I’ve been there once and it is pure heaven! I bought antique French lemonade bottles, old buttons and linens. I hope to go again someday 🙂

  7. Yes I want the sign.

    ~Bliss~

  8. Loved this tour. About 12 years ago…I spent a wonderful day at this particular flea market…loved every moment! Enjoyed your photos and thank you for making all those purchases so you could take pics to share! 🙂

  9. Thanks for the shopping tour. I had to laugh when I saw that fab mirror in the midst of plastic and shoes.

  10. Im so envious. Gorgeous shops and looks like you had so much fun. Im now following you. Please come visit me at PICKINandPAINTIN.blogspot.com and maybe you’ll follow back. 😎

  11. I absolutely enjoyed the little trip from afar! Laundry (and everything else) heaven that is. I wouldn’t have had enough Euros left to eat for the remainder of my stay. 😉 Thanks for dropping of your laundry! xo Jami

  12. Thank you for sharing this! I loved the “laundry” and everything else. If I can’t go myself, it is nice to live vicariously through you!

    Hugs,
    Judy

  13. Wow. my lucky day, Thank you for the tour. I will be in Paris in 4 weeks. I love love french old linen, the one with red stripe. Hope I can find the linen place you went.

    Merci.
    Julie x

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