Paris Antiques at Your Fingertips

Filed under: Fun Stuff, Design, etc

You don't need to travel to Paris to get a taste of the great antique finds there -- one writer returns from a trip and recreates her shopping experience...on eBay!

Amy Flurry, a regular contributor to The Inside Source, eBay's online style magazine, visited a Paris flea market and then took to eBay to find similar pieces. For the full article -- and part two! -- see The Inside Source!

Paris brocantes, outdoor markets selling second-hand goods, are a far cry from the weekend markets of my Georgia youth, where small reptiles and bunnies could be purchased alongside tables of socks, rusty garden tools and teakettles. Some brocantes are run by associations with professional exhibitors selling antiques and period objects, while others resemble a large neighborhood tag sale with collectors and amateurs offering delightful curios and household items. Naturally, these citywide street fairs are a great place to pick up an interesting gift or souvenir.

Among the larger, more well-known markets-listed in all of the city guides-is the Puces de Saint-Ouen along the Avenue Porte de Clignancourt, the outskirts of Northeastern Paris, but easily accessible by Métro. You'll have to brave the pushy street vendors (among them many unlicensed merchants), selling everything from Marlboros to soccer jerseys and other bric-a-brac, before hitting the market proper, a maze of stalls, many permanent, organized into sections according to goods.

Supposedly the largest outdoor market in the world, the Clignancourt has a vibe that is really more antique store spilling into the street. In my experience, prices were three times those of the smaller marchés aux puces (though it took little more than a raised eyebrow before vendors proposed a substantially lower price).

I spent a cool weekend here and managed to cover only half of the grounds, armed with my map of the stalls. And while the period furniture, tapestries and lighting may be in better condition than what you might pick up at the smaller street sales, the whole experience left me feeling that shopping the Clignancourt was best left to professionals (who also have access to containers for their haul).

It did get me thinking, however, that I might have better luck-and a more comfortable weekend-shopping eBay from my own home.

To find out which pieces are straight from Paris and which are eBay gems, check out the full story.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments