Brocante markets and Vide-greniers

I regularly visit brocante markets and vide-greniers, usually in France because there are simply a lot of them with often a very large and diverse assortment. I’m always looking forward to what I could do there. Maybe I’m secretly hoping for a real Albrecht Durer between the toy cars and the silver ware (actually happened a few days ago!), but I always find something that is really beautiful, unique and also really cheap.

Think in advance about what kind of market you want to visit. The website vide-greniers.org is highly recommended. On this site you can see which markets there are in your area, how many stalls there are and what kind of market it is. There is a difference between brocante markets and vide-greniers: the brocantes are generally professional markets. The advantage is that most items have a certain value/quality, but on the other hand there is a higher price. Personally, I go for the vide-greniers (literally “empty attic”). Here you will get the chance to find the gems among the vast supply of stuff. You will encounter literally everything from old books, records, clothes and toys to jewellery, furniture and crockery. My challenge is to find my treasure among all this stuff. And it almost always works.

My daughters of 11 and 14 also like to go, for them it is the place to spend their holiday pocket money.

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