A Surprise Christmas Market Springs Up Overnight Below Me

Well, the Christmas flea market was a surprise, at least to me.  I looked down last Friday evening and saw the telltale white booths lining up on the Avenue!

Never saw any banners announcing it, which I find strange.  But Paris is always full of surprises!

I am not a huge fan of them in general, nor a chineuse(bargain hunter) but nevertheless, I find them amusing just to stroll around, as I did last Sunday afternoon.

A plus now days is that you can browse for things outdoors, a safer way to shop, and besides it is pre Christmas!

I like the look of antiques, but I do not know how to bargain.  Plus I feel you have to be quite knowledgeable of identifying the real from the imitation if you are going to invest a lot money in purchasing antiques.

I rarely go with the intent of buying something, but occasionally have been seduced here and there.

My last purchase a year ago was a beautiful porcelain serving dish that will grace my Christmas table.

The 14 arrondissement has a permanent one every weekend around Porte de Vannes, that rivals the more famous one, Marche Aux Puces just north of Paris.

It is almost as big and the big plus is that it is much easier to get to and you don’t have to go through a very seedy part of Paris to get to the entrance!

My daughter Aimée wasn’t interested in going Sunday because she says flea markets remind her of the dead.  For me, that is the underlying downside of flea markets as I walk around the individual booths.

Obviously, the majority of merchandise offered did come from someone’s estate.

What was certainly at one time guarded like precious jewels by some lady of the house and kept lovingly polished and tucked away for celebratory meals, is now laid out for sale.

I do think of that and my thoughts do wonder why the children or family members who inherited all these lovely sets of silver never held on to them at least for the sentimental value.

The same for all the china out on display from various sizes of plates to ornately decorated serving dishes, like the one I bought last year.

There are always lots of crystal too.  Vases, wine carafes, and dozens of all sorts of glassware.

Perhaps, I am too sentimental of course.  Not everyone feels the same and objects of value are seen only as potential monetary exchanges.

Yet, with every set of silver, those precious metals are embodied with some of the leftover energy of their original owners.  After all, they were held in the hands of these unknown people, now all gone and probably forgotten.

I could have used some of the varied large silver platters I saw, but with limited space to store them makes me think twice.   Small Parisian apartments can only hold so much!

Another reason I am not crazy about flea markets is that  I don’t like to have to ask the price!  Rarely there are any price tags attached.

Even old door knobs and handles didn’t have any prices on them.   With all the old doors around here, they are fairly easy to find.

I suspect with good reason that the price is always variable, depending on the mood of the seller vis a vis the prospective buyer.

I know a friend who was taken advantage of with manipulative tricks by some antique furniture merchants at the Marche aux Puces.  They are probably well-tuned to determining potential buyers’ intent and financial status.

I also suspect that at any time they hear a foreign accent, especially anglo, they are tempted to ask more than they would a local!

 

I did see something I considered only because it was on a table with a sign saying that each item could be sold for 5 euros.

I was a metal moulin aux legumes to puree vegetables the old fashioned way.  I decided I would buy it on the way back through after visiting other booths.

In 20 or so minutes I was back, but there was no sight of the moulin!  Apparently, someone else had the same idea as I did, but acted on it, which I rarely do.

In retrospect, I think the holes would have been too large to make a Soup aux Poissons(fish soup) properly, which needs a fine mesh.

Actually, if they had a booth of other kitchen items, I would have definitely browsed longer.  I wonder why I rarely see a stand like that?

It seems like there is always a display of carpets and rugs and reupholstering or reweaving cane chairs in these roving flea markets.

Usually, there is also a table for selling or buying old violins too.

I missed the one selling old USSR military items.   I did enjoy browsing the tiny plant stand and was relieved that nothing called to buy as I don’t have any more room for plants right now.

 

 

 

 

 

How about restoring some of your antique clocks?  There must be an abundance of ancient clocks in Parisien families for them to stay in business.

There are probably few still around like M. Le Guen.  He is an artisanal antique clock restorer, who will give new life to your heirloom clocks from the exterior to new pendulums and resetting the timing mechanism.

The silk scarves stand was selling silk masks too in all sorts of pretty designs.  At least some merchandise was priced and they seemed to have a fair amount of buyers.

Most of the sellers are tucked away in a corner passing the time away but seem to spring to life if you linger too long.  Reminds me of the bouquinistes selling used books on the Seine.

The owner of the cute cart had disappeared totally and I wondered what he had been selling from his deep pot.  If it was almond pralines, a popular street treat here, there wasn’t any odor of them left to entice me.

Usually, there are several wine stands, but not this time.  I did catch wind of the spicey aromas drifting from the ubiquitous vin chaud stand curiously devoid of customers.

The cannéles, a caramelized rum flavoured specialty from Bordeaux were a perfectly burnished brown, but I would be skeptical if they were homemade.

Ditto for the huge sugared candied fruit stand.  France has some of the best artisanal candied fruit makers, but I find making my own citrus peels easy and of course fresher.

Afterward, I headed up Avenue du Maine to buy a pastry for advent calendar pockets I have been filling.   Rodolphe Groizard’s Wonderland pastry shop and tea salon is a feast for the eyes full of the most beautifully sculpted pastries that I have ever seen!

He is a gifted wizard of flavours as well.   Some looking too intricate and stunning to eat, I settled on a more conventional-looking one of a hazelnut tart topped with tart apples and hazelnut caramelized praline hat.

In the end, I didn’t come home empty-handed!  Edible art and just fabulous!!!