Fleas with bite

France is a real paradise for antiques hunters and flea market lovers.   Vintage French crockery, enamel road signs and wrought ironwork are amongst the favourite items purchased by British tourists and expats but my preference goes to old coffee grinders (as pictured here) though I don’t even drink the stuff!   Like many such « treasures », they don’t just look good on a kitchen shelf, they also bring a small piece of the past back to life in your home…

The Vendée counts plenty of Brocantes (flea markets) or Vide-greniers (car boot sales) but one of the largest, the Puces Ligneronnaises (250 exhibitors over 35,000m2), is held twice a year in Saint Christophe du Ligneron, about half an hour inland from Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, between Challans and Aizenay.  The first edition takes place tomorrow, Sunday 17th July, from 7am to 7pm, followed by a second gathering on 14th August in the same spot.

And if you like the idea of time travelling, then a trip to Challans on any of 4 Thursdays throughout July (21st & 28th) and August (11th & 18th) will allow you to experience life in the Vendée one hundred years ago – Autrefois Challans recreates the settings of a village farming fair, traditionnal nuptials and, for the younger visitors, life on the old school benches as well as a ride on the merry-go-round!  This year, to celebrate the start of the Tour de France in the Vendée, there will also be a 1910 version of the event with vintage cycles (I bet there will be no lycra shorts there though!)…

     

Tags: brocante Vendée, Challans, flea markets Vendée

This entry was posted on Samedi, juillet 16th, 2011 at 12:08 and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.