Emmaüs

After we’d had lunch in Chatillon we decided to head out to a small village about 20 minutes outside of Chatillon called Planay, I have to admit I didn’t realise it was such a small village. The purpose of the trip was to visit Emmaüs. This is a charity brocante (bric-a-brac) which has shops all over France, and is run by teams of people who have no work. I’ve been wanting to visit one for ages, but for one reason or another we haven’t got there.

After our drive through the French countryside, which was full of sun dried sunflowers just waiting majestically to be cut for their seeds and oil, we arrived in Planay. To both our surprises there was a queue of people waiting for 2 pm and the opening of the Emmaüs. We were in the middle of nowhere! What it did do though is increase the excitement for what treasures we could find inside.

We soon found ourselves scouring the shelves of China, glass, bales of linen and rooms of furniture - we found nothing of interest, until we ventured outside, and Brian spied a box of wooden, carved furniture oddments – 10 euros – just the sort of treasure to make our visit worthwhile.