Bric-à-brac
I’m often asked ‘what’s a brocante?’ or ‘what’s a vide grenier?’, so I thought I’d share a short summary of the difference, and similar types of events or places you can buy bric à brac, odds and ends or second hand items in France, and there are a lot.
If you are looking for something specific, it’s best to go to one of the bigger events, otherwise the smaller events will often provide the best bargains. But I believe there is treasure wherever you look, it’s just thinking about how it can be used.
Events:
Vide Maison - empty the house. This is when an individual is selling used items direct from their house, just like a garage sale. It’s often a one-off event, over a weekend, so look out for little hand written signs adverting them.
Vide Grenier - empty the attic. This is more like a car boot, where people drive to a venue, usually a large field or recreation area on the outskirts of a village, and set up a stall. The French love these, and there seems to be one most weekends throughout the summer within a 20 mile radius. Just keep an eye out for the handwritten signs. This is a link to a great website that lists some of the vide greniers and brocantes all across France. https://brocabrac.fr
Brocante - Is really just another name for a flea market, but it can also be a secondhand shop.
Marché des puces - flea market. Flea markets tend to sell more collectible or vintage type of items.
Braderie - street market. These are normally big street events that take up whole areas within towns. Two very big ones are Braderie de Lille, which is on the first Sunday in September, and Braderie d’Amiens, which is on the first Sunday in October. You will find some weird and wonderful items at these events.
We love ‘brocanting’ in France, such wonderful old finds to be had, and I just love being able to reuse something that someone else is finished with. To me, it’s repurposed and new again. It’s also a wonderful way of discovering some pretty little villages. This is Gyé-sur-Seine, the darling little village we visited for the vide grenier we went to this morning.
