French Antiques

On the way to any French antique market or shop, my heart is racing with excitement. The way a corner of a cupboard can make me turn on my heels and want to race over and open it, or how an old book can read my mind, I cannot walk by linens and not image wrapping myself up in their woven warmness, antiques surround me like friends. Whether they are worn with centuries or just knocked around with a few uncaring timely scratches, antiques seem to know my name and shout it gladly.

Yesterday, while in Nice with a friend, we went to an antique shop…alas in the words of my Mother, when she first saw an antique fair in France; "I have died I’m in heaven and I am tripping over my tongue!" Everything in the shop I liked! Everything. The colors, textures, feel, odor, the faded grandeur, the mix of modern lines with history’s depth. The mingling of terra cotta, zinc, rough linen and peeling paint. In admiration my heart soaked it in like a dry sponge. 

What makes you trip over your tongue, cause your feet to dance and allows you to dream?

Coming home replaying scene by scene, recalling details, sorting out the ideas that the antiques stimulated within me, I wondered how something as simple as going to an antique shop could create such passion within me? What is it that evokes passion in our lives and where does it take us?



Comments

26 responses to “French Antiques”

  1. We are back in the Uk and my first post, indicates what makes me trip over my tongue! so much here….family, friends, Spring and Oh! the Bluebell wood and the song of the Blackbird.

  2. What is the name of that antique shop in Nice? You make me want to go there!:)

  3. corey, you are a kindred spirit!
    finding antique treasures trip my trigger, as you know!!!!
    so comforting to know that i am not alone!
    🙂 mary ann

  4. I just realised how much I love Spring…sunshine, cool breeze, birds singing, nature colours everywhere-feel like running into the fields and be a kid again! These times shared with friends causes passion and excitement in me.

  5. three things:
    1. my husband
    2. seeing Paul Klee or Franz Marc work live in a museum
    3. a marketplace filled with things and people

  6. I’ve wondered why I’m so enamored with antiques…I think it’s the history and the fact that something so old was able to survive at all.
    My parents are coming up next weekend for an antiques festival in Brimfield, MA. The children and I will be meeting them there. I can’t wait!!!!

  7. My sentiments, exactly! Yesterday I was in an antiques store, today a brocante and tomorrow another brocante. As for “calling your name,” see e-mail sent earlier (before I read your lovely post)! I share your grand amour for antiques!

  8. My sister lives in the Yarra Valley, near Melbourne.. and whenever I visit we have to spend an afternoon in the “Cheese Freaks & Book Nuts” cafe… I order antipasto and cheeses and skim-read as many second-hand books as I can before buying the ones I can’t put down.
    Old books… cheese…. yep, tripping over my tongue!

  9. Kindred spirits I think we all are here…why else do we flock to your doorstep and ring your door bell every morning waiting for a glimpse of your treasures.
    a.

  10. treasure hunting at flea markets, book stores,
    music, my hubby, and the sea do it for me … oh Corey… your words
    put me right there with you…. and I had so much fun
    too !

  11. Corey – Tripping over my tongue, died and gone to heaven…well a fabric store for sure. Fabric can take my breath away. I have been known to emit rather orgasmic sounding utterances when a fondling a particularly lovely piece. And vintage fabric? I sit with it and imagine the hands that touched it, made something with it, bodies that wore it. A bit of history and story that I can create with. Magic!

  12. Yes, antique stores make my heart beat so fast, sometimes I have to walk away, compose myself and approach again. And old bookstores, filled with rare and tattered volumes do the same for me. Many of the things that call my name the loudest, even when I have left the store, are the things that had specialized uses that society has abandoned. Those retain spirits that need to be acknowledged and honored; truly they do. I must write about some of my favorites, and right now, I must go touch them. I’m very tactile.
    Like some of your other readers, I can’t wait to view your pictures every morning. My heart beats faster then, too.

  13. I would say walking in nature, the ocean and new outdoor adventures and views…

  14. You are so sweet and precious and your enthusiasm is highly contagious.
    How I treasure your words and postings and photographs and YOU!
    Love Jeanne

  15. Nature(flora and fauna), the stars above and music… Then there’s love, our dog, and our garden.

  16. I’ve just discovered your blog and found it so peaceful and inspiring and dreamy. A buoy on the sea. In answer to your question, I would say the sky and flowers and knowing I am loved.

  17. making stuff. I was going to say art, but the truth is I don’t care what it gets called. I just like making stuff.

  18. Beautiful things, antiques and flea market finds included, and a cup of that coffee in your previous post!!!!
    Oh, and a freshly made brioche…

  19. quirky antiques and old frenchh postcards… gee, I’m so alone in this respect, aren’t I? 😉
    When I vacationed in Egypt with my family every day, everyplace we went was like a real live fantasy ~ I went wild with my camera!

  20. People. And things.
    The things people do. The things people say. The things people make.
    To our highest. And regrettably sometimes our lowest.

  21. I can totally relate to your feeling in that antique shop! I would have been excited too!
    Another thing that makes me feel fantastic is when I’m going to a good garden fair like “Maison et Jardin” or Gardendreams etc.. When I see all the beautiful flowers and plants and items to decorate the garden and make it my paradise on earth my heart is beating faster and I’m getting all happy and excited!

  22. judypatooote

    Antique Shops lift my spirits also….My girls love to go antiquing and so we set up a week end every year to go antiquing and have a girls week end out.

  23. Flower markets, flea markets, antique markets … anywhere that has beautiful & quirky things, and people!

  24. Oh what a great description of how antiques make me feel too!
    I don’t have to own the things. I just like looking at them and touching them.

  25. claudia

    bonjour,
    il m’est vraiment agréable de voir que tout comme nous vous aimez les belles et bonnes choses, nous vivons en basse normandie dans la région du “perche” qui devient une région tres a la mode, et nous avons dans un ancien pensionnat religieux une boutique ou nous presentons une gamme de produits pour la maison, meuble ,linge, vaisselle. nous nous sommes promis d’aller vous voir cet été a l’occasion d’un petit séjour, nous avons également un weblog “lamaisonfassier.com”
    félicitations pour votre bon gout et votre sens de la convivialité
    a bientot
    claudia

  26. I would love to go antiquing in Europe! I fear I would go broke with freight charges to ship home all of the pieces I would fall in love with. The only thing worse would be the agony of deciding which treasure to leave behind…

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