Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

What you can find at a French Flea market

               French Antiques

Letters, ledgers, love notes, life of long ago living in between the lines.

                French Antiques

Daring adventures, dreams,  lists of wants and needs. Bits and pieces of someone who once walked the path before you.

                French Antiques

Notebooks, cookbooks, books… plenty of books. Children’s paper dolls and postcards and newspaper clippings, traces, the spirit of French creativity and ways of being.

                France

What was the best thing you ever found at a flea market? It doesn’t have to be expensive, valuable, rare… it could be something that you simple like. One of my most favorite finds… other than paper?

                French antiques

Considering very few things in my home are new, it would be hard to decided.

The pleasure of going to a flea market ‘BROCANTE’ in French, is that it is like a museum. Where the traces of history, and culture wait for you to rediscover different periods, places and time. Where you can touch and take home a piece of France. Why do I love the Brocante? It engraves a song in my soul, I feel connected to a past that teaches me about today.

Photos: Flea market finds that fashion my home.

Comments

49 responses to “What you can find at a French Flea market”

  1. Marie-Noëlle

    The past has written to you, I think …

    Reply
  2. gautami tripathy

    I love flea markets. They have so much offer.
    One great post!

    Reply
  3. gracia

    Those beautiful letters and notebooks seen… so very tempting to fall into other worlds, so inviting!
    take care, g xo

    Reply
  4. Pauline

    Isn’t it marvelous to trace the past into your present? I like your expression of those who “walked the path before us.” My favorite find? A four-sectioned relish dish so like the one my mother had that I was transported on sight to childhood holiday dinner tables where that dish held center place, filled with olives and pickles and stuffed celery pieces.

    Reply
  5. Lee

    There is something quite special in holding something that someone else loved long ago. And to think that, at some future time, someone will ponder similarly about some of your present day treasures!

    Reply
  6. Jeanne

    Beautiful is all that you share my friend.
    Beautiful is YOU
    I love you Sugar Plum
    Merry Christmas magic
    Love Jeanne

    Reply
  7. My Melange

    Hard to pick a favorite. It would have to do with cherubs, though. I love those puggie little guys!!! Your treasures are just lovely. I love having a home with almost nothing new.

    Reply
  8. delphine

    I guess your “Indian Name” would be: “Holder (Keeper) of Memories and Moments”.
    delphine

    Reply
  9. Darla

    Pages of beautiful handwriting in a language I cannot read. Mysteries of histories. I want them all.
    Darla

    Reply
  10. Candy

    Books. They’re my very favorite old thing. And when I find notes or photographs stuck in the pages, I really get excited.

    Reply
  11. Mélanie

    Wonderful ODE to brocante ..
    You are so good to explain it ..
    I love your old papers

    Reply
  12. charlotte

    let’s make something! napkin rings, journals, o, anything at all. xoC

    Reply
  13. ginny

    Old, handwritten pages are wonderful. I once found a huge ledger from a London bathhouse, dated 1901. The notations were priceless. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  14. Travelingmama

    How is it that such priceless treasures have found their way to the flea market? Obviously there are many without such a keen eye as you!

    Reply
  15. susanna

    Your house is absolutely beautiful, Corey. It is straight out of a magazine – Cote Sud, perhaps? You have such a great sense of style.
    And the penmanship! Wow! Imagine living in a time when beautiful penmanship like this was the norm…
    My favourite fleamarket finds? A brooche in the shape of a starfish with little pearls along each leg. It’s so pretty!

    Reply
  16. Shannon

    You’ve inspired me to go to the fleamarkets here. I’m hoping I can steal away this weekend.

    Reply
  17. Linda

    I’d have a ton of things from brocantes if I bought everything I liked. I guess my favorite find was a cute pan. I saw some fabulous pieces that I had to pass on.

    Reply
  18. Cre8Tiva

    my favorite find was a little red rooster at a french flea market when i was 16…it lead to my life-long love of roosters…blessings, rebecca

    Reply
  19. Paula

    *sigh*

    Reply
  20. Paula

    *sigh*

    Reply
  21. Paula

    *sigh*

    Reply
  22. Denise Nelson

    Oh, Corey your home is so beautiful, I see you
    and your hand everywhere, little things with
    a big voice. Oh, I would love to come to a brocante, here things are antique, but I can’t
    imagine things several hundred years old wow!
    I know the singing of the treasures calling out “take me home, where have I been?” I don’t
    know why this excites me so, it’s something I live to do….some do not understand my passion. Well, I so enjoyed your post today,
    Pinkie Denise

    Reply
  23. cruststation

    Yes, connection with the past (so much to discover), I love uncovering history with you.

    Reply
  24. Rosemary

    Your home is beautiful Corey.
    I love old paper. Wish I could go with you sometime.
    Rosemary

    Reply
  25. Paris Parfait

    I love the sense of history associated with old documents, letters and antiques. I think the best things “find” us; that we are meant to be their caretakers until the next one comes along.

    Reply
  26. Lea

    My favorite is hard to pick… but I would have to say the old Chinese fisherman statue. I bought him at at time in my life where it was such a stretch to do so… but what he represented, teaching people to fish, teaching myself to fish, was so important to me…

    Reply
  27. Ulla

    Oh gee Corey is that your sideboard??? Talk about amazing! You need to tell us more about display and the art of putting things together – thats your gift! And I NEED to come and take lessons from you personally!!!
    Hugs

    Reply
  28. Miss Sandy

    Corey,
    Your home is so lovely and has such an air of serenity just to gaze at it. My best or at least one of my favorite finds is my kitchen stove. I know it sounds kind of strange but you would have to SEE it. It is a reproduction of a vintage stove that was produced by Sears & Robuck and it looks like an old wood burner, is black cast iron with lovely intricate detailing and sits upon an equally detailed base with curved legs. After It was sold to me for a mere song the dealer tried to buy it back and several other customers called to try and purchase it also. It makes me happy every time I use it or just look at it as a center piece for my kitchen.

    Reply
  29. JO

    We love flea markets and antique malls. We have stumbled on a variety of oriental objects that were evidently brought back by soldiers who are now passing. We have a beautiful screen, a painted wooden tea chest shaped like a garden stool, ceramics..some very old, figurines and a carved elephant tusk that is so beautiful I did the uncorrect thing and bought it for $60.00. We never set out looking for these things but recognized their beauty and value and so here we are with a collection.

    Reply
  30. cheeky

    Old documents are magical to me. They allow you to wonder off to another time. The pretty script, the yellowing of the paper and the words written down. The thoughts exchanged between people. A piece of history in your hands. I *heart* all things paper with written word.
    My favorite find is a green, depression glass cake stand and matching serving bowl I found at a flea market, unexpectedly, of course! I love that set. It’s my little treasure and I always reflect on the day I purchased it, in the company of great friends.

    Reply
  31. Alice

    Oh, how I envy you and the French Flea Markets. What beautiful delights you found. I adore old letters, posts and ledgers. I can sit forever and just imagine the life that they once had. Thank you for sharing such wonderful pieces.

    Reply
  32. melissa @ the inspired room

    Oh, I love old letters and writings. How romantic!
    Your home is fabulous!
    xoxoxo

    Reply
  33. karen

    When I was in college I found an invitation to the laying of the cornerstone of a new church near Central Park…. Sept 21st, 1893. I love that invitation and have kept it all these years. It was my first warning that I was doomed to become a collector.

    Reply
  34. keith hillman

    I lived in France for some time and the brocantes were just glorious. Your pictures are great.

    Reply
  35. AmandaMay

    Every time I see the photos of your home I am inspired. How very very beautiful! What will you do with the letters and ledgers you find? Will you show a photo of some of the antique paper dolls, pretty please?

    Reply
  36. phyllis

    Things you can live with and create more history with!

    Reply
  37. Marva

    Corey – you are so lucky your husband lets you decorate with the “shabby chic” style! I’m doing it in little bits and pieces to get my DH used to it. Love your home and would love to come over and go to the flea markets with you! Marva

    Reply
  38. Nora

    Beautiful words. Beautidul finds.

    Reply
  39. Elaine L.

    There is nothing like a French Brocante.
    I’ve already told you about the one I happened upon in Nice. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t even buy anything. I swear my head was spinning. Books, jewelry, old linens and lace . . . crossbows?!.
    ~elaine~

    Reply
  40. marsha danosky

    My favorite piece is a walnut armoire from Brittany that is signed by the maker in 1803! The patina of the wood,the carvings of seashells and flowers.It now proudly holds all my antique china!
    Marsha

    Reply
  41. Liz Ness

    Ooo…it is like the antique stores (or my grandfather’s closets). Full of mysterious writings in beautiful script, waiting to be rediscovered. That’s my favorite “take away” from the stores: The mystery, the wonder, the dreams of what lives left their marks (and what kinds of lives they must have been). I love seeing it all!

    Reply
  42. eb

    so love the paper – I am touching these lovelies through your beautiful images…
    I have a stack of old tins that I love for their speckled patina…
    and the odd things – like the jar of clay marbles…
    and all the old books of course
    xox – eb.

    Reply
  43. Sandy

    Your photographs and your words are beautiful, as usual. I love seeing some of your home as well.

    Reply
  44. marita

    the aged pages are lovely and your natural wood dresser is beautiful. i can see another gorgeous cupboard reflected in the mirror, all decorated in style.
    home sweet home…

    Reply
  45. Tumblewords

    Lovely post! Flea markets in France were fun, don’t think I’ve been since I got back.

    Reply
  46. Tamara Giselle

    What a treat to get glimpses into your beautiful home. The colors in France are delicous, anything from the most vivid of yellows and golds to the greyed blues and greens. My heart is a flutter I tell you!
    I have a hard time chosing favorites. I picked up my first piece of Franciscan Ivy ware at a flea market because it reminded me of dinners at my grandmother’s home and then when my grandmother saw that I had some pieces she gave me her WHOLE collection for my birthday some years ago. It is a treasure not only because it is beautiful but because of the memories. I collect many beautiful dishes, but I have many beautiful mirrors that I love and an armoire from Belgium that looms gloriously large in my living room. Don’t you love the smell of old things too? Just the right amount of mustiness and no artificial chemical smells.

    Reply
  47. heather

    my husband and i love walking through antique shops and flea markets. it’s like entering another world where you never know what the next booth will show you. fancy old silver and glassware or a cheap plastic spiderman bank. we easily spend all day just wandering in a mix of the past. i’m not sure what a favorite would be, i’m so very bad at picking out favorites of anything. silver and pewter and wood are my favorite materials. i love that sideboard!

    Reply
  48. annie lockhart

    all lovely…it’s so you!

    Reply
  49. Dawn-Enigma Artist

    Nice to meet you Corey, here via Studio Friday.
    Wonderful finds! I love the script on older letters, but to have the script in French… now that’s neat!
    Looks like your Brocante beats Third Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas hands down.

    Reply

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