Guess Who the Brocante Bug Bite Now!?

French facade cherubs

 

Chelsea and Sacha were born in France.

Maybe that is way old things don't wow them as much as they do me.

Maybe when you grow up with old things all around you, new things have a different sparkle that catch the eye. 

My children, young adults now, love to tease me, at least I think it is teasing when they say, "Our home…chairs that are uncomfortable, mirrors you cannot see yourself in…"

They do not have a passion for old things. They don't "get" the beauty of peeling, cracked, chipped, 18th century… blah blah blah.

 

 

French antique frame detail

 

I have been antiquing, or as they say in French: Chineur, since the beginning of my time. The brocante bug bite me when I was 12 or 13. The first thing I ever bought with my own money (babysitting) was a 1920s blue beaded bag.

Do I still have it?

Yes.

Where?

Somewhere out of reach… and memory.

 

French antique crown

 

Imagine my utter shock today while at the brocante I received a message on my phone that said, "Hi Mom, (adds a giggle) just calling to say that Mr. Espresso and I are at the bro-cante, in Saint Ouen, yeah that happened… is happening… I just wanted to call and say hi."

I nearly fainted.

I think I have listened to that sweet message ten times if not twenty. Pure music.

That adorable brocante bug, that I love so much, has finally bitten my daughter! 

They (Mr. Espresso and Chelsea) bought an industrail piece to use as a coffee table.

I think this might mean Mr. Espresso is bitten too.

 

 

 

Love locked in paris, antique locks

 

Oh Paris!

Oh Brocante bug.

Oh young lovers.

I think they wouldn't mind me buying them a pair of old locks to love lock themselves in Paris.

Oh the pleasure to be able to call Chelsea a chineur!

Sacha are you listening?

 

 



Comments

15 responses to “Guess Who the Brocante Bug Bite Now!?”

  1. This makes me smile. I was bitten because of my Gram. Back in my youth, the dump was her brocante. People were buying Danish Modern or French Provencial and leaving the ancestorial furnishings at the dump. Stinking, rat infested, but quality time spent with Gram was a treat. I still collect. Not because I “need” something, but because it connects me to that little girl crawling over trash with her Gram. 🙂

  2. I have the first fleamarket thing I ever bought at age seven. A tiny pitcher (?creamer) from Japan with gold on the lip and handle and pretty blue flowers on a white background, no chips. Still love it. Best 35 cents I ever spent. Yesterday I was at a consignment shop and bought a pretty cast iron/enameled Swedish casserole dish with lid. Blaming my mother, she saw it and insisted I get it 🙂
    Yeah Chelsea and Mr. Espresso!

  3. Nothing makes your heart warmer and eases the pain of the empty nest than when your adult children suddenly like those very things that they scoffed out as kids. Just watch out- my oldest says things like, “Mom, you have enough occasional tables, so is it okay if I take the the antique tilt top table that Dad gave you for your first anniversary?”
    As if!

  4. Too funny! St. Ouen is the best. I could do it non-stop.

  5. Darlene Schueler

    My first major buy was a pink marble topped dry sink. I carefully paid the dealer $10.00 a week from my hard earned salary until it was mine. It has been carted from home to home and used in many different ways, even though the marble eventually broke in half. My mother calls it a bunch of old junk. She prefers her chrome and shine. Leaves more for us, yes.

  6. Brother Mat

    Don’t fall for it Sacha.

  7. As they say, we do eventually become our mothers – bravo for Chelsea!

  8. I love this post in a thousand ways, Corey. Part of the reason is I remember the moment Rick’s youngest, who — as a youth was a good kid but who had absolutely NOTHING in common with his dad,, called Rick from his new “grown-up” job down south, saying, “I’m sitting here listening to NPR, drinking coffee and doing the puzzle. I am turning into you!”
    It is such joy when we see the ones we love start to love the things we do! Three cheers for Chelsea! Fingers are crossed for Sacha!

  9. I have found that with my daughters, they are becoming me… often doing things that they said they would never do… so enjoy… What goes around, comes around… so often.

  10. Love locks . . . love . . . do it!

  11. How GORGEOUS is THAT!By the way have you ever explained why MISTER EsPRESSO has that name?If so I missed that post………just curious.
    I too had the BROCANTE bug at a very young age……..I bought old keys!Collected old bottles and loved to go antiquing with my Mother.Did you ever go to PORT COSTA as a kid?The old warehouse was a collective we use to drive over from Mill Valley and spend the day.Beautiful post!

  12. how special when children like what they’re mom did. have that with the daughter not so much the son, yet. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

  13. Christine LeFever

    You have obviously done your job well. It finally took! Or perhaps it’s really a little of the apple not falling far from the tree. Mr. Espresso? That name is so cool. Definitely get those locks!
    I spent a nickel on my first find up in Yakima, WA when I was 7 years old. It was a tiny bottle. Mother is 91 now and still collecting back in the eastern US. Treasure hunting is our way of life.

  14. Oh happy day! Just pulling us all in one at a time, right?
    We love it all!!

  15. I love that Chelsea and Mr. Espresso have caught the bug.
    Setting up housekeeping will sometimes do that. I remember so many years ago when first married we would go to junk stores to furnish our apartment because that was all we could afford. I said once we could afford more I would buy new things and then I caught the bug. 49 years later I still have the bug.

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