Twelve Years Blogging about the Brocante and More

 

 

French Style Honey Do,

 

In the beginning (twenty years ago) when I became an antique dealer, or as I like to say when the "brocante bug bite me",  I went at it alone.

It started when our garage was full, I decided to sell my wares at the flea market in Marseille.

So four in the morning, with barely ten French words in my mouth I set up my stand.

I sold out by seven a.m..

Which meant I was free to go around and buy more to sell, which I did.

The brocante bug bit.

When someone wants to buy, and another someone wants to sell, the language is not complicated, business always works.

I was hooked. Our garage is never empty.

Flash forward: Years later while wallpapering at midnight (Do I ever do things at the normal time of day?) the cute wooden antique ladder I was standing on broke and I fell shattering my wrist.

French Husband seeing that I was miserable, not because I had shattered my wrist but because I could not drive to the brocante started to drive me to the brocantes. As I could not manage to pay for the antiques I was buying with one hand, he took my purse and managed that too. AND because I could barely carry things with one hand, he started to collect, carry and pack the car. 

Six years later he still is my Hero Sherpa (Super) Power.

A silver lining can be found in almost anything.

Twelve years ago yesterday I started my blog and the brocante has been part of it all along the way.

Thank you for being the best part of why I blog.

 

 

 

 



Comments

38 responses to “Twelve Years Blogging about the Brocante and More”

  1. Your blog postings are always enriched and enchanting.
    Thanks for taking us along on your journey of bliss
    Love Jeanne

  2. JEANNE GUITTON

    Donc nous avons les mots pour l’histoire, comme fil conducteur la passion
    brocante et les photographies qui enrichissent, qui accompagnent ou pas, mais
    aujourd’hui quelle magnifique témoignage !
    Avez-vous une série de ce voyage au miroir ?
    Joyeux anniversaire !

  3. Always a pleasure to drop by here.

  4. Congratulations! I’m glad that you have found joy here these last 12 years and that the two of you are able to share this life experience together. If it’s always a pleasure to visit your blog home.

  5. I love your origin story. It’s great how the brocante has become a family passion.
    Wonderful photo.

  6. It seems like I have known you (without meeting in person);forever! Your blog and friendship are real treasures. Xxoo

  7. Thank you, thank you Corey for your wonderful blog posts! I have been following you since the very early days of your posting about brocante, family, friends and wonderful recipes. Your photos are pure delight to enlarge and sink into and My life is richer because you are a part of my days. Thank you ever so much for your friendship.

  8. Thank you. I’ve loved every minute of it.

  9. I remember ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!!!!!!!!
    YOU ARE A STAR in THE BLOG WORLD!
    KEEP AT IT!
    XX

  10. Thank you Corey for sharing your wonderful life and for your ongoing positiveness and insight and for your “goodness”.

  11. Congratulations and thanks for doing it! A great picture of FH with the mirror.

  12. Its been such a pleasure following your blog with my tea or coffee nearly every day. Thank you!

  13. Thank you so much for sharing your life with me!

  14. Ann of Avondale

    12 years and going strong. Thank you for sharing. Your blog is rich in character and events. May you be blessed for blessing us.

  15. Jacklynn Lantry

    Thank YOU for keeping up with the blog…for 12 years! Amazing. We’ve watched your kids grow up, watched you buy and sell, enjoyed your travels and your brocante “tutoring” a la the guessing game. Some of us have even been fortunate enough to visit you and experience a bit of your blog in real time (what a privilege.) You have broadened perspectives and made the world a better place by being a true “global citizen.” Hats off and many thanks to you my friend.

  16. Shelley Noble

    You words are my favorite sermons. So much Divine Love in you, Corey. Happy Anniversary!

  17. RebeccaNYC

    Twelve Years! I can’t believe it. I remember being so shy to comment, even though I loved loved loved everything I read. Now I count you as a friend I have yet to meet. Thank you so much for all you do for us! xoxo

  18. The best blog ever. For the first year you were blogging I just read and didn’t leave a comment. I have been visiting ever since and now leave comments. Congratulations!

  19. Happy blog anniversary. I love coming along for all the rides. It’s pure joy! Thank you.

  20. What a fabulous story, apart from the wrist of course. Twelve years, amazing, well done, I am quite certain I didn’t even know what a blog was 12 years ago.

  21. Jennifer Phillipps

    I look forward every day to reading about your adventures and even your misadventures…..with French Husband by your side….you make a fabulous team! Congratulations on 12 years of blogging…..always ready for more of your adventures…… Cheers from New Zealand

  22. Thank You for your inspiring and beautiful messages.

  23. Love these snippets that come to light through your delightful blog – great tales! Hugs to you both

  24. Joyeux Anniversaire!

  25. Corey, Just as everyone above has said so eloquently…..thank you for one of the best educations into the world of the THE BROCANT, also for taking us along on your daily life. You treat each of us as a friend sharing French culture and traditions with us.
    I know I will be eagerly tagging along for the next twelve years.
    Ali

  26. Corey, en lisant ton belle histoire, j ´ai eu un grand sourire sur mon visage… et je l ´ai toujours …
    quel belle vie et belle experience ….
    À bientôt
    chaleureusement
    Tina 😉

  27. Dear Corey, Thank you for your amazing posts about your life, your brocante bug, your family, your poetry, your fashion, your architecture! Congratulations on your Twelfth Anniversaire.

  28. It’s been a joyous ride Corey. And you have us so many bonuses along the way.

  29. Congratulations on 12 years of blogging Corey…that’s quite an accomplishment! You have brought so much joy and wisdom to so many and I am blessed to have you as a friend.

  30. Congratulations Corey; you are an inspiration and you and your blog have enriched my life. XX

  31. Teresa Young

    Its scary how fast time flies…Congrats Sweet Friend on Twelve Years…that is amazing. Staying true to always posting on the blog. You are amazing. As well your Sherpa…You are a great team❤️

  32. I am so happy to have chanced upon your blog about five years ago when dreaming about a trip to France. I tried to start from the beginning and read forward. When I read about your dad and your giant love for him and then learned that he died just weeks ahead of my dad and hero, I felt we were kindred spirits. As I read about and watched the Tiny House blossom with my heart in my throat and a prayer in my heart, I knew I would be there one day. As I planned for my trip, I wondered and hoped that you were as genuine a spirit as I’d felt in my soul. To meet you was to love you. To brocante beside you…the stuff that dreams are made of. You are a blessing.

  33. Jacklynn Lantry

    I think she is a priest:)

  34. Thank you Cory and happy 12th anniversary on your most beautiful blog. So happy to had found it just under a year ago!
    Love the gorgeous photo too! Many good wishes to you and your family!

  35. I am grateful for the connection your blog has given me to you. You enrich my daily life. Mom would read it daily too and it gave her a lot of joy. She and I enjoyed talking about your different post. Thank you!

  36. Paula Tyner

    Thank you , Corey, for sharing your life. You and your blog posts have added a richness to my life.

  37. I wasn’t here 12 years ago but, I do remember the broken wrist. Thanks for continuing to post! Maybe someday I will meet you in France! Happy blogiversary!

  38. Congratulations on your blogging anniversary Corey! I don’t know how you find the time to do it, and take so many lovely photos too. I think you should write a book, I really do!

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