Come to the brocante with me

A walk through a Loire Valley antiques market and the things that caught my eye

Hello!

My #1 favorite thing to do on summer Sundays in France is shop the local brocantes. “Bro-Kant,” a term for an outdoor flea/antiques market with professional sellers—to be distinguished from a yard sale which is called a “vide grenier,” — “empty attic.”

Stuff is sometimes merchandised to some degree, but often just laid out on a tarp or on the ground without any sense of order. For some reason I find complete joy in the hunt this way, but I cannot handle the overstimulation of a vintage shop. Maybe it’s the fresh air.

There’s a big brocante almost every Sunday of the month, but the location rotates between a few towns and cities in the region. The major ones where I live are in Chinon, Montsoreau, Tours, and Angers, and they all take place on different Sundays. Many vendors sell at several brocantes within a certain radius of where they live, so you bump into some of the same sellers week after week.

Despite our best intentions of going every Sunday, it’s been a busy couple of months here in France, and my husband and I only made it to the Chinon brocante in May. I thought I’d take you along, blog style, as we walk the stalls and check stuff out.

On Wednesday, I’m sending my tips for shopping the brocantes, in case you have a trip to France planned for this summer or fall.

P.S. This post contains a lot of photos and is too long for email; be sure to read it in the Substack app to get the full experience!