Les Marches des Puces - Take a seat

Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something about hospitality, dinner parties, and entertaining. Or maybe it's the fact that one of our old used dining chairs fell apart the other day and we threw it in the garbage. Whatever the reason, during our visit Monday to the Marches de Puce a Saint-Ouen, I kept seeing sets of chairs for sale - usually by the pair, but often in sets of six. The view above is looking down from the second level of the Marche Dauphine, at several different sets - all of them fabulous.

Above, this set of aluminum cafe chairs looked wonderful displayed against a bright wall painted the color of curry powder.

I liked the sleek lines of these two mid-century chairs, upholstered in blue leather.

These brocade-covered chairs have classically carved frames, and are finished in white paint.

The cut velvet upholstery on this Arte Deco club chair is a little bit worn, and the wooden frame is nicked a bit. With a little cleaning up, it could be just as fabulous as the barrel-shaped chairs in the lobby bar at the famed Hotel Lutetia.

This pair of classic fauteuils is newly upholstered in a lovely salmon-colored paisley chintz. The chair beside them is pretty nice, too, with clean lines and sunny yellow upholstery.

How would you like to curl up into one of these armchairs? Upholstered in oyster-colored mohair velvet, they have long silky fringe.

This metal framed lounge chair is one of a pair. The bright 60's era Pop Art fabric is somewhat worn, but still looks fabulous.

Continuing with the modern, these three dark oak dining chairs also include a fourth, which was out in front of the shop on display.

These three are part of a set of six 30's era fruitwood dining chairs. The citron-colored chenille upholstery is a little dingy, but with a good cleaning they would be fabulous. The shopkeeper quoted me 600 Euros for the set of six, which is a pretty good price.....but it would cost equally as much to ship them to the US, so I passed.

Two classic leather club chairs. Aren't they great?

For real glamor, I like these two club chairs - gilt Arte Deco frames and cream-colored leather. They belong in a movie-star's pad.


Finally, here is a classic metal garden chair. The rusty patina is beautiful if you seal it!

Which set of chairs do you like best?

Les Marches des Puces - Part Two

Let's check out the Marche Vernaison. It's the oldest of the market complexes that, together, make up the flea market at the Porte de Clignancourt known as Les Puces de Saint-Ouen. We entered through a narrow gate that led into the winding complex.

One of the first stalls we encountered was that of a dealer in textiles. Here on the sidewalk was a basket filled with remnants and pieces of trim, fringe and other passementerie. (I know Tristan is going to love this!)

We peeked inside. There were stacks of linens, millinery supplies, small carpets. There were cases of antique jewelry, rhinestone clips, buttons and other little things.

There were textiles and pieces of embroidered silks.

Another nearby stall had china and a display of vintage silver.


The shops here are crowded to overflowing with stuff, and people put things out in the walkway, to attract shoppers, or to display baskets of less expensive things.

There two chairs, black with painted gilt decoration, stood in a row of similar chairs, along with some trinkets and a babydoll in a basket.


Another vendor had boxes of old photos and cards out to thumb through. Here's a dancer's autographed photo.

I liked this painting of irises that was propped up against the metal shutters.


One vendor had a huge collection of antique toys, including Corgi toy cars and trucks made of tin. There were also model trains, model soldiers, and mechanical tin toys.


It was close to noon, and the sun was bright overhead in a clear sky. As I turned the corner, trays of something sparkly caught my eye. It was a stall dealing in light fixtures, with boxes and boxes of loose chandelier crystals arrayed on tables.

One vendor had a whole array of carved dolls or puppets that were fashioned as animated fruits and vegetables. What's your favorite - the pear-man? Or the onion-man with his top-knot? Or the orange-man with an orange slice for a smile?

There are some really wonderful pieces of antique furniture here, and sometimes the dealers are working on repairing or upholstering pieces right on site. They are quite knowledgeable, too, and they expect buyers to know what they're looking for.

It's not all nineteenth century pieces, either; this stall had some very elegant mid-century modern pieces.

There are some oddities, too - here's a couch made of some kind of tusks! Kind of creepy, isn't it? and it doesn't look very comfortable.

The whole place is somewhat ecletic - here a trio of unlikely figures - a pig, a cowboy, and a Buddha - share the space with an inlaid cabinet.

If you want to learn more about the Marche Vernaison, this website has plans, information and some wonderful historic photos.

Les Marche des Puces - Intro

I knew when we came to Paris I wanted to visit the famed Flea Markets of Paris. They are said to be an antiquer's dream, where dealers from all over the world come to pick over the offerings and unearth fantastic French treasures from the past.

That was about all I knew about them. So when I started to look into it, I was a little surprised to learn that the Flea Markets of Paris are - of course - not what the typical stereotype says they arel. It's way more interesting than that,

We took the Metro number 4 line to the northernmost end of the line, Porte de Clignancourt. We walked alongside a busy road that ran under the Peripheral - the ring expressway around the outer part of the city.

As we approached the highway overpass, to our left in a parking lot was a huge expanse of trucks, vans, blue tarps and corrugated roofs.

It was a market, yes - but fortunately we had read our guidebook, and knew that this was not what we had come for.

We took a brief detour through it, though, noting the various stalls. It was like a swap meet, with temporary shelters displaying cheap luggage, jeans and t-shirts, knock-off sneakers and sunglasses. Mixed in with a touch of North Africa - fabrics, tourist carvings, and a bong and hookah dealer.

You could tell this was a zone for unregulated commerce, because as soon as we entered the shadows beneath the highway, there were hawkers hustling the crowd with cartons of Marlboros, stacks of CDs, phone cards and various other wares.

Beyond the highway, a crowded row of stalls and stores sold more merchandise - cheap purses, tee shirts with American university logos, and piles of cheap sneakers. It reminded me of Santee Alley in downtown Los Angeles.

But this, too, was not what we were looking for.

Therw was a small open gate, and a sign with a name I recognized from the guidebook. We passed through a narrow passage, and suddenly things changed.

The Puces des Saint-Ouen market at Porte de Clignancourt is really many markets. In the 1880s, government regulations drove the rag-pickers and junk dealers out of the city proper, into Saint Ouen, where they set up shop in ramshackled, knocked-together stalls and sheds, which today have become permanent shops for dealers of both cheap and expensive merchandise. There are several distinct complexes whose character vary greatly. Some are open air, others are housed in huge modern buildings. If you click HERE there's a map of the market - I wish I'd had that to consult during out trip.

The Marche Vernaison is the oldest and most charming, with narrow winding alleyways flanked by shuttered stalls. The dealers here offer small collectibles; vintage junk that spills out of the tiny shops into the already narrow walkways.

Over the years, the dealers have customized their stalls - some are ramshackle sheds while others have windows and doors and look just like real stores. This ivy-covered stall is a good example of how unexpectedly charming this place can be.

Marche Paul Bert is accessed through another gate off the same road, and it's a little different in feel. The roadways are wider, and the stall are more substantial and store-like. The goods are more high-end, too, with lots of substantial furniture, elegant and pricey.


Marche Dauphine is a huge brick two-story building with an open atrium. It has the feel of a modern antique mall in an American city.

Unlike the enclosed markets, like Dauphine and Marche Serpette, it's a little hard to tell where one open-air complex begins and one ends. The streets around the markets have also become open-air markets, crowded with more day-sellers. We emerged from a charming alley lined with nineteenth century furniture only to enter the scrum of counterfeit sneaker-sellers and tables of beauty products. It took some a quick detour through a residential block to get back to the antiques.

Another time, we got stuck inside an barn-like structure crammed with modern merchandise - shirts and boots, luggage and fancy jeans. We popped out a door onto a graffitti-tagged street where scooters parked among dealers of surplus military gear and Moroccan imports.

As you can imagine, it can be exhausting and overwhelming. So to get off your feet and out of the crowd, you can duck into one of the small cafes and pubs among the merchants.

Whew! We'll just sit here a minute and have a coffee, a glass of wine or a beer. Let's relax a minute. Let's get out our MAP again. Now that we've got a sense of the place, we can plan our exploration.

Stand by for Part Two.