Ooh la la!

Not knowing what the world would look like after the then Brexit deadline, we thought we might as well have one last-ditch buying trip to France to stock up on some goodies.

We set off with a few flea markets in mind that we had been to before, earlier on in the year. As we were descending southwards the weather forecasts were looking ominous to say the least. I’m talking double drop, thunder and lightning, the works. All sandwiched between glorious sunshine either end of the trip. Anxiety was rife!

We stayed at a crumbling chateau on the way which had an incredible history who’s owners amazingly let us dig around their bits and bobs.

Once in Provence, as always seems to be the way, the weather was glorious. The sun came out and it was warm, if a little blustery. I’m not sure if it was because of the forecast or the fact it was later in the year than previous trips but the markets were quite a bit smaller. We did manage to get a lot of items but there was still a lot of space in the van calling out. What to do???

I got talking to a couple of the sellers at the markets who invited us to come out to their places and have a look at more of their stock. It was really great to be welcomed into their dusty old places full of antiques!

Once back in our digs the storm finally arrived and boy did it come - perhaps that very cheap, leaky stone barn in the middle of what can only be described as a mosquito-infested swamp outside Avignon wasn’t a great idea. We decided to get a bit of culture and visited the Musée Angladon which holds the private collection of the fashion designer Jacques Doucet!

After this we ended up meandering our way back to Calais freestyling and finding little Brocantes and barns along the way, building future relationships with all sorts of different characters.

Any anxiety was quashed, as we ended up with a full van and a great hoard of items as well as lots of new contacts. Not quite the trip that was planned but a great trip nonetheless! 

We’ve uploaded our first selection of items to the website and will be uploading more over the coming weeks so watch this space. Or better still come and pay us a visit!