Friday 21 November 2014

Attic emptying and the joys of other people's junk.

I think I can do without this in my home.
I rarely visit car boot sales in England. I used to go to antique fairs quite often, but now,only go to one if it is very local and the parking is easy. Partly this is because I believe I have conquered my hoarding tendency, and am realistic enough to know that my little Hebden Bridge house is already stacked so high with much loved treasures and there really isn’t any more space !



France is somehow different. The house is bigger I suppose, so there is more room to display amazing finds. The real difference however, is that vide greniers are just so much more fun than car boot sales......and the weather tends to be better !

A gorgeous old French board game.....ludo with horses.

I have made some great buys over the last 3 years at vide greniers. Children’s toys are always available, and our grandchildren have benefited from many French children growing out of their toys and buggies.

Liam...thrilled with a 1 euro purchase.

 I have also started a pot dog collection,

This was the first dog ...the pack now consists of 4 of them.....and I reckon I've got space for another few.
 I have found some other great pottery, acquired fabulous casserole dishes and remain constantly on the look out for framed photographs of soldiers. I am also seriously upset when I see old photos, no longer wanted by family members, for sale for a few euros. So far I have resisted the temptation of providing a home for hundreds of strangers photos. Mark is hoping I manage to keep resisting that particular temptation.

Here I am trying to decide whether to give this portrait a new home. I resisted...this time.
I have used vide grenier visiting as a way to discover new villages in the Aude and in the Herault. Every Sunday, from May until November, I have been spoiled for choice as to which towns and villages to visit. Sometimes I manage to fit two or three in on one day.

The Bram vide grenier was held in the grounds of a chateau.

The moment of purchase, captured .....buying a gorgeous jug and bowl set.
Sometimes, the stalls are spread out along a river bank, or the canal. Sometimes they are just in a car park or a field...but usually, they wind around the village streets. Some people set their stalls up outside their own home....others arrive early and set up with a picnic to sustain them through the day.




Some people sell all their old rubbish, and there are usually some dealers who clearly make a living out of taking their stock from one village to the next. Those are the boring stalls, with the unrealistic prices. I think I've seen that sanglier ( wild boar) at several vide greniers over the last 3years.

Sometimes you wonder who on earth would buy some of this stuff !




The best stalls are where the family has had a sort out and is getting rid of things...emptying the attic.....which is what vide grenier means.


There is usually an old tool stall....dealers.....who come to each vide grenier
Some displays are brilliant
This tile pot stand has lovely little rounded feet....and I love it. I splashed out on this one....it cost me 5 euros.

People chat, people bargain,  I practice my French and most of the time everyone smiles. Sellers being happy to not have to take stuff home with them, and buyers pleased with their bargains.

There is no doubt about it...other people's junk can be fascinating....not sure that the crib looks very inviting with the fox in it though.

I love this pharmacy jar. It is Limoges pottery, and cost me all of 2 euros....and I love the idea of having a pot of the elixir of long life sitting on the piano.


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17 comments:

  1. I loved the vide greniers and, like you, would fit in two or three in a day if possible...a lovely way to see the area...and to fill the house. At our village one, there was a hideous glass vase that would turn up year after year...i suppose someone would take a fancy to it and the find it impossible to live with and out on the stalls it would go again....

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    1. I'm pleased that I have now developed the ability to enjoy vide greniers without "having" to buy things. I blame living with an antique dealer in my 20s for my tendency to want to buy things I have no use or room for. Slowly, I am becoming more practical.....but sometime...just sometimes, I cannot resist.

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  2. Oh I would just love the vide greniers. I used to go to car boot sales with my Dad many years ago and picked up some interesting things. My Dad had an obsession with searching out golf clubs and ended up with a ridiculously large collection and had to do his own car boot sale to get rid of them!

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    1. I love this story. Having the Hospice charity shop as part of my life , now gives me an ideal place to take my various acquisitions....and sell them on for a good cause.

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  3. Dear Janice - I have been to one or two French vide greniers but never really struck lucky. Pottering around in the sun though and looking at all the stuff is endlessly fascinating.

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    1. Yes...mooching is one of my favourite pastimes too.

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  4. Love it, and your purchases!

    My favourite stalls are run by people getting rid of their own unwanted items. I try to avoid dealers. Sometimes you wonder why anyone would think that someone might ever buy their rubbish, but curiously, someone does!! xx

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    1. Its the piles of ancient electrical cables, or antiquated plumbing fittings that amaze me....does anyone ever buy them ? or do they just reappear at the next vide grenier ? I do love wandering around though....you just never know where the next treasure will be found.

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  5. OOOOoooooh! You are making me so jealous!

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    1. You would love it ! I have no doubt at all.

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  6. I'd love to spend my weekends pottering around these stalls.

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    1. Mark goes off to play golf most Sundays.....and I just jump in the car and head off in search of treasure !

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  7. I love these venues, Janice, and know I would frequent the vide grineirs as well. At this time of year, I think I would make that crib look more like a manger. Wouldn't it be inviting with a few boughs. I must admit, Janice, that I would have stopped in my tracks at those plates and bowls. I'm a sucker for them - and use what I have. I stopped at a little antique emporium in Osseo, WI last Sunday, spying a table of similar "stuff". As I was rummaging through, the owner said, everything on that table is $2. I managed to find some sweet (okay, beautiful) bowls, gold rimmed, mid sized, and brought them up, reiterating, $2/per bowl, right? Yes, ma'am. He needed to tend another customer, I browsed a bit more, came back, handed him a $10 bill for 4 bowls, repeating the price. He said yes, wrapped them up, handed me my change and my purchase, then said, I sure wish I had looked on the back. These a Havilland China.

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    1. Stories like this are few and far between these days aren't they ? Most "dealers" know what they have....I once bought a Clarice Cliff bowl from a trader, who had filled it with wooden spoons. He wanted 50p for it....... When I went to pay, he asked me if I wanted the spoons too, as they would be 20p extra....... Somehow it is ok to get a real bargain from a trader, but I like to think I would have offered a more realisitc price if I had been buying from someone selling their granny's possessions, not knowing what they had ! I later sold the bowl for £200...... and in case you are wondering, I didn't bother with the wooden spoons. Enjoy your beautiful bowls.

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  8. Great post. One person's junk is another person's treasure!

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    1. That sums it up doesn't it.... I'm a great fan of other people's junk.

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  9. Like you I enjoy mooching around a vide-grenier or two, Janice, though never more than one in a day. That's because in our sparsely-populated corner of Normandy, the vide-grenier usually forms part of a fete communale with other activities on offer at the same time. Over the years I've seen the same dilapidated stuff turn up year after year in different places, but have also made lovely finds, though I have to restrain myself as our French house is small.

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