les puces de saint-ouen

back in paris, where early sunday morning found frida & i rummaging through stalls at the largest fleamarket in europe. it's known formally as le marché aux puces de saint-ouen, or more fondly as les puces (the fleas).

the markets are right up on the northern fringe of paris (just beyond the périphérique, the border of paris) at mº porte de clignancourt. this area has had some form of market life since the middle ages, and is most famous for its hundreds of antique shops. les puces are made up of about a dozen fleamarkets, and each part of the market district sells different things. the antiques market district still thrives today, in the many winding, narrow lanes that featured in woody allen's latest film 'midnight in paris'...

altogether there's something like 2,500 stalls that spider-web their way across the district, literally selling everything under the sun.

a really gorgeous part of the market is called marché dauphine. it's an art nouveau tiered-warehouse building in brick & green iron. this was a welcome place to have a roof over our heads as we were hit with a sudden downpour of huge, wet raindrops. in the marché dauphine we found a whole level of vintage clothing that was a real mix of original haute couture (on the more expensive side of life - we saw a vintage chanel blazer for 300€) and your everyday second-hand friperie fun. we got lost in & amongst the hundred's of fur coats - got me so excited for european winter!

everywhere we looked we saw shops selling old vinyls, yellowing photographs, prints, books, magazines & collectibles (sooo many editions of tintin - they love him over here!).

i was so happy to lay my eyes on a vintage soft leather bag in olive green. the best thing about it is that i managed to barter the price down from 60€ to 30€. yes! frida found funky vintage sunglasses, and after falling in love with several old photographs of paris - she also bought chunky silver bracelets from one of the many silver dealers.

so easy to lose track of time here, not to mention literally losing yourself in & amongst the seemingly endless number of stalls. before you know it you've whiled away five hours here...

and so ends yet another sunday aux puces. wasn't the first time ...& definitely won't be the last.

xo,

S.

vintage chanel shop

hippy market

every wednesday there's a market in es caná, ibiza. it's called the "hippy market", and has been here for decades. i can't think of a way to describe how immense it is, and it would be a total lie if i said sarah and i didn't get lost on several occasions... 

es caná is on the east coast of the island, which is alot more rocky, with burnt orange cliffs dropping into the sea. the actual market is surrounded by pine trees that cast welcome shadows on the many hot people below, rummaging through market stalls and weaving their way through narrow "pathways" (tiny gaps between stalls).

there were alot of handmade things at the market - lots of unique pieces that i've never seen in other markets across europe. it was refreshing, and meant that we stayed for hours - trying on hundreds of hand-worked silver & stone rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, etc. we found an incredible stall selling all kinds of genuine leather items, the coolest of which were leather boots with multi-coloured, woven cloth worked into the sides. looooved these, but somehow didn't think my already-at-20kg-suitcase would share the same love...

there were lots of buskers/entertainers spotted all through the market. there was a group of spaniards playing on traditional spanish guitars that we sat down and listened to while sipping on a freshly squeezed orange, melon, pineapple & watermelon fruit juice. it felt like heaven on our parched, water-deprived throats!

such a great market, and i'm sure there are many things that we didn't even get to lay our eyes on.... one visit simply wasn't enough to see everything. picked up a little silver ring with a deep blue stone set into it...a nice memory of ibiza and its hippy market.

que te cuides,

S.

love