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Chiner: to bargain hunt

July 31, 2010 3 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

Vide-grenier means ’empty attic’, for in the old days an attic was where you stored your grain, hence ‘grenier’. It’s certainly a more romantic expression than car boot sale. In France you will hear several expressions for places where you can buy second hand things: brocantes; which generally consists of professional stall holders selling rather expensive antiques; marché aux puces or flea market, which is a mix of old clothes and antiques, often professionals. The best are vide-greniers where you get genuine amateurs; I’ve bought huge copper jam making pans from them for 4 euros, wood burning stoves in enamel for 10 euros, vintage pinnys for 3 euros, wet suits for a few euros, all kinds of bargains. There are guides you can buy and websites. One year I must make the effort to go to the Braderie de Lille, held the first weekend of September every year. This market apparently covers miles and goes on till late. A friend of mine rented a van, drove over for a weekend and returned with enough to furnish a whole house, brass beds, antique doors and all, at a knock down price.
Down here near Grimaud I go to the Jas des Robert, a brocante/vide-grenier held every Sunday in the car park of a restaurant. I go every Sunday, and even in the height of summer, when it is thronging with tourists, there are some bargains to be had. In winter, there are fewer stalls, but as the seasonal summer work has dried up, the stall holders prices can be driven down. One week we saw Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp walking around the Jas des Robert. Nobody bothered them. Except my teen and her friends. Johnny was very polite and friendly, even thanked them for liking his films. I think he was interested in the fact that they were bilingual children, just like his children with Vanessa. My teen and her friends didn’t wash their hands for days, having shaken with him.
The French being the administrative ass clenchers that they are, at the Jas des Robert they take your passport when you have a stall, and if you go to sell more than four times in a year, they report you to the tax authorities. People made fun of George W. Bush when he said that the “French don’t even have a word for entrepeneur” but he had a point. It’s so difficult to do anything here. Did you know that ‘Soldes’ or ‘Sales’ are heavily restricted by the French authorities? So that some shops do not have an unfair advantage over others? The sign ‘Soldes’ can only be used at certain times of the year, with notice being given by the local government. 

 Honey from local flowers and, a speciality of the region, chestnut honey.
 My buys this week: three silver plated ladles and two fork for 10 euros; two vintage linen tea towels, 5 euros each; a dozen vintage aprons 30 euros. And a refreshing Pastis up at the bar when I’d finished. Thirsty work!
 1950s cotton summer dresses on one stall. But 50 euros each…
 Vintage soda siphons: pretty but 60 euros each. A bargain, the stallholder assured me.
 Savon de marseille, made from olive oil, is famous, these are some vintage blocks.
 Old baguette baskets, why didn’t I buy them? 20 euros though…
 I love the blue and white containers for flour, sugar and spices.
 Some more buys: violet syrup, gros sel (always buy some when in France), vintage blue and white plates, a euro each, little blue bowls, modern, 1.5 euros each, glass from La Rochere and garlic called ‘ail violet’ which should last up to a year.

Another good site to find vide-greniers.

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Comments

  1. green drawers

    July 31, 2010 at 9:57 am

    lovely, lovely, lovely! Not so cheap though. 60 euros for a soda syphon is a bit steep; that's a shop price. There's nothing like rifling through other people's junk – amazing what some people throw out. As you, and some of your readers may know, I just about make a living out of 'up-cycling', working on the principle of 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'. All this stuff still has a use, and we should be doing everything we can to keep it out of landfill. If there's a little bit of cash in it, so much the better.

    As for the French regulations, there are upsides to it – one of the reasons that the regions keep their local food so prominent is (I believe) down to a law that cites that a certain percentage of any supermarche goods must come from within a 25km radius. Local food for local people. This cuts down food miles, and more importantly connects people with their daily bread, wherever they do their shopping. And of course, keeps a fair percentage of the money spent in said supermarche in the local area. I may be wrong about this; maybe you could throw some light on it?

    Bonne vacances!
    C x

    Reply
  2. msmarmite lover

    July 31, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    I thought it was quite expensive too!
    The supermarkets do seem to have more local food, particularly wine, than here.
    But it costs £5k to get a space on a shelf at Tescos, £250 an hour for one of Tesco's staff to do a demo of your product. The supermarkets here do not educate their staff to know about the food they are selling.
    The amount of times I have been into a supermarket and asked if they have a certain product and the staff simply don't know what it is. Eventually I find it myself. Part of the problem round where I live is the staff are often foreign and only know about their own foods. I think the supermarkets should be giving tasters and teaching their staff about food. After all they make enough profit!
    None of our major supermarkets, I don't know about Waitrose, give a toss about food really, it's about the money I get the impression from talking to small food producers.
    The French are still more educated about food, and insist on good products although big business and multi-nationals are diluting that knowledge and savoir faire.

    Reply
  3. 365 Tage

    August 3, 2010 at 7:51 am

    it gets a bit worrying when old stuff sells more expensively than new things. I think it's called rip-off. Pretty, though.

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Had to stop filming cos I was told off. The photographers would be less forthcoming if they were filmed I was told. 
Anyway @frenchpete_1 should be followed by a camera crew cos he’s a star.
For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pas For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pastry quiche and a little one with less blue cheese & no salt for my 7 month old granddaughter. She absolutely loved it. I’m enjoying seeing her experience and explore new foods with baby led weaning. Avocado, strawberries, kiwi & buttered crumpets are a hit. Pasta less so. Who is this child? Are we even related? #babyledweaning #quiche #homemadepuffpastry
Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The natio Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The national newspaper again. These are the stories I love to do: I go off on an adventure, take my time, interview people (especially women), photograph them in their environment and create recipes on site. This story cost me a lot more than I made as I had an accident and lost my excess. My own damn fault though! Loved loved loved having a campervan. Thanks for lending me it @camperdays.international and sorry about the hole in the side.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/23505593.foraging-seaweed-western-isles/
My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @l My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @lk.general.building left yesterday. They’ve been working since January. I had the awning installed, the encaustic Minton tiles removed and put back with green grout. The terrace was causing damp so this had to be done. My calamondin plant is looking lovely. The benches which I repaired with hard wood & I repainted using a mix of 2 colours. The marble table I bought in Suffolk at a car boot. Everything is still dusty & I’m waiting for the window cleaner to arrive.
Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine f Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine for their contribution of these beautiful dry ciders for the coronation street lunch. Gorgeously illustrated labels. #stcuthbertsrd #kilburn #london #cider #artisanaldrinks
When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. It’s smoother. Artisanal distillery @devoncovevodka contributed some bottles to my coronation lunch which gave everyone a feeling of being at a classy party. Thanks so much. And also @rawfoodanddrink for arranging. If you want to read my blog post about how and why I organised this event, copy and paste this link: https://t.co/GWNNW2XKba #coronationstreetparty #biglunch #community #kilburn #london #forthepeoplebythepeople
I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now. They sent a selection: elderflower bubbly, st. Clements orange 🍊 Sicilian lemonade, @belvoirfarm_uk lemonade, which were all delicious and just the tickets for the fortuitous mini-heatwave that occurred on the Sunday coronation lunch. #thankyou #community #coronation #streetparty #biglunch
Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! T Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! Tiny bit in the guardian. Decent pic in the Mail and The Star credit @asproider #coronationlunch #kilburn #stcuthbertsrd #kingscroftrd #fordwychrd #templarhouse
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Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebr Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebrides with @outerhebrideanforager Fi bird. She’s cutting sea spaghetti. I drove my campervan @camperdays.international from london to the Hebrides- using my gas stove to cook foraged and local ingredients. A real food safari. With the sea spaghetti I made a sea spag vongole with giant parlourdes picked up from the sand at the same time. Great fun, beautiful weather and, the day of the full moon, a wonderfully low tide. This was on south Uist.
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Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainman Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainmansion I found out so much about marmalade. I’m going to make it this winter. I found out the worlds best maker is Japanese, in fact I was most impressed by the Japanese marmalades in general. Everyone wore orange. I must have tasted 50 marmalades. I met Paddington’s sister, karen jankel who is michael bond’s daughter, born in the same year as Paddington. She gave a charming talk on Paddington, mentioning how the queen insisted on having real marmalade sandwiches in her @launerlondonofficial handbag during the shoot. The house itself is Tudor and Georgian. I stayed in my campervan from @camperdays.international in the car park, cosy in the rain. Another freewheeling adventure. #yorkshire #marmalade #travel #food #ontheroad #campervan
I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a vegetarian rather than a vegan. How I still need butter. And how restaurants & plane meals are now vegan rather than vegetarian. But, there are still more the double amount of vegetarians as vegans in the UK. I’ve written a vegan cookbook V is for vegan (link in bio) and am a big fan of vegan foods. I’ve not eaten meat for over 40 years. This is a sustainable diet, in terms of longevity. Vegans that I knew from the early noughties have reverted to meat eating. #newpuritanism? #vegetarian #vegan #foodwriter
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I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to Sophie of @tobia.teff she uses the iron-rich, gluten free teff grain from her homeland Ethiopia. She showed me how to make injera, the Ethiopian flatbread which is fermented. She also talked about the coffee ceremony, 3 cups, which they pair with toasted barley or, currently, popcorn! I’d love to visit Ethiopia and find out more about their ancient food culture, history, 3.5k year old monarchy and religions.
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