Each year the town of Sens hosts a huge flea market or marche brocante that is set up on the promenade that rings the town. Of course we never miss it. There are dishes to buy and skillets to look for. I didn’t find a pretty skillet but I bought, 3 platters, 2 dessert stands, 2 absinthe spoons, a bowl, an English teacup and portraits of someone’s relatives that I couldn’t resist because of their clothing.
The promenade was packed with bargain hunters. I thought of Frugal when I bought a red teacup from one of his compatriots who has been residing in France since 1954. He looked French.
I tend to suffer from sensory overload at these fairs. There’s just too much stuff! Everything starts to blur and look alike, so I end up people watching instead of buying.
My husband is much better at this. He can find a diamond amid the coal, while I go home with a sack full of black rocks 🙂
Anyway, the long walk around the town on the promenade was shaded, the brocanteurs keen but not avaricious and everything fit neatly int0 our rolling shopping bag. Now for a nice, cool absinthe!
Watch out for the Green Fairy 😉
Looking for her 🙂
sounds wonderful!
It was fun Laura 🙂
I love flea markets and garage sales! Nice finds! I look forward to seeing those dishes in your future posts. Too bad you could not find Frugal’s skillet…
I’m still looking Tessa.
Oh no, dangerous drink – I doubt whether we’ll ever hear from you again :D. Sorry you didn’t find a skillet as beautiful as mine, Rosemary. Still, I love what you did buy! I’m glad I’m being thought about, I’d love to have been there.
What? Who are you?
Ha… ha…
I love these kinds of flea market sales too. I either have amazing luck, or nada.
I always get kind of sad when I see old photographs though . . .
What is sad is that there is no more family to cherish those portraits. The fact that they ended up in a flea market speaks to that.
It is so sad! When my mom’s family left China, they had to leave everything behind. Photos, everything. I always wondered if they ended up in a market somewhere. So many lost stories.
My grandparents on my father’s side had similar portraits in oval frames. When I was young, I always thought they were beautiful. Unfortunately, they disappeared after my grandfather’s second marriage. Such a shame 🙂
It is. Things like that feel so precious in the digital age too.
I haven’t heard of absinthe spoons before. I think I’ve been missing out.
Hi Claire. The way absinthe is served is by pouring it over a sugar cube on a special slotted spoon into a glass. Check out this website http://www.feeverte.net/
I tend to get a bit over stimulated with Whole Foods. I have a real hard time with flea markets. That one looks great. Love those pictures.
Thank you Connie.
Glad to learn the term “marche brocante.” Nice photo of your finds. The absinthe looks good, too.
Thank you kale.
It looks like great fun and I don’t think I would have been as restrained as you were! You had nice weather for it too.
The weather was perfect and everyone was out for the day, browsing, sampling andouillette and frites. Spring is finally here.
Quite the find! I love old dishes…especially with beautiful vintage patterns and cracked glaze.
We’ll wait to see some of your lovely creations adorning them.
I too love old dishes. It’s interesting to see the patterns that were popular in France 100 years ago.
The absinthe looks wonderful…dangerous stuff though! I adore markets like this but the culture of these does not really seem to be big here in Andalucia yet 🙁
Everyone thinks that absinthe is dangerous but in reality, it’s no more dangerous than pastis. It depends, as it does for most alcoholic drinks, how much you imbibe. See the very interesting website http://www.feeverte.net/
So glad you bought more dishes. Your selection is getting paltry. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Looks like a lot of fun.
Exactly what I was thinking. Thank God its the brocante season!
Your selections are terrific. Finding presentation dishes is so much fun! The French ‘flea markets’ are wonderful. The things you can find are inspiring!
Thank you Spoon.
So.. the mysterious surrounding absinthe intrigues me.. what do you feel like when drinking it?? The same as a glass of wine?? I’m eyeing your lavender platter and pretty cake stands. I picked up a “teal” platter and teacup with saucer in that same shade.. Blogging does that to a girl… xo Smidge
Hi Smidge. It’s like drinking Pastis which to me seems a bit stronger than wine but not as strong as whiskey. Whenever one of our Embassy’s Marine guards would go on vacation, they would bring absinthe from whichever country they visited. I ended up with quite a collection, so we had an absinthe party. No big deal. I was slightly disappointed 🙂
What a fun looking flea market and beautiful finds. I love flea markets and thrift stores, it’s like finding shells and treasure washing up on the beach, in a way. I’ve had absinthe in many a cocktail but never straight with the cube. I always thought it was stronger than Pastis, which I really like. Love the spoon!
Thank you bits. I guess, depending on who make’s it, it could be stronger but certainly doesn’t send you on an LSD trip or anything.
You were very lucky…I love the little treasures that you found.
Thank you Karen, I was lucky 🙂
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