The old ones are the best...
A deep joy of life in France is vide-grenier and brocante season. What’s the difference? For vide-greniers think car boot sale where individuals bring along the attic finds and cupboard clear-outs and set them out for sale. Brocantes are the rather more upmarket relatives with lots of professional or semi-professional exhibitors selling antiques and collectables. And, of course, the two terms get mixed and muddled along the way and you’ll find a bit of both at many events.
If finding a bargain or hidden treasure makes your heart leap (as it does mine) then you need to get on to the website vide-greniers.org. Put in your département and the date and it’ll show you a listing of all the brocante and vide-greniers coming up.
One worth knowing about is held the first Sunday of every month in Verteillac, Dordogne. Unusually this one is a regular year-round fixture and has an amazing range of stalls spilling out of the central square and into the parking at peak seasons. The village cafes are all open, as is the bakery, butcher and the general store.
And if you are property hunting this lively open-all-year town is a great place to start. Check out our properties here.
