Just Paris : Saint-Ouen flea market

The St Ouen flea market is one of those places that makes Paris feel so unique  – let’s put aside the fact that it’s not technically IN Paris -, yet I don’t go there often enough which I’m kind of ashamed of.
It’s because there’s a small catch to it, I actually know why I wasn’t going there that often until recently.

It’s by all means not your regular flea market, which means you can’t go there thinking “hey I’m gonna go and make a few good deals and come back home with a bunch of treasures”. For the simple reason that almost everything there is very expensive or at least really overpriced compared to say…Etsy. So the trick is to go there only to feast your eyes, take a few pictures and, who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and find something to buy. If you’re not in that state of mind, it can get very frustrating, 600 euros-for-that-mid-century-vase frustrating.

Ok, now that we’ve set those guidelines, let’s talk about the place. The most surprising thing is actually the size of it, it’s like a small village with several markets, each with their own specialties. Then, I guess what’s really striking is the variety of periods displayed and the age of the objects: I’m talking 200 years-old stuff at every corner. Some stalls are one baroque mess while others are very carefully arranged, already looking like magazine spreads. There’s also the fascination that comes with ultra specialized sellers like this one who sells only Japanese etchings. I might add that it’s simply very nice to walk around there since, with  barely no cars around, it’s a quiet enclave filled with more unique treasures than you could possibly imagine.