Alors, I have determined that I am a French listener and sometime French speaker, but to write is still beyond me, hence this post has to be in Anglais.
I really don't mean to post every day, but I am finding it is a lovely way to unwind with a glass of wine or two.
Tonight is rosé night - c/o magazin NOZ, and I am drinking La Croix Jeannel from Languedoc, a Macon Medaille D'or 2009, bought for a mere 4.40 euro.
I don't mean to eat cheese every night either but so far....I'm eating Selles-sur-chere, a smooth goats cheese with a lovely ashy-tasting rind but I feel it needed to age more. Gosh - I think I'm starting to appreciate the minutia of life.
Anyway, back to the main topic. The Brocante. The nearest description I have of this is a car boot sale where you don't have to pay to get in. It was sponsored by one of the local banks (little did I know, until I went to buy some frites and found my bank manager serving me - only in France eh!). At first it felt overwhelming, not the least because it happened right outside my house - I mean, see below - these shots were taken between 7-8am in the morning. I know the early bird gets the first worm but really, these cars were literally parked at the bottom of my garden (and up the street and around the corner).
I staved off the desire to go for some time, finding plenty of 'menage' (cleaning) to do around the house, uploading photos to my blog and generally slobbing around. I thought, 'the old war alarm will go off in a few minutes and it will be too late to go' - yes, the village next to ours sets of the blizt alarm from WW2 for lunch just in case any happless frenchman forgets to shut shut shop and go home for 2 hours (leaving people like myself breadless for lunch).
Damn, there goes my chance for a pain au chocolat.
But a few things happened. One was I eventually geared myself to go for a walk to get bread and money (just in case). The nearest boulangerie is about 10 mins walk and the nearest hole in the wall about another 7 minutes. I went the long way and got caught up in the old style grandueur of my ville. Next I remembered my friend Delphine and the incredible sense of style she has, and how she would not be afraid of a little Brocante. I found myself almost running to get to it before midday. The sky was clear, the day really hot and all I wanted was a glace to cool me down.
Wow. a jumble of images hit me at once. There were more cars than ever. The day was even more hot than I expected. The choice was overwhelming, so many stalls, so little time (so I thought - I later discovered it stayed open all day until 6pm). The sound of vendors and families and cars. I wrapped my fleece around my waist and started in. There was mismatched but beautiful crockery, ancient butter presses, spare parts for bikes, clothes, toys - including huge teddy bears, jewellery, salt grinders, old horse furniture (bridles, saddles etc), furniture and loads of pointless seeming bric a brac. I had no idea what I was doing in this huge place - where to start, what to buy (images of antiques roadshow flashed up in my head alongside that unfortunate incident when we stopped in a cafe in the Jura which seemed to consist of a village that were all of one family ...). The goods ranged from shabby, to what were you thinking off when you bought that, to genuine treasures and real bargains.
Again I thought of Delphine, and with an air of studied nocholance (i.e. I pretended to be cool and fit in), I surveyed every single stall. I eventually found some fantastic horse riding boots for Ambre ( 2 pairs for 7 euros) and some jodhpurs (2 pairs for 6 euro). I rue not buying the wrought iron hangers (for hanging flower baskets from windows) for 1 euro each, damn! Next time, I promise to buy them all.
Boots for horseriding - what a bargain.
Later on that day, after meeting all my neighbours and all of Amby's ex classmates at various stalls (and the rest of the village) I went home and found this old basin in my cellar. I was so excited I immediately cleaned it up and planted it with our chille and a thyme plant. We also have ivy in the garden and I plan to put some in. Recycling rules and I think part of the thrill of the Brocante is not making the same buyer mistakes and the fact that many of the goods were better quality and cheaper than in the shop. Thanks again Delphine!
Delphine also has a stunning garden so I thought I'd take some shots of mine. They are mainly of the weeds but I love em and I know Delphine will understand! (ps how good is my Nokia N95!)
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