Paris Flea Market - Porte de Vanves

 Getting to Porte De Vanves

Flea Market

 is as easy as everyone says.

Once off the tram, the signs are as rich

 and plentiful as the treasures on offer.

Stock up on coffee, as food vans are scarce,

 and there seems to be some politics

 about it at the moment. 

A hike to the end of the street for coffee

 provides the stamina for more stalls

 piled with authentic, 

old junk with such rich patina.

 No one would notice

 me slipping this huge vintage beauty

from the 1900's onto walk on luggage?

Some lucky hunter

walked past with his prize -  a vintage Loius Vuitton

 suitcase - packed with brown and creamy stories.

Piles and piles of haberdashery

 from a time when entire shops

 were devoted to the stuff, and ladies with hair in piles served behind tall wooden counters.

I drooled over french lace,

 and fossicked for buttons.

 Stall holders were mostly a cheery lot, 

chatting and joking. 

Even an argument in french is entertaining.

 

The stuffed boar had a friendly smile.

Table after table of treasure. 

I'm going back.

And that was only one street. 

On the next we hit gold.

 French boro.

Worn, tattered and mended farming garments

 from over a century ago. 

A pile of trousers with different cuts according 

to the trade of the wearer. 

Some had larger seats for riding horses, 

each design told you the wearer's art.

Even under torture of intense pestering, 

the stall holder 

would not reveal his sources. 

Prices are prohibitive,

 unfortunately. 

The coat was 200 euro.

Back to the Latin Quarter

 for a well earned beer or three.

The Sorbonne is here,

 therefore cheap beer and back in the day,

 you spoke Latin to show off how learned you were.

Speaking of showing off I have a new French word:

"branleur ".

Like any good swear word,

 it has many nuances and is important to get right.

 Once meaning lazy person,

 it has come to include anyone 

who is showing off or being a wanker. 

A tosser.

Hand in the pants.

Branleur.

Or in a female case, branleuse.

I'll be branleusing next post, too.