Antiques & flea-markets

Multiple levels of adventure & risk

: Notre guide à l'Hôtel Drouot

Every weekday an auction of paintings, furniture, silverware, jewelry, rugs etc. takes place at the Hôtel Drouot, in the heart of the Right Bank. Connoisseurs flock here to view displays and attend the auctions at 2 p.m. Our French-American specialist bids here for private clients.

Through the exhibits she gives an insider's explanation of the auction system. Visitors may then have "déjeuner" in the convivial hubbub of a bistro where auction-house regulars gather and attend the auction if they wish.

Training session

An art-déco exporter who has won international respect, our expert takes visitors to merchants whose wares and prices she approves.

She selects specific pieces and gives tips on how to inspect them. She may, for example, say, "Most antiques have new parts added, but no law states in what proportion this can be done and the object still be considered 'antique.' "

Etc...

Antiques of the 1930's, which can combine with a tour of the city's art-déco architecture: please ask

: Our expert at the dealers' annual open house

LES Puces

Located on the city's northeastern fringe, the Clignancourt flea market is the largest in Europe. Within it flourish 1,100 established stalls and 2,100 itinerant vendors - plus restaurants and cafés, gypsy musicians, Parisian-ballad singers, vendors of stolen goods and forbidden-game gamblers. With an estimated 11 million visitors a year it is one of the most-visited places in the Paris region: only Notre-Dame and Euro-Disney attract more people. Although it was once a place where one found deals, it has become notorious for an inundation of commercial stuff and outright fakes.

With a guide who understands this labyrinth, a visit is extremely interesting. There is a pattern to follow in order to grasp the set-up and some stands are excellent. It can be a cultural experience, like visiting a talking museum - merchants may answer questions with fascinating depth, simply to share a passion

Our guide is a French count who collects paintings and silver, with a special interest in the 1930's.

: Discovering a collector

An intimate flea market for dealers & neighbors

: Our art-déco specialist bought this vase at the flea-market and sold it a New York trade show.

Every weekend there's a small, open-air flea-market on the city's southern border. Most of it is bric-a-brac (nice bric-a-brac), but merchants come here for deals. Tourists rarely know about it and most clients are habitués.

There's a pianist, hot chestnuts and crèpes, and, of course, a bistro where vendors and families meet. Catherine Aubin is your guide, because she lived a few blocks away.